Women's soccer announces 2018 schedule

READING, PA - The Penn State Berks women's soccer team has released its 2018 schedule on Friday afternoon, which features 10 home contests and nine matches on the road this fall. The schedule has 11 matches against North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) opponents and a slate of eight non-conference contests against surrounding Division III opponents, including a handful of teams that finished in the national and regional rankings last season.

For the complete schedule, including start times, please click here.

The Nittany Lions will play on their home turf for eight of the first 11 games of the season. Wilkes University, which was an NCAA Tournament participant and finished ranked No. 7 in the Mid-Atlantic Region, will face Berks in the season opener on Friday, August 31 at 7 p.m. They will then travel to TCNJ, who reached the Final Four and was ranked No. 3 in the country, on Wednesday, September 5.

Berks opens up a four-game homestand, beginning with the NEAC opener against Lancaster Bible College on Saturday, September 8. They will face Dickinson College (Sept. 12) midweek, followed by Penn State Abington on Saturday, September 15. The final game of the homestand will be Swarthmore College, which made the NCAA Tournament and was ranked No. 21 in the nation, on Sunday, September 16.

The Nittany Lions will travel to the College of Saint Elizabeth (Sept. 19) midweek, followed by hosting Gallaudet University (Sept. 22) on the weekend. Elite Eight participant and No. 6 ranked Johns Hopkins University welcomes Berks on Wednesday, September 26. That weekend, the Nittany Lions will host SUNY Poly (Sept. 29) and SUNY Cobleskill (Sept. 30) to close out the month of September.

The month of October will see the Nittany Lions playing on the road for six of the final eight games. They will travel to Elizabethtown College (Oct. 2) for a midweek non-conference match, followed by a trip to New York that weekend to face Morrisville State College (Oct. 6). Next up will be the final two home games of the year, beginning with Cazenovia College on October 13 and Juniata College on October 16.

The final road trip of the season is a four-game stretch that opens up with another trip to New York, where they will play Wells College (Oct. 20) and Keuka College (Oct. 21). The Nittany Lions travel to the University of Scranton, who was ranked No. 5 in the Mid-Atlantic Region, on Tuesday, October 23. The final game of the regular season will see Berks travel to Penn College on Saturday, October 27.

The squad will look to reach the NEAC Postseason Tournament for the 11th straight season. Should they do that, the NEAC Quarterfinal round will be played on Tuesday, October 30 and the semifinal and championship rounds will take place on Saturday, November 3 and Sunday, November 4.

The 2017 team finished the year 15-6-1 overall and went 10-0 in conference play. They won the NEAC Tournament for the fifth straight season to earn a fifth consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament. Berks suffered a 2-1 setback in overtime to No. 12 ranked SUNY Geneseo in the opening round of the tournament. With the bulk of the team set to return and a stellar incoming class of recruits and transfers, the Nittany Lions look forward to the challenges ahead with this tough 2018 schedule.

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