BOCA RATON, Fla. – The 2021 campaign for Florida Atlantic University women’s soccer kicks off in less than a month’s time, with nine home matches on the docket, as well as the program hosting the Conference USA Championship in November.
For head coach Patrick Baker‘s ninth season, the Owls return all 11 starters, 96% of all minutes played, and 100% goal production and in-goal minutes from the 2020 slate that was pushed back to this past spring. That includes super seniors Miracle Porter and Sammy Vitols, back for a fifth season after both being named All-C-USA and All-Region, alongside fellow dual league and region honorees Gi Krstec and Amanda Martin.
Opening Night will take place on Thursday, Aug. 19, as the Owls host Oakland at 7 p.m. on Howard Schnellenberger Field inside FAU Stadium. After a trip to Coral Gables three days later to play Miami, three consecutive home matches are next: Loyola (Friday, Aug. 27), Murray State (Friday, Sept. 3) and SMU (Sunday, Sept. 5), all at FAU Soccer Stadium.
“We are excited about the opportunities to play a full fall schedule again and look forward to the upcoming 2021 season,” said Baker. “Our team will face a number of quality teams in the non-conference and C-USA seasons. We have another challenging non-conference slate starting with Oakland and the University of Miami on opening weekend. Three home games follow as we host Loyola (IL), Murray State and Southern Methodist University in the FAU Soccer Stadium. Two key in-state opponents wrap up the non-conference schedule as we travel to nationally ranked USF and then return home to host FGCU. It’s a very demanding non-conference schedule and it will prepare us well for the C-USA regular season.”
As Baker alluded to, the non-conference portion of the schedule wraps up with two matches, at USF (Sept. 9) and hosting FGCU (Sept. 12). C-USA regular season play will be made up of eight tilts, bookended at home against North Texas on Sept. 16 and Old Dominion on Oct. 28, with the latter being the team’s annual Senior Night.
“The C-USA season will again be challenging and we have to do some serious work on the road early, with two of the first three games being on the road at Florida International and Charlotte,” Baker added. “Our two remaining away C-USA weekends are at UTEP and Western Kentucky, where there could be a lot on the line at that time of year. With only eight games in the conference schedule, points again will be at a premium. Our home schedule kicks off with perennial power North Texas, followed by Middle Tennessee and Marshall, and Old Dominion on the last night before the C-USA Tournament.”
The 2021 C-USA Championship will take place over the course of six days at FAU Soccer Stadium, beginning on Monday, Nov. 1, and continuing every two days after. Quarterfinals are scheduled for Wednesday, semis on Friday, and the title match will be held on Sunday, Nov. 7.
