CHICAGO, Ill. – The Illinois Tech women's soccer team has released its 2017 schedule. It features 19 matches overall, 10 matches at Stuart Field, and trips to Indiana and Wisconsin.
With a home-heavy schedule, especially in October, Head Coach Roshane Ellison is hoping Stuart Field gives the team a great home-field advantage in 2017.
"It is important we make home a fortress and be ultra-competitive on the road," said Ellison, who is heading into his third season as Head Coach of the women's soccer program. "We have a challenging schedule this Fall, going up against formidable opponents in the Midwest region. I have the utmost confidence that our team will be up to the task and will do their best to represent the university."
The first of those home contests will be the second match of the season. Following the season-opener at Anderson University in Indiana on September 2, the Scarlet Hawks will host Trine University on Sunday, September 3 at 6:00 p.m. This will mark the third consecutive year Tech opposes the Thunder in the second match of the season, as the Scarlet Hawks are 1-0-1 in those contests.
The early part of September features the longest sequence of road matches, as the Scarlet Hawks will play four consecutive times away from home from September 9-14. Tech will play at Ripon College (September 9), UW-Stevens Point (September 10), North Central College (September 12), and future Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference foe Concordia University Chicago (September 14).
After the four road contests, Tech returns to Stuart Field for Homecoming on Saturday, September 16. Tech will oppose Coe College in the Homecoming match at 3:00 p.m. Tech will follow up the Coe match with a road contest at another future NACC foe, Dominican University (September 18).
To close out September, the Scarlet Hawks will play three times at home. Tech will host Maranatha Baptist University (Thursday, September 21, 7:00 p.m.), Manchester University (Wednesday, September 27, 7:00 p.m.), and USCAA foe Cleary University (Saturday, September 30, 2:00 p.m.).
Tech will play two of its first three October contests away from home. After starting off the month with a road contest at Knox College on October 1, the Scarlet Hawks return home to host Rockford University on Thursday, October 5 at 7:00 p.m. The Hawks then travel to Indiana to face USCAA opponent St. Mary of the Woods on October 7.
The home slate gets very busy down the stretch, as the Scarlet Hawks will play four straight times at home from October 11-21. Tech will host Carroll University (Wednesday, October 11, 6:00 p.m.), North Park University (Saturday, October 14, 6:00 p.m.), and University of Chicago (Thursday, October 19, 6:00 p.m.) before hosting Finlandia University on Senior Day (Saturday, October 21, 3:00 p.m.).
To close out the regular season schedule, the Scarlet Hawks will travel to Milwaukee to face Alverno College on October 28. If the Scarlet Hawks qualify for the USCAA Championships, the tournament will take place from November 9-13 in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Illinois Tech is looking to qualify for its second USCAA Championships over the last three seasons. All 2017 home matches are set to have live stats, audio, and video. The live audio will be powered by the Illinois Media School.