Catamounts to play in two tournaments during season

CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Western Carolina Head Soccer Coach Chad Miller today announced the 2011 Catamount soccer schedule.

After hosting a scrimmage on August 14 with Gardner-Webb, the Catamounts officially open the season at a tournament hosted by Western Kentucky University August 19 and 21. It is one of two tournaments Western Carolina will compete in.

At the WKU Lady Topper Tournament, Western Carolina will face host Western Kentucky and Murray State. Western Carolina will then return home to host North Florida on August 25.

Remaining non-conference opponents includes a trip to Cincinnati on September 2. WCU will then host rival UNC Asheville on September 9 and Winthrop on September 11. The Catamounts conclude their regular season tournaments at UNC Wilmington on September 16 and 18, facing Richmond and host UNCW.

"Once again we have put together a tough non-conference schedule including teams from the Atlantic Sun, Big East, Big South, Colonial, and Sun Belt Conferences," Miller said. "With a very young team this fall, the focus will be all about learning and growing as a unit every match and gaining valuable experience. On the non-conference side of the schedule we have some tough matches on the road because we believe for us to be successful in the SoCon we have to win games on the road. As coaches we believe this level of competition will prepare us for conference play later in the season."

Western Carolina will welcome six Southern Conference teams to Cullowhee; Wofford, Furman, UNCG, Chattanooga, Samford and close out the home slate with Appalachian State on October 26. The Catamounts will travel to The Citadel, College of Charleston, Georgia Southern, Davidson, and Elon.

"The SoCon is a very challenging and demanding league," Miller said. "It has continued to get more depth from top to bottom over the past few years and every game is a true test. Coming out of the non-conference portion of the schedule I think we will have a good idea of how the team is maturing and competing as we head into conference play. Hopefully we will be able to take the lessons learned and use that experience to help put us back into the SoCon Tournament in late October."

The Southern Conference Championship begins October 30 with the four top seeds, in the eight team tournament, hosting the first round. The final rounds will be played November 4-6 at UNCG.