Area colleges set soccer schedules

WASHINGTON — Conferences announced full schedules for the upcoming collegiate soccer season last week, with Gonzaga, Central Washington and Washington State all seeing their finalized matchups.

As the only area college with a men’s soccer program, Gonzaga will open their season with two home scrimmages against Seattle and Carroll College before beginning the regular season with three straight road games. The Zags will be traveling nearly two thirds of the way across the country, visiting Ann Arbor, Michigan for a matchup with the Wolverines. Gonzaga begins regular season play on August 25, and they will begin their seven game West Coast Conference stand on October 1 against San Diego and will wrap up conference play on November 13 against Loyola Marymount.

Gonzaga’s women’s team will open its season with an exhibition match against WSU on August 12, before beginning the regular season against Pittsburgh in a tournament in Missoula, Montana. The Zags will have a five-game homestand that begins on August 27 and includes matchups against Oregon, the University of Texas and ends with a matchup against Baylor on September 11. WCC play begins on October 1 against San Francisco and continues to November 5, where they will play Portland.

Following the Cougars’ exhibition match against Gonzaga, the Washington State women’s soccer team will open its season against Michigan in a road trip to Ann Arbor. With a home opener against Portland on the horizon, the Cougs will face off against nearby Eastern Washington on August 28. Pac-12 play begins on September 23 against Oregon State and continues until November 4, where the Cougars face rival Washington in Pullman.

Before beginning regular season play, Central Washington will have three exhibition matches against Trinity Western, Columbia Basin and Pacific Lutheran from August 17-25. Their home and season opener will be against Chico State on September 1, and the non-conference schedule will continue until a matchup with MSU Denver on September 9. Great Northwest Athletic Conference play begins on September 15 against Northwest Nazarene and runs through October 29 against MSU Billings. The GNAC conference tournament will begin on November 3 in Nampa, Idaho.

The Gonzaga men’s full regular season schedule is: Aug. 25 at Denver, Aug. 28 at Michigan, Sept. 1 against California Baptist, Sept. 8 at home against Incarnate Word, Sept. 11 at Sacramento State, Sept. 15 home against Marist College, Sept. 18 home against UC San Diego, Sept. 22 Home against Dixie State, Sept. 27 at St. Thomas, Oct. 1 home against San Diego, Oct. 8 at Santa Clara, Oct. 15 at Washington, Oct. 22 home against Pacific, Oct. 26 home against Portland, Oct. 29 at St. Mary’s, Nov. 5 home against San Francisco and Nov. 13 at Loyola Marymount.

The Zags women’s schedule is: Aug. 19 tournament against Pitt, Aug. 21 tournament against Creighton, Aug. 27 home against Oregon, Sept. 1 home against CSU Bakersfield, Sept. 4 home against Texas, Sept. 8 home against Baylor, Sept. 15 at Weber State, Sept. 18 at Idaho State, Sept. 25 at Temple, Oct. 1 at San Francisco, Oct. 5 home vs Pepperdine, Oct. 8 at San Diego, Oct. 15 home against Pacific, Oct. 19 home against Loyola Marymount, Oct. 22 at BYU, Oct. 29 home against St. Mary’s, Nov. 2 at Santa Clara and Nov. 5 at home against Portland.

WSU’s full schedule is: Aug. 18 at Michigan, Aug. 25 at home against Portland, Aug. 28 home against EWU, Sept. 1 at Seattle, Sept. 4 home against Denver, Sept. 11 home against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Sept, 15 home against Northern Colorado, Sept. 18 at Saint Mary’s, Sept. 23 at Oregon State, Sept. 29 home against Colorado, Oct. 2 home against Utah, Oct. 6 at Cal, Oct. 9 at Stanford, Oct. 14 home against Oregon, Oct. 20 home against ASU, Oct. 23 home against Arizona, Oct. 27 at UCLA, Oct. 30 at USC and Nov. 4 home against Washington.

Central’s full schedule is: Sept. 1 home against Chico State, Sept. 3 home against San Francisco State, Sept. 7 at Colorado Springs, Sept. 9 at MSU Denver, Sept. 15 home against Northwest Nazarene, Sept. 17 home against MSU Billings, Sept. 22 home against Western Washington, Sept. 24 home against Simon Fraser, Sept. 29 at Western Oregon, Oct. 1 at St. Martin’s, Oct. 6 at Seattle Pacific, Oct. 8 at Northwest Nazarene, Oct. 13 home against St. Martin’s, Oct. 15 home against Western Oregon, Oct. 20 at Simon Fraser, Oct. 22 at Western Washington, Oct. 27 home against Seattle Pacific and Oct. 29 at MSU Billings.

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.