Ohio State men’s soccer team announces 2019 schedule

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State men’s soccer team announced its 2019 schedule on Monday.

The fall schedule include eight home matches at Bert L. & Iris S. Wolstein Field at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. The 2019 slate features seven teams which competed in last season’s NCAA Tournament. Head coach Brian Maisonneuve enters his second season at the helm of the Ohio State program. The Buckeyes are coming off a successful spring season, winning the inaugural Columbus Crew SC College Spring League last month.

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PDF: 2019 Schedule
Online Schedule

“Our 2019 schedule is loaded with very talented teams,” Maisonneuve said. “We start out playing against a very tough west coach opponent in Cal State Northridge and then battle a UIC team that has a strong tradition of NCAA tournament appearances. The Big Ten Conference is always one of the best in the country. We had three teams make the College Cup last year and the league will be even tougher this year. We have eight homes games at the Jesse against some of the most dynamic and entertaining teams in college soccer.”

Ohio State will play three exhibitions during its preseason. The Buckeyes will host Xavier Aug. 17 and Mt. Vernon Nazarene Aug. 20 at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. The team will hit the road once during preseason with an exhibition at Butler Aug. 24.

“Our group has grown a lot over the last year and is looking forward to testing themselves against some of the best programs in the country,” Maisonneuve said. “2019 will be an extremely exciting year.”

The Buckeyes open the 2019 regular season, hosting the 14th-annaul Bert & Iris Wolstein Classic Aug. 30-Sept. 1 at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. The Scarlet and Gray face CSUN in their home opener nightcap Aug. 30 before wrapping up the classic with a match vs. 2018 NCAA Tournament participant UIC Sept. 1.

Ohio State will then begin a four-game road swing with two matches at the Dayton Classic the following weekend. The Buckeyes play tournament-host Dayton in the nightcap Sept. 6 and finish the tournament with a neutral-site match vs. EIU Sept. 8. The Scarlet and Gray continue their non-conference schedule with a road match at Bowling Green Sept. 13 before flying south to face South Florida Sept. 17 in Tampa, Fla.

The Buckeyes kick off Big Ten play with a home game vs. Penn State Sept. 21. Following a non-conference matchup at home vs. West Virginia Sept. 24, the Scarlet and Gray travel to Evanston, Ill., to play Northwestern Sept. 28.

Ohio State faces conference-rival Michigan Oct. 2 at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. The team travels to Piscataway, N.J., to face Rutgers Oct. 6 and returns home the following week to host Cleveland State Oct. 12. The Buckeyes will then face four straight NCAA tournament teams from a year ago, including three College Cup teams, with road matches at Kentucky Oct. 16 and at Michigan State Oct. 19, a home contest vs. defending national champions Maryland Oct. 25 and a road league game at Indiana Oct. 30. The Buckeyes conclude the regular season vs. Wisconsin Nov. 3 in Columbus.

The Big Ten Conference Tournament will begin Nov. 9 with a play-in game at the No. 1 seed site before the quarterfinals Nov. 10 with the Top 4 seeds as hosts. The semifinal matches and championship match will be hosted at a neutral site Nov. 15 and 17, to be announced. The 2019 NCAA Tournament begins Nov. 21 with the College Cup scheduled Dec. 13-15 in Cary, N.C.

A FEW NOTES ON THE 2019 OPPONENTS

CSUN: Finished with a 9-8-1 overall record and 3-3-1 mark in Big West play.
UIC: Won its third straight conference tournament championship in the Horizon League and advanced to the NCAA Tournament before falling to Michigan State, 2-0, in the first round. Posted a 12-6-2 overall record.
Dayton: Finished the year with a 9-6-4 overall record.
EIU: Posted a 3-11-4 overall record and 1-2-2 record in the Summit League.
Bowling Green: 6-7-4 in 2018 and advanced to the MAC Tournament semifinals.
South Florida: Finished the 2018 season with a 7-8-2 overall record and advanced to the American Conference quarterfinals. This will be the first trip in school history to Tampa, Fla., for the Buckeyes.
Penn State: Advanced to the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament and finished the year with a 6-9-2 overall record.
West Virginia: Went to the NCAA Tournament for the 13th time in school history after winning its first MAC regular-season title in 2018. Finished the year with a 14-6-0 overall record and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Northwestern: Posted a 6-9-5 overall record and 1-5-3 mark in Big Ten play.
Michigan: Advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before falling in penalty kicks to Notre Dame, 11-10. Finished the year with a 12-5-4 record and 4-2-2 record in Big Ten action.
Rutgers: Went 4-13-1 overall in 2018 with a 2-6 record in Big Ten games.
Cleveland State: Finished 4-8-3 overall and 1-4-3 in the Horizon League.
Kentucky: The Wildcats ended the season with a 19-2-1 overall record with a 5-1 record against Top 25 teams. Kentucky fell to Maryland, 1-0, in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament, snapping a 10-game win streak for the Wildcats.
Michigan State: Returned to the NCAA College Cup for the first time since 1968. The Spartans fell to Akron, 5-1, in the semifinals. Finished the year with a 14-5-4 record, tying the record for single-season wins.
Maryland: Claimed their fourth national championship in school history after defeating Akron, 1-0, in the NCAA final. Finished the year with a 13-6-5 overall record.
Indiana: The Hoosiers finished the year with a 20-3-1 overall record and won both the Big Ten regular season championship and tournament title. Indiana advanced to the College Cup for the second straight season before falling to Maryland, 2-0, in the semifinals.
Wisconsin: Finished the year with a 10-6-2 overall record and held a 6-2 mark in Big Ten games.