Stony Brook, N.Y. - The defending America East champion Stony Brook men's soccer team will play a challenging 17-game schedule in 2012 that includes matches against members of the BIG EAST, Atlantic 10 and Mid-American Conference, head coach Ryan Anatol announced. Nine of the team's 17 games are against opponents that finished 2011 with an RPI of 100 or better.
"We are excited about our 2012 schedule," head coach Ryan Anatol said. "We know it will be very competitive, which will help with the development of our team. Much of our non-conference schedule is against quality opposition, which will prepare us for the challenges of the America East Conference."
Stony Brook will commence the regular season on Aug. 24 at Fairleigh Dickinson before taking on BIG EAST member Villanova on the road Aug. 28. The Seawolves will play their home opener Aug. 31 against Lehigh at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium.
Stony Brook's stiffest non-conference challenge will come Sept. 7-9 at the Kentucky Invitational in Lexington, Ky., where a pair of Atlantic 10 teams await the Seawolves. They will battle 2011 NCAA College Cup runner-up Charlotte on Sept. 7 before facing Saint Joseph's on Sept. 9.
The Seawolves will be back at home Sept. 14 against Fordham and then face Buffalo Sept. 16.
The following three games take the Seawolves on the road to Sacred Heart (Sept. 19), Central Connecticut State (Sept. 23) and Albany (Sept. 29), the America East opener.
The Seawolves will host Boston University on Oct. 5, their first conference home game of the season. SBU will also host conference rivals UMBC (Oct. 19) and New Hampshire (Oct. 24) while taking on Binghamton (Oct. 10), Hartford (Oct. 13) and Vermont (Oct. 27) on the road.
Stony Brook will close out the regular season with a match at West Virginia on Oct. 30.
The America East Championship will take place Nov. 3-10. The Seawolves will be competing for their fourth America East title. To advance to the conference tournament, Stony Brook must finish in the top six. The top two teams will advance to the semifinals. The Seawolves have placed third or better in each of the last three seasons.
Stony Brook is in its second season under Anatol as head coach. He guided the Seawolves to the America East crown and NCAA Tournament appearance in 2011. He returns 13 letterwinners, including seven starters from last season's team in 2012.
