Alex Caskey (L) and Greg Macnamara (R) will lead the Wildcats as co-captains in 2010
California Trip, ACC Foes, SoCon Pursuit Highlight 2010 Men’s Soccer Schedule
7/26/2010 12:19:03 PM | Men's Soccer
DAVIDSON, N.C. – Poised to return to the top of the Southern Conference, Davidson men's soccer head coach Matt Spear announced an ambitious 2010 slate for the Wildcats that includes four teams that reached the Sweet 16 in the 2009 NCAA Tournament.
Spear also announced that senior midfielder Alex Caskey and junior defender Greg Macnamara have been elected as team co-captains. Caskey served as a tri-captain last season.
The Wildcats will travel to the West Coast to face powerhouses U.C. Santa Barbara (Sept. 10) and UCLA (Sept. 12) before challenging in-state rivals Duke and Wake Forest. All four opponents reached the third round of the 2009 NCAA Men's Soccer Championship, and Wake Forest and UCLA advanced to the quarterfinals by defeating Duke and UC Santa Barbara. Wake Forest then reached the College Cup for the fourth-consecutive year with a win over UCLA. UCSB (2006), UCLA (2002) and Wake Forest (2007) are all recent National Champions.
“The trip to the California will be a blast and an awesome way to battle against the best soccer on the West Coast,” said Spear, who was a tri-captain of the 1992 Davidson team that won 3-1 at UCLA.
Davidson defeated sixth-ranked Duke at home in Alumni Stadium last season and will be looking to repeat the feat in Durham, N.C., on Tuesday, Oct. 5. The match against Wake Forest will serve as the regular season finale Tuesday, Nov. 2 in Alumni Stadium. The 'Cats will challenge a total of three Atlantic Coast Conference teams during the regular season, as Virginia Tech will visit Alumni Stadium on Tuesday, Sept. 21.
Additionally, Davidson will host another ACC foe and 2009 NCAA Tournament participant, NC State, in a preseason exhibition match Aug. 21.
“It's no secret that the ACC is perennially the top-ranked conference in the nation for men's soccer,” said Spear. “It's a blessing for us to be in the same area and region with these programs, and we always enjoy the opportunity to take them on. They have mutual respect for Davidson, too.”
Following the NC State exhibition match and the annual alumni match Aug. 28, the Wildcats will kick off the regular season with the Davidson adidas Classic on Friday, Sept. 3. The 'Cats will face Marist at 7:15 p.m. and will wrap up the tournament Sunday against Bowling Green at 1 p.m. SoCon foe Appalachian State will also participate in the tournament.
The Wildcats will host Campbell (Sept. 7) prior to their Southern California trip. Davidson will play at UCSB on Sept. 10 with a 7 p.m. PST kick-off. The Gauchos ranked No. 1 in the nation in 2009 for fan attendance and will host for the 2010 NCAA College Cup Championship.
The 'Cats will then travel down the coast to play at UCLA on Sept. 12 for a 3 p.m. PST kick-off. UCLA has four men's soccer NCAA Championships, 19 alumni currently playing in the MLS and had three alums play for the United States in the 2010 World Cup (Carlos Bocanegra, Jonathan Bornstein and Benny Feilhaber). Current UCLA head coach Jorge Salcedo was a UCLA starter in the 1992 match against Davidson.
Davidson returns to North Carolina to take on Gardner-Webb (Sept. 18) in nearby Boiling Springs before returning home for the next three contests beginning with the Virginia Tech match. The first conference match of the year will be Saturday, Sept. 25 against Elon before a non-conference tilt against Radford (Sept. 29) to conclude the home stand.
A challenging slate of four consecutive road matches await the 'Cats in October. Davidson will visit the College of Charleston in the second SoCon match of the season (Oct. 2) before facing Duke (Oct. 5), defending SoCon champion Wofford (Oct. 8) and Furman (Oct. 12).
The Wildcats will conclude the stretch of five consecutive Southern Conference matches by hosting UNC Greensboro (Oct. 16), traveling to Appalachian State (Oct. 19) and hosting Georgia Southern (Oct. 26).
Davidson's four seniors will be honored Saturday, Oct. 30 when Davidson takes on Presbyterian. The regular season concludes at home against Wake Forest on Nov. 2.
All eight SoCon teams will compete in the 2010 conference tournament. The quarterfinals will take place on Saturday, Nov. 6 at the respective top four seeds' sites with the semifinal and championship matches to be contested the following week (Nov. 12 and 14), in Charleston, S.C.
“Our ultimate team goals are to win the Southern Conference regular season, then win the SoCon Tournament Championship, then advance to the NCAA Tournament,” said Spear. “We believe we have the ability, the momentum, the leadership, the chemistry, and the resolve to achieve these goals. The schedule is laid out to challenge us everyday. And the focus will be to accelerate as the season progresses, in hope of being at our maximum performance level for the SoCon tournament games in early November.”
All matches and dates are subject to change.
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