The 2015 Morehead State soccer team will play 20 regular-season matches prior to the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. The Eagles have 10 home contests, plus 10 road tilts in the states of Alabama, Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee and Wyoming.
"We are looking forward to the upcoming season," Head Coach Warren Lipka said. "We have put together another very challenging non-conference schedule, which should prepare us for conference play. Our league seems to get better every year, and I would expect that to continue in 2015."
Morehead State will open at Jayne Stadium for the first time since 2009. The homestand includes dates with Horizon League members Illinois-Chicago (Aug. 21) and Wright State (Aug. 23), plus Mid-American Conference school Bowling Green (Aug. 28) and Big East Conference foe Xavier (Aug. 30).
"We will have a young team in 2015, so I'm glad we are able to open with four straight at home," Lipka said. "It will be nice for our new players to get through the preseason and not have to travel until September. It will get them accustomed to this level and what it takes to be successful."
MSU's first road trip features affairs at Mountain West Conference members Wyoming (Sept. 4) and Air Force (Sept. 6), plus tilts versus Division II school Francis Marion (Sept. 11) and Big South Conference foe Charleston Southern (Sept. 13) in a South Carolina event hosted by The Citadel.
Morehead State's other non-conference home opponent is MAC school Ball State (Sept. 20), while its other non-league road foe is Atlantic Coast Conference member Louisville (Oct. 1).
Conference action begins in late September. The league slate continues to feature 10 matches, with five at home and five on the road. Morehead State will start and finish on the road.
The Eagles visit Jacksonville State (Sept. 24), SIU Edwardsville (Oct. 9), Eastern Illinois (Oct. 11), Austin Peay (Oct. 18) and Tennessee Tech (Oct. 30), while hosting Belmont (Sept. 27), Eastern Kentucky (Oct. 4), Murray State (Oct. 15), Southeast Missouri (Oct. 23) and UT Martin (Oct. 25).
"I'm glad we've been given approval to make our split weeks Thursday-Sunday instead of Friday-Sunday," Lipka said. "That will allow teams more travel time and get them ready for Sunday matches. It will be a better experience for our student-athletes, which is why we're here in the first place."
OVC Tournament details will be announced later, but the event will take place in early November.
Morehead State has been to the NCAA Tournament three times in the past seven seasons. The Eagles finished the 2014 campaign 11-6-5 overall and 5-3-2 in league play. MSU lost 12 players to graduation, but recently signed 12 to National Letters of Intent for the 2015-16 school year.
