Soccer Unveils Challenging 2016 Schedule

NORMAN — University of Oklahoma Head Soccer Coach Matt Potter and Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Joe Castiglione announced the 2016 schedule Thursday, a slate that will challenge the Sooners as they look to make their fourth trip to the NCAA Tournament in program history.

2016 marks the 20th anniversary of Oklahoma women's soccer. In total, the Sooners will compete in 19 regular season contests including eight home matches on John Crain Field at the OU Soccer Complex.

Following a road exhibition game against 2015 NCAA qualifier North Texas on Aug. 12, OU will open the regular season with a four-match home stand, taking on South Carolina (Aug. 19) and Loyola Marymount (Aug. 21) in the Nike Sooner Classic. The Sooners then host in-state foe Oklahoma State in a non-conference meeting on Aug. 26 and Utah Valley on Aug. 28. Sooner Sports TV will again broadcast live all of OU's home matches.

"Being the 20th anniversary season adds that little extra motivation to leave a mark, and it will be a wonderful opportunity for our staff and student-athletes to build on the work of those before them."
— Matt Potter

The Sooners' home schedule also includes Big 12 matchups against TCU (Sept. 23), Texas (Sept. 25), Baylor (Oct. 7) and Kansas (Oct. 21). In road conference contests, OU will take on Iowa State (Sept. 30), West Virginia (Oct. 2), Oklahoma State (Oct. 14) and Texas Tech (Oct. 28).

The Sooners begin their first road trip of the season at Virginia (Sept. 2) and George Mason (Sept. 4). OU also competes at in-state foe Tulsa (Sept. 9) and against Memphis (Sept. 11) in Tulsa, Okla., before traveling to Arizona (Sept. 16), Grand Canyon (Sept. 18) and Cal State Northridge (Oct. 23).

"We recruit explaining the vision and philosophy of competing with and against the best, and we have accomplished that goal with this schedule," Potter said. "It will be a challenging opening two weekends, but it will be nice to be at home early in the year for our team and supporters. Again, the non-conference schedule is incredibly demanding but will prepare us for a conference schedule that becomes increasingly difficult to navigate with the talent level of coaches and programs within our conference."

Seven of OU's 2016 regular season opponents competed in the NCAA Tournament last year, including Arizona, LMU, South Carolina, Texas Tech, Utah Valley, Virginia and West Virginia.

The Big 12 Championship will take place Nov. 2-6 in Kansas City, Mo. The conference's top eight teams will compete in a single-elimination tournament as they vie for a Big 12 title and an automatic bid to the 2016 NCAA Tournament.

"The disappointing end of last season has inspired a productive spring season, and we continue to believe in our group and look forward to the season to come," Potter said. "Clearly, we anticipate that they have prepared for a season to remember. Being the 20th anniversary season adds that little extra motivation to leave a mark, and it will be a wonderful opportunity for our staff and student-athletes to build on the work of those before them."

Potter enters his fifth season at the helm of the Oklahoma program this fall. He will lead a team onto the field that features five signees and a transfer alongside 19 student-athletes who saw playing time in 2015, including 10 who started 10 or more contests.

Season tickets will go on sale on July 13, and single-game tickets will be available starting Aug. 3. More information about purchasing tickets will be released at a later date.

2016 Schedule
Date	Opponent	Site	Time (CT)
Aug. 12	North Texas (Exh.)	Denton, Texas	7 p.m.
Aug. 19	South Carolina ^	Norman, Okla.	7 p.m.
Aug. 21	Loyola Marymount ^	Norman, Okla.	3 p.m.
Aug. 26	Oklahoma State	Norman, Okla.	7 p.m.
Aug. 28	Utah Valley	Norman, Okla.	1 p.m.
Sept. 2	Virginia	Charlottesville, Va.	6 p.m.
Sept. 4	George Mason	Fairfax, Va.	11:30 a.m.
Sept. 9	Tulsa	Tulsa, Okla.	7 p.m.
Sept. 11	Memphis	Tulsa, Okla.	1 p.m.
Sept. 16	Arizona	Tucson, Ariz.	9 p.m.
Sept. 18	Grand Canyon	Phoenix, Ariz.	3 p.m.
Sept. 23	TCU *	Norman, Okla.	7 p.m.
Sept. 25	Texas *	Norman, Okla.	1 p.m.
Sept. 30	Iowa State *	Ames, Iowa	7 p.m.
Oct. 2	West Virginia *	Morgantown, W.Va.	Noon
Oct. 7	Baylor *	Norman, Okla.	7 p.m.
Oct. 14	Oklahoma State *	Stillwater, Okla.	7 p.m.
Oct. 21	Kansas *	Norman, Okla.	7 p.m.
Oct. 23	Cal State Northridge	Northridge, Calif.	2 p.m.
Oct. 28	Texas Tech *	Lubbock, Texas	7 p.m.

^ Nike Sooner Classic | * Big 12 Match | Dates and times subject to change

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Soccer Unveils Challenging 2016 Schedule

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