Click here to check out the 2015 Golden Eagle schedule
By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information Coordinator
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Smack dab in the middle of the summer months, excitement is already stirring for the newest chapter of Tennessee Tech soccer thanks to the release of the 2015 schedule. The upcoming slate features a wealth of action in the friendly confines of Tech Soccer Field, with 12 of TTU's 20 matches in Cookeville to help christen in a new era of Golden Eagle soccer behind the addition of broadcast quality lights that allows Tech to play home night games for the first time in school history.
"I think the big thing for us this year is that we are playing much more at home as compared to what we did last season," second-year head coach Steve Springthorpe noted on the release of the schedule. "If you look at last year, we played eight straight on the road at one point, and 11 on the road total. This year we are excited about how the schedule sets up. We never play more than two games in a row on the road and there are no extended road trips, which is always nice to see."
Including an exhibition tilt to kick off the season against Alabama A&M on Aug. 14, four of the first five contests are at home for the Golden Eagles. Among the early action in Cookeville, an Aug. 30 matchup against SEC opponent Alabama helps highlight a competitive and balanced array of matches in 2015.
"We built a schedule that we feel like will be competitive and will challenge us," Springthorpe said. "We are confident that our non-conference schedule will prepare us for our conference games, with us playing teams that have done extremely well in the past. There are conference champions and NCAA Tournament participants on the schedule, which of course will be a good challenge for us."
The clash with the Crimson Tide is one of six home matches that will be played under the lights, including the regular season opener against Arkansas-Little Rock on Aug. 21.
"It's exciting to be able to play under the lights and it gave us better options when making this schedule," Springthorpe claimed. "Getting the chance to play Alabama in a home night game should be fun. The fact that we get to play an SEC school at our place under the lights is exciting for us and I am hopeful that it will be a game where we get great fan support."
Following the tilt with Alabama, Tech embarks on a two-match road swing in which the Golden Eagles will travel to Georgia to tangle with Mercer on Sep. 4, and Georgia State on Sept. 6. TTU then returns home for three-straight at Tech Soccer Field, welcoming in Radford on Sept. 13, Troy on Sept. 18, and Chattanooga on Sept. 20 to put a ribbon on the non-conference portion of the season.
TTU opens up Ohio Valley Conference on the road, hooking up with Belmont on Sept. 25, before traveling to Jacksonville State on Sept. 27. Eastern Kentucky comes to Cookeville for the first home conference match on Oct. 2.
After back-to-back on the road, including an Oct. 11 meeting with the defending OVC champions SIUE, Tech closes out the regular season with four of its last five matches at home.
"To be able to finish with the majority of our games at home could be a real positive thing for us," Springthorpe said on the schedule's finishing touches. "If we are in a position to make the top six, you would want to have those games at home if you are in the hunt."
"I think the big thing for us was to first play more at home which we accomplished with the schedule, and secondly to play teams that are regionally based that would make travel not as complicated," Springthorpe said. "We also wanted to play teams that we are comfortable with in regards to the type of soccer that they may play, and of course we wanted to have quality on the schedule where it will challenge us in preparation for our conference portion of the schedule."
Admission to all of TTU's home matches at Tech Soccer Field is free of charge. Game days and start times are subject to change.
