Mizzou Releases 2005 Fall Schedule
5/17/2005 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
May 17, 2005
Columbia, Mo. -- The Mizzou Tiger soccer team announces the release of the 2005 fall schedule highlighted by 12 competitive home games and a season opening trip west to play two Pac-10 teams in California and Arizona.
In what looks to be an exciting season, the Tigers are slated to face some tough competition, playing a schedule that includes several Top 50 programs and NCAA tournament qualifiers from the previous 2004 year.
"We are very excited about our 2005 schedule," Mizzou Head Coach Bryan Blitz said. "It contains nine teams that were in the Top 50 power ratings from last year, as well as eight teams that were in the NCAA tournament including two that made it to the Sweet Sixteen. We really pride ourselves here at Missouri on playing a tough Top 20 non-conference schedule so that we can prepare our team for the strong opponents we face every year in the Big 12."
The Tigers will need the preparation from its non-conference schedule, as the Tigers face tough road matches against Big 12 powerhouse programs Nebraska, Colorado and Kansas, while also hosting Texas A&M and Texas in Mizzou's Audrey J. Walton Stadium.
After an undefeated spring season, both staff and players are very confident and excited about the upcoming fall, despite the tough opponents they will face along the way.
"We are coming off of a great spring season where we proved that we can beat elite programs so we are looking to take that confidence into this 2005 slate," Blitz said. "We have 12 of our 20 games at home and are working hard to improve home field advantage by increasing our attendance levels so that Mizzou will be a place and an environment that our opponents find difficult to play in."
The Tigers have their first chance to increase home attendance when they take on the Indiana Hoosiers on Fri., Sept. 2 and face the Purdue Boilermakers on Sun., Sept. 4 in the 2005 Big 12/Big Ten Challenge. Opening the season on the road, Missouri's first game is Fri., Aug. 26, when it travels to Tucson, Ariz., to take on the Arizona Wildcats.
