Cincinnati Soccer: Regular season schedule revealed as opener nears

With just over a month until the regular season opener, the women’s soccer schedule was released which includes 19 matches and 10 home games. Cincinnati will host Northern Kentucky in the Riverboat Rivalry on Thursday, August 18 at Gettler Stadium. Conference play is set to start against Memphis on September 22.

Cincinnati Soccer: Regular season schedule revealed as opener nears

Prior to the regular season, the Bearcats will play a pair of exhibition games at Butler and Louisville. A couple days after the home opener, Michigan State will come to town for the first time since 2005. The following week, Cincinnati will travel to Bowling Green on August 25 before returning home against Murray State.

Seven games will take place in September, highlighted by the aforementioned matchup with Memphis and road trips to Pittsburgh and Western Michigan. The month will come to a close against Central Florida on Thursday, September 29 in Orlando. October consists of six games, culminating in the regular season finale at East Carolina.

Cincinnati will play four teams that reached the 2021 NCAA Tournament including Bowling Green, Memphis, SMU and South Florida. Houston and Temple are a couple other conference opponents that will come to Cincinnati, while the Bearcats will travel to SMU and Tulsa. Senior Day is scheduled for Sunday, October 23 against South Florida.

Neil Stafford enters his 10th year as head coach and expects to compete for a conference championship this season. After finishing with an underwhelming record last year, the Bearcats return a lot of experience and talent in AAC Defensive Player of the Year Ashley Barron, and All-AAC honorees Vanessa DiNardo and Paige Miller.