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Men's Soccer Faces Tough Schedule
Complete Schedule in PDF Format
July 25, 2008
SPOKANE, Wash. - Gonzaga University head men's soccer coach Einar Thorarinsson announced the Bulldogs 2008 schedule Friday, including eight regular-season dates on the new Gonzaga Soccer Field. "This is another challenging schedule, and we're looking forward to having a new home in the Gonzaga Soccer Field. It will be one of the best soccer surfaces on the West Coast, if not in the entire country," said Thorarinsson as he embarks on his 14th season at the helm. The Bulldogs will open the regular season with four straight away matches beginning Aug. 29 at Creighton University. The Blue Jays received a first-round bye into the NCAA Tournament a year ago, downed SMU 3-0 in the second round and lost to the University of Illinois-Chicago 2-0 in the third round. SMU had advanced to face Creighton with a 1-0 home victory over Gonzaga in the opening round. Gonzaga will play at the Oregon State University Diadora Classic Sept. 7 and the UNLV adidas Invitational Sept. 12-14 prior to making its home debut with the Gonzaga/Nike Soccer Classic Dept. 19-21. First-round matchups have Oregon State face Cal State Bakersfield at 1:30 p.m. with the host Bulldogs meeting the University of Missouri-Kansas City at 4 p.m. Sunday's action will have OSU and UMKC squaring off at 11:30 a.m. followed y Gonzaga and CS Bakersfield at 2 p.m. The Bulldogs will open West Coast Conference play Sept. 26 at the University of Portland, the Pilots advancing to the NCAA Tournament last season as an at-large selection. The final non-conference action for the Bulldogs will be Sept. 28 at the University of Washington, another NCAA Tournament team from last season that downed Portland 1-0 in the opening round. Gonzaga defeated Washington for the first time in 20 meetings last season with a 2-1 home victory over the then 15th-ranked Huskies. Gonzaga will make its WCC home debut Oct. 3 against the University of San Francisco, followed by a visit Oct. 5 from defending WCC champion Santa Clara University. The Broncos advanced to the third round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs went 9-7-4 overall last season, 4-4-4 and fourth place in the WCC. Gonzaga must fill the gap left by the departure of 10 seniors from last year's squad.
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