@CanesFutbol Releases 2016 Schedule
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – University of Miami head soccer coach Mary-Frances Monroe announced Wednesday the team’s schedule for the upcoming 2016 season.
The Hurricanes have 18 regular season matches on the slate for the fall, 11 of which will be played at Cobb Stadium. Miami also will play one of its two exhibition affairs on its home field.
Monroe’s team is set to face seven teams that ended the 2015 season in the top 25 of the NSCAA rankings, including two of the top five. Three of those seven matches will be in Coral Gables.
“We are really excited to continue with the success we had this spring and take it into the fall,” Monroe said. “Our team has worked extremely hard to put us in a good position for success.”
Miami, which won all four of its spring matches and outscored opponents by a 14-0 margin, will open its fall campaign with a road exhibition game at UCF (Aug. 11, 7 p.m.). It will then finish preseason play by hosting FC Surge (Aug. 14, 1 p.m.).
The Hurricanes open the regular season with a pair of road matches, at North Florida (Aug. 19, 7 p.m.) and Stetson (Aug. 21, 1 p.m.), before a six-match homestand to close nonconference play.
Miami begins that stretch of a half-dozen matches against Ohio State (Aug. 26, 8 p.m.) and then plays Jacksonville (Aug. 28, 1 p.m.) to close the month.
The remainder of the homestand features contests games Miami (OH) (Sept. 2, 7 p.m.), Florida Atlantic (Sept. 4, 1 p.m.), FGCU (Sept. 8, 7 p.m.) and FIU (Sept. 11, 1 p.m.).
The Hurricanes’ ACC opener is a road match at Florida State (Sept. 18, 1 p.m.) and then they return home for games against Virginia (Sept. 22, 7 p.m.), Syracuse (Sept. 25, 1 p.m.) and Wake Forest (Oct. 2, 2 p.m.).
Monroe’s team then hits the road for a trio of consecutive away matches, first against North Carolina (Oct. 6, 7 p.m.) and then at Pittsburgh (Oct. 9, 1 p.m.) and Clemson (Oct. 14, 7 p.m.).
Miami will conclude its home slate by hosting Louisville (Oct. 20, 7 p.m.) and Virginia Tech (Oct. 23, 12 p.m.), before a road match at Notre Dame (Oct. 27, 7 p.m.) to cap the regular season.
Miami’s home contests against teams that ended last season in the national rankings are against Ohio State (No. 22), Virginia (No. 5) and Virginia Tech (No. 18). The teams in last year’s final rankings the Hurricanes will meet on the road are Florida State (No. 3), North Carolina (No. 14), Clemson (No. 13) and Notre Dame (No. 15).
“As usual, we have a very strong schedule and look forward to the challenge,” Monroe said.
The Hurricanes return 17 players from their 2015 roster and welcome a seven-member recruiting class that is ranked No. 17 in the nation by TopDrawerSoccer.com.
To keep up with the University of Miami soccer program on Twitter, follow @CanesFutbol.
