Coming off its best finish in 10 years and the club’s first postseason appearance, the St. Bonaventure men’s soccer team unveiled its 2010 schedule on Tuesday.
Under the direction of sixth-year head coach Mel Mahler, the Bonnies begin by facing a nine-game non-conference schedule to prepare for Atlantic 10 action. St. Bonaventure will play four out of the five teams that advanced to the 2009 A-10 Championship.
“Coming off a successful 2009 season, I believe this year’s schedule will provide us the challenges we need to continue to grow as a program,” said Mahler. “In order to build upon last year’s success we need to understand that we must win games in the non-conference portion of our schedule.”
Following two exhibition matches, the Bonnies open regular season play when they host Cleveland State on Wednesday, Sept. 1 at 5 p.m. St. Bonaventure dropped its match against the Vikings, 3-0, last season when it opened the 2009 campaign in Cleveland. CSU advanced to the Horizon League tournament and finished 7-8-5 overall.
St. Bonaventure then begins back-to-back road trips to BIG EAST foe Pittsburgh on Sunday, Sept. 5 before heading to Virginia to take on James Madison (Sept. 9). JMU finished with a 10-5-3 record, including a 5-2-3 home record and returns its leading goal scorer.
Four out of the next five games will be played away from home as the Bonnies host their last home game of September when St. Francis (PA) visits St. Bonaventure on Sunday, Sept. 12. The team then hits the road to face the first Big 4 opponent on the schedule, Buffalo (Sept. 14) before heading to Dayton, Ohio, to play Wright State on Sunday, Sept. 19. The Bonnies beat all of the Big 4 rivals last season for the first time in program history.
The Bonnies travel to Houghton on Wednesday, Sept. 22 to close out the month before heading to Canisius on Friday, Oct. 1 at 7:00 p.m. The team finishes its non-conference schedule as they host their final Big 4 rival, Niagara, on Sunday, Oct. 3 at 2 p.m. Niagara was just one game away from the NCAA Tournament last season.
Atlantic 10 action commences with two of the top teams in the conference as the Charlotte 49ers visit McGraw-Jennings Field on October 8 at 3:30 p.m. Charlotte finished with an 11-3-6 overall record and took the fifth seed in the A-10 Tournament. The Bonnies then play host to the 2009 Tournament Champions, Saint Louis, to close out the three-game home stand on Sunday, Oct. 10. The Billikens’ return seven starters off a squad that finished 15-7 last season and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The next four conference matches are on the road as the Bonnies travel to La Salle (Oct. 15) and Fordham (Oct. 17). The Bonnies lost to Fordham in the regular season in 2009, but avenged the loss to take home their first postseason victory against the third-seeded Rams in the quarterfinals of the A-10 tournament.
The Brown and White then travel to the Buckeye State to take on Xavier (Oct. 22) and the 2009 Regular Season Champions, Dayton, on Sunday, Oct. 24. The Flyers captured back-to-back A-10 regular season titles, but lost 12 seniors to graduation who posted a 14-5-1 record last season.
St. Bonaventure finishes its season in front of its home crowd when it hosts George Washington (Oct. 29) and Richmond (Oct. 31). The Brown and White will recognize nine seniors who play their final home match against Duquesne on Saturday, Nov. 6 at 2 p.m. at McGraw-Jennings Field.
Charlotte hosts the six-team A-10 Tournament at Transamerica Field in Charlotte, N.C. The top two seeds in the tournament will receive byes into the semifinals, while seeds 3-6 will begin play on Thursday, Nov. 11. The semifinals will be played on Friday, Nov. 12, while the championship will take place on Sunday, Nov. 13.
“It will be great to have five home conference matches and the opportunity to play the defending A-10 tournament champion and NCAA tournament participant, Saint Louis. Starting conference play against Saint Louis and Charlotte will truly test us and give an early indication as to where we stack up in the conference,” said Mahler. “Back-to-back weekends on the road to the Bronx and Philadelphia, then Ohio will be our toughest challenge. Finishing with three consecutive conference matches at home will be a welcome change from past years.”
St. Bonaventure had a record-setting season in 2009, notching double-digits in the win column for the first time since 1999 ending the season at 10-9. Under fifth-year coach Mahler, the Bonnies garnered their first winning A-10 record in 10 years as well, finishing at 5-4 to earn a sixth-seed in their first ever A-10 Tournament.
