Kansas soccer releases 2017 schedule

2017 Schedule(PDF)

2017 Season Tickets

LAWRENCE, Kan. – The first soccer edition of the Dillon’s Sunflower Showdown, two former Big 12 foes and home matches against both of the 2016 College Cup finalists are just some of the many highlights featured on the 2017 Kansas soccer schedule released Wednesday. The 2017 slate includes a host of tough tests from some of the top conferences in the country and includes 10 teams that competed in the NCAA Tournament last season. Fans will also have plenty of opportunities to come root on the Jayhawks with 10 home dates scheduled for the fall.
 
SEASON TICKETS
The Jayhawks are set to play in their state-of-the-art facility at Rock Chalk Park for the fourth season in 2017. Kansas smashed its single-season attendance record for the third-straight year in 2016 and, for the first time in program history, finish among the NCAA’s top-25 in average home attendance. Season tickets for the 2017 Kansas soccer season are on sale now. Fans can purchase tickets by going to KUAthletics.com and accessing the Tickets tab or by calling the ticket office at 800.34.HAWKS.
 
EXHIBITION
The Jayhawks will once again host an exhibition match prior to the start of the regular season. Kansas will welcome in the Iowa Hawkeyes on Aug. 12 for a match at 1 p.m. Last year, Iowa finished 8-11-0 and 2-9-0 in Big Ten play.
 
NON-CONFERENCE
The Kansas coaches have once again constructed a non-conference schedule that is sure to challenge their team over the first five weeks of the season. Six of the Jayhawks’ 10 out-of-conference opponents ended their 2016 campaigns inside the top-60 of the year’s final RPI ranks and includes five teams that advanced to at least the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
 
Kansas will kick off the year with both its opening-weekend matches inside the friendly confines of Rock Chalk Park when the Jayhawks host the Rock Chalk Invitational. KU will open the year against a familiar opponent with the Nebraska Cornhuskers set to invade Lawrence on Aug. 18 at 7 p.m. The former Big 12 foe has defeated the Jayhawks in Lincoln in each of the last two seasons, including a 1-0 double overtime win last season. KU will then welcome in Central Michigan for an Aug. 20 date in Lawrence. Kickoff from Rock Chalk Park is set for 1 p.m.
 
The following weekend, the Jayhawks will cover more than 1,700 miles in three days when they enjoy their first weekend on the road. KU will kick off the road trip with a journey to Tulsa to take on the Golden Hurricane on Aug. 25 in the match set for 5:30 p.m. The Jayhawks will then jet to Corvallis, Oregon to meet the Oregon State Beavers on Aug. 27. First touch from Patrick Wayne Valley Stadium is slated for 3 p.m. (CT).
 
Kansas will open the month of September back in front of the hometown crowd when they welcome Colorado College to Rock Chalk Park. The Jayhawks, who topped the Tigers in double overtime two years ago, will begin the rematch at 7 p.m. The defending NCAA Champions will then head to Lawrence as the Southern California Trojans will come to Rock Chalk Park on Sept. 3. USC, which won 19 games en route to the national title last season, will play Kansas for the third time in seven years. In their last trip to Lawrence, the Trojans fell to the Jayhawks, 3-2, in 2011.
 
A trip to St. Louis awaits the Jayhawks on Sept. 8. Kansas will take on the Billikens inside Robert R. Hermann Stadium at 7 p.m. Two days later, KU will return to Rock Chalk Park to go up against another former member of the Big 12, Texas A&M. The Jayhawks and Aggies will meet for the first time since 2011 in the 1 p.m. contest on Sept. 10. The Aggies have advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 22-straight seasons and were six-time champions as members of the Big 12 Conference and have since won three SEC titles.
 
Kansas will then begin a five-game stretch of road games over the next three weekends. It will begin with a journey to Utah to take on two more 2016 NCAA Tournament squads. On Sept. 15 Kansas will meet the Utah Utes in Salt Lake City for a 7 p.m. (CT) match. Utah finished its 2016 season with a 13-4-5 record and added a fifth-place finish in the Pac-12, boasting a 6-1-4 league tally.
 
The Jayhawks will close out the non-conference schedule with a trip to Provo, Utah to take on the BYU Cougars. The match, which will pit Kansas against the team that advanced to the Sweet 16 last season, will be played on Monday, Sept 18 at 2 p.m. (CT).
 
CONFERENCE
The Big 12 Conference schedule again appears to be a gauntlet that will provide the Jayhawks with a challenge in all nine outings. The league has elevated itself to among the top soccer conferences in the nation, seeing six of its squads advance to the NCAA Tournament in two of the last three seasons.
 
Kansas will see three-straight road matches to begin its conference schedule. The first will be a Sept. 22 match against TCU in Fort Worth, Texas. The Jayhawks and Horned Frogs split the season series in 2016 with KU taking the regular season match, and TCU knocking off Kansas in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Championship. First touch from Garvey Rosenthal Stadium will be at 7 p.m.
 
On Sept. 24 Kansas will go up against the Texas Tech Red Raiders in Lubbock, Texas. In 2016, the Jayhawks broke a six-match losing string against TTU with a 2-1 victory in Lawrence. KU will look to make it two-straight against the Red Raiders in the game set for 1 p.m.
 
Ames, Iowa will be the final stop on the five-game road stint when KU meets Iowa State on Sept. 29 at 7 p.m. from the Cyclone Sports Complex. The Jayhawks are unbeaten versus the Cyclones in nine of their last 10 meetings, however ISU is coming off a season that saw them finish fifth in the Big 12 and inside the top-50 of the NCAA’s final RPI rankings.

The conference will look slightly different in 2017 with the edition of in-state rival Kansas State to the league line up. It will be a fitting Big 12 home opener for the Jayhawks when they play host to the Wildcats in the two program’s first taste of the Dillon’s Sunflower Showdown. KU will take on KSU, which finished 4-9-3 in its inaugural season a year ago, in the contest slated for 7 p.m., on Oct. 6
 
The following weekend will feature a pair of teams out of the Lone Star State making the trek to Lawrence. The Texas Longhorns and Jayhawks will do battle on Oct. 13 inside Rock Chalk Park the match set to begin at 7 p.m. The Baylor Bears will be next on the calendar two days later on Oct. 15. KU will look to extend its current five-match winning streak against the squad from Waco when it hits the pitch for the 1 p.m. kickoff.
 
KU will hit the road for back-to-back road matches the following weekend in Oklahoma. The trip will start with a visit to Norman on Oct. 20 to take on the Oklahoma Sooners. After a draw last season, Kansas will try to pick up its first win since 2009 on OU’s pitch in the match set to kick off at 7 p.m. The Jayhawks will then head north to Stillwater for a 1 p.m. contest against the Oklahoma State Cowgirls on Oct. 22.
 
The regular-season finale is set for Oct. 27 at 7 p.m., when the five-time defending Big 12 Champion West Virginia invades Lawrence. The match will serve as Senior Night for six Jayhawks seniors: Maddie Dobyns, Lois Heuchan, Hannah Lukinac, Miriam Melugin, Kayla Morrison and Alex Schweitzer.

For the fifth-straight year, Swope Park Soccer Village will serve as the venue for the Big 12 Championship to be held Nov. 1-5 in Kansas City, Missouri. Last year KU earned a No. 2-seed in the three round tournament, the program’s highest since 2004.

 
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