The Mountaineers, who finished last season with a 10-5-4 record and advanced to the Southern Conference Tournament, will face a difficult slate that features four opponents who participated in last year's NCAA Division I Championship Tournament.

Appalachian will see its first action on the pitch with a pair of exhibition matches against High Point (Aug. 18) and VMI (Aug. 20), the latter of which will be played at home.

The Apps open regular season play at home against East Tennessee State on Aug. 24 at 7 p.m. at the Ted Mackorell Soccer Complex. The Buccaneers finished with a 10-7-4 record a year ago and advanced to the Atlantic Sun championship match before falling to Florida Gulf Coast.

ASU's first regular-season road match takes place at UNC Asheville on Aug. 30 before the Mountaineers return home against UNC Wilmington on Sept. 2 as part of a soccer doubleheader with the women's team.

Appalachian State will travel to Davidson for a pair of neutral site matches against USC Upstate (Sept. 8) and Richmond (Sept. 10) to begin a seven-match road stretch that includes another pair of matches in Wilmington, N.C.

The Mountaineers will take on Binghamton (Sept. 14) and Saint Mary's (Sept. 16) in the Port City. Saint Mary's finished with a record of 11-7-5 last year and advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament before falling to eventual national champion North Carolina. The Gaels ended last year ranked No. 14 in the NCSAA/Continental Tire NCAA Division I men's soccer top-25

A non-conference tilt with another NCAA Tournament participant awaits when the Apps travel to Wake Forest on Sept. 25 before opening SoCon play at UNC Greensboro on Sept. 29.

Appalachian will close out its road swing with matches at Gardner-Webb (Oct. 2) and College of Charleston (Oct. 6) before returning home against Georgia Southern on Oct. 9.

The Mountaineers will then travel to Furman on Oct. 13 for a key conference matchup against the Paladins, who received an at-large bid to last year's NCAA Tournament and finished the season receiving votes in the NSCAA/Continental Tire poll.

The Apps take on their final non-conference opponent of the season when Belmont travels to the High Country on Oct. 16. Another crucial SoCon match will take place at home against defending league champion Elon on Oct. 20.

The Phoenix upset UNCG in the SoCon Championship match last year to earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Appalachian State closes out the regular with matches at Wofford (Oct. 23) and at home against Davidson (Oct. 27).

The 2012 Southern Conference Men's Soccer Championship begins with matches at campus sites on Nov. 3 and finishes with the semifinals and finals in Cary, N.C. on Nov. 9 and 11.