Women's Soccer Announces 2009 Opponents
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| Natalie Parker will return for her senior season when the Pirates open 2009 on Aug. 29 against Avila University. |
• 2009 Printable Schedule (PDF)
PARKVILLE, Mo. – Park University has released its women’s soccer schedule for the 2009 campaign, which includes 16 regular-season games, 10 of which will be played at Julian Field on the University’s Parkville campus.
The Pirates will play four games against three teams who qualified for the 2008 NAIA tournament as well as six games against five opponents who were featured in the 2008 NAIA Women’s Soccer Top 25 Coaches Poll. Park will also begin its first season back in the American Midwest Conference in 2009, presenting a new-look conference schedule for the Pirates, who will play a home-and-home series against all five AMC opponents.
“Our schedule is very competitive,” said head coach Ken Hefner. “We’re playing teams who are in the fight to win their conferences every year and they also always seem to always be in the mix when it comes to postseason, nationally. That prepares us for our new conference, which is a new challenge as well. We haven’t played anyone in the AMC for quite a while, so we have to be ready. I’m excited about the changes, because it’s a very competitive schedule and I’m interested to see how we respond to it.
The regular season begins on the last weekend in August, when the Pirates entertain Avila University on Saturday, Aug. 29, at 1 p.m., marking the first of four games against local rivals from the Heart of America Athletic Conference.
“The local rivalries are terrific games. Four of those five teams will be in the final four in the Heart,” Hefner said. “Graceland is always in the national tournament, Jewell’s been there before and Benedictine made it for the first time last year.
“Baker and Avila are improved, so again, our non-conference schedule is tremendous. Those games show what soccer is in Kansas City. With the exception of Graceland, we’re all within 20 miles of each other, and we’ll draw great crowds for those games. Soccer’s supposed to be a festive atmosphere, and we’ll certainly have it here.”
The season-opener with Avila also starts a four-game home-stand, resuming 11 days later on Sept. 9, when the Pirates host Townsend Cup rival William Jewell College at 5 p.m.
Both are paired with men’s games, marking two of the team’s six doubleheaders with the men’s program in 2009. The home-stand resumes Sept. 12 against John Brown and concludes Sept. 16 against local-rival Benedictine.
Park’s first road game in 2009 will also be its first AMC contest of the season at William Woods on Sept. 19, and Sept. 22, the Pirates travel to NAIA quarterfinalist Graceland, where Park will be looking to atone for one of its two losses in 2008, when the Pirates lost only to Graceland in the regular season and national champion Lee in the NAIA’s second round.
Park plays its first AMC home game on Sept. 30, entertaining NAIA tournament qualifier and 2008 AMC champion McKendree. The game with the Bearcats begins a five-game home set that also includes a Harvestfest game against Harris-Stowe State on Oct. 3, as well as two more conference contests against Hannibal-LaGrange and Missouri Baptist.
The home-stretch comes to a close on Oct. 13 against Baker, marking the Pirates vs. Cancer game in which all gate proceeds will be donated to cancer research.
The Pirates travel to Harris-Stowe State, Hannibal-LaGrange and McKendree between Oct. 17 and Oct. 24, and on Oct. 28, Park will celebrate Senior Night against William Woods at Julian Field, beginning at 6 p.m.
Halloween will bring the regular season to a close at Missouri Baptist with a 2 p.m. start in St. Louis, and on Friday, Nov. 6, the AMC post-season begins with conference tournament quarterfinals on campus sites. The AMC semifinals are scheduled for Monday, Nov. 9, and the championship game will conclude the tournament on Thursday, Nov. 12.
“The conference makes it easier to fill games, having to find fewer non-conference games, but at the same time, you don’t want to have to play that same opponent twice,” Hefner said. “Once you get to the postseason, you’re going to have to see a couple of those teams for a third time. That’s difficult, but it’s a challenge and that’s invigorating for us. No one knows us, and we don’t know them yet either, so it will make it a challenge on both sides. We look forward to playing some great new opponents.”
All conference tournament games are played at the home field of the better seed throughout the tournament bracket. The NAIA tournament begins Saturday, Nov. 21, with the national tournament’s Opening Round, which is played between 32 teams at 16 campus sites around the country.
The NAIA’s second round gets underway Nov. 30 in Decatur, Ala., with the national championship decided Friday, Dec. 4, at the Jack Allen Recreation Complex in Decatur. The tournament will be hosted by the Decatur-Morgan County Convention and Visitors Bureau, which will also host the championship in 2010 and 2011.
2009 Women’s Soccer Schedule Notes
• Park begins its first season since 1999 in the American Midwest Conference after competing the last nine years as a member of the Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference.
• In the new conference format, Park will play its five conference opponents twice each, playing both home and away to total 10 conference games.
• Park will play four games against three teams who qualified for the 2008 NAIA Tournament, playing Benedictine (opening-round qualifier), Graceland (quarterfinal qualifier) and McKendree (second-round qualifier), who won the 2008 AMC regular-season and tournament championships.
• Park will play four non-conference local rivalries against the Heart of America Athletic Conference, hosting Avila, William Jewell, Benedictine and Baker.
• The Pirates will play six games against five teams who spent time in the 2008 NAIA coaches poll, taking on John Brown, William Jewell, Benedictine, Graceland and McKendree.
• Park will play John Brown for the fifth time in six years, splitting the last four meetings with the Eagles, 2-2. Park won contests in 2007 and 2008, while John Brown took games in 2004 and 2005 from Park. The two did not play in the 2006 season. “We try to go outside and get top opponents, and John Brown is one of those,” Hefner said. “Joe Thoma is an excellent coach and they’re always prepared. We’re both competitive, and whenever we play them it’s a nail-biter between two quality programs. It’s really turning into a classic and a national game whenever we play John Brown.”
