Los Angeles, Calif. ? For the second straight season, UNC Greensboro will be part of Fox Soccer Channel’s national television package for collegiate soccer.

 

The Spartans will face Georgia Southern on Friday night, October 26 at UNCG Soccer Stadium in a match-up of the top two men's teams in the conference last season. The game will kickoff at 8 pm ET and will be televised by Fox Soccer Channel.

 

The complete package, announced by Fox Soccer Channel and the National Soccer Coaches Association of America on Wednesday, consists of 20 games ? 12 men’s and eight women’s. Last year, UNCG faced Coastal Carolina on FSC, defeating the Chanticleers, 3-0.

 

The UNCG-Georgia Southern game was moved from Saturday to Friday to accommodate the television schedule. It is the only broadcast involving Southern Conference teams this season.

 

Coming off of a 16-8-1 season and its third straight trip to the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 16, head coach Michael Parker’s squad will be missing some very familiar faces in 2007. Gone are All-Americans Randi Patterson and Scott Jones, both now playing in the Reserve Division of MLS. In all, UNCG lost six players off of that squad, all of which saw significant playing time last season.

 

In fact, of the six players that recorded 10 or more points last season, only junior forward Thomas Campbell (7g, 2a) returns this season. UNCG will look to junior forward Travis Young, a transfer from Kentucky last year who had eight points (2g, 4a) in his first season as a Spartan last year, to help Campbell provide some offensive punch. Among six returning starters, All-American candidate Jokull Elisabetarson returns to solidify the midfield.

 

UNCG, which was not ranked entering the NCAA Tournament last year but sits at No. 23 in the NSCAA’s pre-season poll, does return a nucleus on the defensive end. The backfield will be led by a pair of All-American candidates in David Worthen and D.J. McCurry, and sophomore goalkeeper Nate Berry. Berry played more than 2000 minutes in goal during his freshman season, more than any rookie keeper had ever played in the program’s storied history. In a typical roller coaster freshman season, Berry showed flashes of brilliance in recording a goals against average of 1.44 and a .729 save percentage. Worthen and McCurry both have appeared in more than 70 career matches at UNCG.

“We were quite pleased to be asked to be a part of the package again this season,” said Parker. “The Fox Soccer Channel NSCAA television package brings tremendous exposure to our sport in general and, specifically, our program and facilities. It is an opportunity that isn’t afforded to every soccer program and speaks volumes for the support we receive at our university.”

 

The package begins on September 6 with a women’s match-up between Penn State and Connecticut, two teams both ranked in the NSCAA’s Pre-season Top 25. The first men’s telecast will take place on Friday September 14 when Tulsa faces Virginia Tech.

 

"We’re delighted to once again be the exclusive carrier of the best in live men’s and women’s college soccer,” said David Sternberg, executive vice president and general manager of Fox Soccer Channel. "Our NSCAA College Match of the Week is the perfect complement to Fox Soccer Channel’s year-round coverage of top international and domestic soccer competitions.” 

 

Fox Soccer Channel offers the most comprehensive coverage of world-class soccer available in the United States, including Major League Soccer, England’s Barclays Premier League, Argentine First Division and Italian Serie A; as well as global tournaments such as the UEFA Cup, UEFA Women’s Championship, English FA Cup, FIFA Club World Cup, CONCACAF Champions’ Cup, and FA Community Shield.  The Official Broadcast Partner of the United States Youth Soccer Association, Fox Soccer Channel also televises United Soccer League (USL) and NCAA Division I college soccer matches.  The channel reaches more than 30 million cable and satellite households in the U.S. and Caribbean. 

 

All eight women’s games will be played on Thursday nights, while 10 of the 12 men’s games are slated for Friday nights. The other two games are Wednesday broadcasts. The complete broadcast schedule follows.

 

Schedule of NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Coverage on Fox Soccer Channel*

DATE	TEAMS	TIME
Thursday, September 6	Connecticut (16) vs. Penn State (7)	8:00 p.m. ET
Thursday, September 13	Colgate vs. Iona	8:00 p.m. ET
Thursday, September 20	Georgia vs. Georgia State	8:00 p.m. ET
Thursday, September 27	Tennessee (24) vs. South Carolina	8:00 p.m. ET
Thursday, October 4	Oklahoma State (23) vs. Texas A&M (5)	8:00 p.m. ET
Thursday, October 11	Louisville vs. Rutgers (12)	8:00 p.m. ET
Thursday, October 18	Virginia (17) vs. Virginia Tech	8:00 p.m. ET
Thursday, October 25	Portland (4) vs. San Diego	11:00 p.m. ET

*      Schedule subject to change; home teams are listed first; numbers in parentheses denote NSCAA/adidas? pre-season Division I top 25 ranking.  

 

Schedule of NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Coverage on Fox Soccer Channel*

Date	Teams	Time
Friday, September 14	Tulsa vs. Virginia Tech	8:00 p.m. ET
Friday, September 21	Rutgers vs. Notre Dame (10)	8:00 p.m. ET
Friday, September 28	Clemson (12) vs. Duke (4)	8:00 p.m. ET
Wednesday, October 3	UC Santa Barbara (1) vs. UC Irvine	11:00 p.m. ET
Friday, October 5	Maryland (9) vs. Clemson (12)	8:00 p.m. ET
Wednesday, October  10	Creighton vs. Bradley	8:00 p.m. ET
Friday, October 12	Santa Clara (6) vs. San Francisco	8:00 p.m. ET
Friday, October 19	West Virginia (13) vs. Connecticut (25)	8:00 p.m. ET
Wednesday, October 24	South Carolina vs. Southern Methodist (8)	8:00 p.m. ET
Friday, October 26	UNC Greensboro (23) vs. Georgia Southern	8:00 p.m. ET
Friday, November 2	Bucknell vs. Lehigh (19)	8:00 p.m. ET
Friday, November 9	Wake Forest (3) vs. Virginia (5)	8:00 p.m. ET

*      Schedule subject to change; home teams are listed first; numbers in parentheses denote NSCAA/adidas? pre-season Division I top 25 ranking.