In 2013, Seattle U men’s soccer became the first program to record a win in the NCAA Division I Tournament since Seattle U men’s basketball completed the feat in March of 1964. The 2-1 come-from-behind victory at Creighton, a team who had reached the Final Four the previous two seasons, earned the team Competition of the Year honors at the 2014 Seattle U Athletics Awards Show.
“We have a terrific schedule this year,” said head coach Pete Fewing. “We travel to Charleston and then come back to play Washington, which I’m always excited about. Then we host UConn, Penn, Oregon State, and Gonzaga in non-conference play and will look forward to welcoming the new teams to the WAC in Incarnate Word and Utah Valley. I like the schedule a lot and it’s exciting to be playing the teams we’re playing.”
The Redhawks unofficially open the schedule with a pair of exhibition matches on back-to-back weekends, hosting University of British Columbia (UBC) on Aug. 17 and Western Washington on Apr. 23.
SU will officially open the regular season on the road in Charleston, S.C. at the Nike/Aaron Olitsky Soccer Classic at Charleston hosted by the College of Charleston. The 14th annual tournament was named after a former C of C defender who was tragically killed in a car accident in 2001. While there, the Redhawks will face Furman University on Friday, Aug. 29 and the host team, College of Charleston, on Sunday, Aug. 31. Of note, U.S. Men’s National Team captain and Seattle Sounders standout Clint Dempsey attended Furman from 2001-2003 where he was a National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-American in 2002.
Returning to Seattle, the Redhawks will face the crosstown Huskies on the University of Washington campus on Thursday, Sept. 4 in a rematch of the NCAA Tournament Second Round match in November 2013. UW advanced as far as the Elite Eight in 2013 before a 1-0 loss to No. 7 New Mexico.
Home opening weekend will take place on Friday Sept. 12 and Sunday Sept. 14 as SU hosts east coast powerhouses, University of Pennsylvania and University of Connecticut, who both made an appearances in the 2013 NCAA Tournament. Penn fell to Providence in the first round, a 1-1 draw that they ultimately lost, 3-1, in penalty kicks. UConn advanced to the quarterfinals before falling, 2-1, to No. 8 Virginia after moving past UMBC and No. 1 UCLA, both in penalty kicks.
A trip to St. Mary’s on Friday, Sept. 19 will finalize the non-conference road schedule before a return to Championship Field to close out the pre-conference contests vs. Oregon State and Gonzaga on Friday, Sept. 26 and Sunday, Sept. 28.
The WAC men’s soccer landscape will change slightly in 2014, with full conference member Utah Valley adding men’s soccer beginning with the 2014-15 season, and the addition of University of the Incarnate Word as an affiliate member in men’s soccer. UIW will be in its second year of Division I reclassification in 2014, much like Grand Canyon, and advanced to the Division II quarterfinals in 2012-13, their eighth appearance in the NCAA Tournament since the 2002 season. Utah Valley, already a full member of the WAC, will add men’s soccer in 2014 with Greg Maas, the former Technical Director for the Utah Youth Soccer Association and head coach of Real Salt Lake Utah U-17, at the helm.
Seattle U is set to travel to Orem, Utah to open the month of October (Oct. 4) and league play as Utah Valley’s inaugural WAC opener before their own WAC home opener vs. UNLV on Friday, Oct. 10 and Grand Canyon on Sunday, Oct. 12. The Redhawks will face the UVU Wolverines for the second time, this time at Championship Field, on Saturday, Oct. 18 before traveling east to Kansas City on Friday, Oct. 24 and Air Force on Sunday, Oct. 26.
Houston Baptist will make a trip to Seattle on Friday, Oct. 31 before Seattle U hosts University of the Incarnate Word on Sunday, Nov. 2 as they will honor the 2014 senior class in their final regular season home game. The Redhawks will close the regular season on the road at San Jose State (Nov. 7) and Bakersfield (Nov. 9).
On Nov. 13-14 and 16, Seattle U will then play host to the Western Athletic Conference men’s soccer tournament.
Seattle U loses four from the 2013 campaign, including WAC Offensive Player of the Year Miguel Gonzalez (Yelm, Wash.) and goalkeeper Jake Feener (Rocklin, Calif.), who led the nation in saves throughout most of his senior season. The Redhawks also say goodbye to 2013 co-captain Renato Bandeira (Sammamish, Wash.) and Bobby Segal (Portland, Ore.), who received SU Athletics Director Bill Hogan’s Comeback Athlete of the Year Award at the 2014 Athletics Awards Show.
To see the full schedule, go to the "schedule page" under men's soccer. To export the schedule straight to Outlook/iCal, click the button near the top right of the schedule page for instructions. Stay tuned to GoSeattleU.com, Seattle U Athletics and Seattle U Men’s Soccer on Facebook, @su_athletics, @SeattleU_MSO, and @CoachFewing on Twitter, and su_redhawks on Instagram for all the latest updates leading up to the 2014 season.