Soccer announces 2008 schedule
AUSTIN, Texas -- The University of Texas women's soccer team will play 19 regular season matches and one exhibition contest, according to the 2008 schedule which was released on Wednesday.
Of those 19 regular season matches, 11 are home contests, including key matchups against Pac-10 opponent California and Big 12 foes Texas A&M, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma, among others. Texas will face six teams which advanced to the 2007 NCAA Championship: California, Texas A&M, Oklahoma State, Missouri, Colorado and Samford. The Longhorns are coming off one of their finest seasons ever, going 16-4-5 with their third NCAA Championship quarterfinal (round of 16) appearance under head coach Chris Petrucelli. In addition, UT picked up its second straight Big 12 Championship tournament title, upsetting No. 2 ranked Texas A&M in the finals (2-1). UT ended the year ranked No. 11 in the National Soccer Coaches Association (NSCA) final poll. All Texas soccer home matches are played at the Mike A. Myers Stadium on the UT campus. For ticket information, go to or call 1-800-982-BEVO or 512-477-6060. Texas begins its 2008 schedule with an exhibition game on Saturday, Aug. 16 against Loyola-Marymount in Los Angeles. UT then opens the regular season at home against Samford (Friday, Aug. 22) before hitting the road for games at Kentucky (Thursday, Aug. 28) and at Louisville (Sunday, Aug. 31). Highlights of the home slate include six contests at Myers Stadium in September. UT plays six of its seven September contests in Austin, beginning with four consecutive home matches against UT-San Antonio (Friday, Sept. 5), Arizona (Sunday, Sept. 7), Houston (Friday, Sept. 12) and Arizona State (Sunday, Sept. 14). After facing TCU (Friday, Sept. 19) in Fort Worth, Texas closes out September with home matches against California on Sunday, Sept. 21 and against Texas A&M (Friday, Sept. 26) in a State Farm Lone Star Showdown contest. That Texas A&M match begins the Big 12 regular season slate for the Longhorns. October finds UT playing the other nine league opponents, highlighted by games at Colorado (Friday, Oct. 10) and at Missouri (Sunday, Oct. 26) and games in Austin versus Oklahoma (Friday, Oct. 17) and Oklahoma State (Sunday, Oct. 19). Last fall, Texas went 2-1 in the NCAAs, defeating BYU 2-0 in the first round before upending No. 2 seeded Texas A&M again (by a 3-2 margin) in College Station, Texas. UT fell to Florida State -- which eventually played in the NCAA title game -- in the third round (4-0). Returning to lead the Longhorns in the fall of 2008 will be rising senior defender Kasey Moore (Mission Viejo, Calif.), a two-time All-American and the 2007 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and 2007 Big 12 tourney Defensive MVP; rising senior defender Stephanie Logterman (Austin, Texas); rising senior goalkeeper Dianna Pfenninger (Sugar Land, Texas); and rising sophomore forward Niki Arlitt (Houston, Texas). Moore, third in UT scoring last fall with nine goals and four assists (22 points), currently is a member of the U.S. Under-23 National Team. Logterman and Pfenninger received 2007 National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-Central Region honors, with Logterman also a First Team All-Big 12 selection. During the Big 12 tournament, Pfenninger netted key penalty kicks for the Longhorns and saved numerous PK's as well in the nets, and was the first goalkeeper in league history to be named the Big 12 tourney's Offensive MVP. Arlitt was named to the 2007 All-Big 12 Second Team and to the Big 12 All-Newcomer Team. Arlitt is UT's top returning scorer after tying with graduating senior Kelsey Carpenter for the 2007 team lead in scoring. Each collected 10 goals and five assists for 25 points.
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