April 20, 2006

UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - The Richmond women's soccer team will play two teams that advanced to the 2005 NCAA Tournament and will host eight opponents in the 2006 season as announced today by head coach Peter Albright.

The Spiders' home schedule features home match-ups with James Madison, VCU, Longwood, Saint Joseph's, Temple, Charlotte, Dayton, and Xavier. The Spiders will also take on a demanding travel schedule that includes games with Princeton, UPENN, American, Rutgers, West Virginia, Loyola, George Washington, La Salle, St. Bonaventure, and Fordham.

Following scrimmages with George Mason and Maryland, the Spiders will officially kick-off the 2006 season at James Madison University with contests against Rutgers (Aug. 25) and West Virginia (Aug. 27), which the Spiders tied in overtime last season.

The Spiders will then open their home slate on August 31 with James Madison as they look to continue their unbeaten-at-home streak that dates back to the beginning of the 2004 season. Richmond will then pack its bags and travel to UPENN where it will face Princeton on Sept. 8 and UPENN on Sept. 10.

The Longwood Lancers will make the trip to Richmond the following Thursday (Sept. 14) before the Spiders will pack up for a trip to Loyola on Sept. 17. The Spiders will then round out their non-conference slate with a contest at American on Sept. 22

"This is a very demanding non-conference schedule, as is usual for Richmond," stated Albright. "Princeton was in the NCAA College Cup semifinals in 2004, WVU is a Sweet 16 team, and JMU, VCU, UPENN, Rutgers, and Loyola are all in the Top 10 in the Mid Atlantic Region every year."

"These will be very competitive games; fun to watch and fun to play. With 18 first-years and sophomores on the team next fall, these opponents will give our team great experience playing in high-level games. Hopefully, this will prepare us well for October and November."

The Spiders will then open Atlantic 10 competition with Saint Joseph's (Sept. 29) and Temple (Oct. 1) at home and continue league play the following weekend at George Washington and La Salle. The Spiders will host Charlotte on Oct. 14 before traveling up north for contests with St. Bonaventure (Oct. 20) and Fordham (Oct. 22).

Richmond closes its season at First Market Stadium with Xavier (Oct. 27) and Dayton (Oct. 29).

"We are already looking forward to our showdown with A-10 conference-rival Dayton (at home) in late October and the A-10 Championships held in Saint Louis in November," stated Albright.

2006 SCHEDULE