UMBC

Sophomore goalie Lauren Kadet

BALTIMORE—Nine home games at UMBC Soccer Stadium, including three under the newly installed lights highlight the 2011 women’s soccer schedule, fourth-year head coach Alyssa Radu announced today. The Retrievers will kick off the season on Friday, Aug. 19, at American University before hosting Campbell in their home opener on Sunday, Aug. 21.

UMBC’s non-conference slate also features home games against Texas State (Aug. 28), Bucknell (Sept. 4), Towson (Sept. 9) and Navy (Sept. 21) and road trips to Temple (Aug. 26), 2010 Ivy League champion Penn (Sept. 2) and VMI (Sept. 16).

The Retrievers’ contests against in-state rivals Towson and Navy will both be played at 7 p.m. under the brand new lights at UMBC Soccer Stadium.

“The installation of lights has really excited the team and coaching staff to get our upcoming season under way,” Radu said. “We always face a tough out-of-conference schedule and look forward to playing some local rivals under the lights. We feel we have put together a schedule that allows us to prepare for conference play and balances our home and away contests.”

UMBC hosts Hartford on Sunday, Sept. 25, to open America East Conference play. The Retrievers also host Vermont (Oct. 2), Albany (Oct. 13) and New Hampshire (Oct. 20), while traveling to Stony Brook (Sept. 29), Maine (Oct. 9), four-time defending league champion Boston University (Oct. 16) and Binghamton (Oct. 23).

The America East Championship will feature the same format as last season, with the Nos. 3 and 4 seeds hosting the quarterfinals on Thursday, Oct. 27, and the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds hosting the semifinals on Sunday, Oct. 30. The highest remaining seed will then host the title game on either Saturday, Nov. 5, or Sunday, Nov. 6.

The Retrievers look to return to the six-team conference tournament for the first time since 2005.