Colgate Men’s Soccer To Host Nine Home Games at Beyer-Small ’76 Field
John W. Beyer Head Men’s Soccer Coach Erik Ronning has unveiled the Raiders’ 2017 slate as Colgate looks to build upon its 2016 Patriot League Championship season.
Colgate hosts nine home games at Beyer-Small ’76 Field, including three contests against Power Five conference foes. The Raiders will face seven teams that finished their respective 2016 campaigns with a winning record.
“We have put together a schedule against programs from some of the top programs in the country to ensure we are well prepared for the always challenging Patriot League schedule,” said Ronning. “We have a team that can compete at the highest level of college soccer and know that the teams we compete against in our non-conference slate, and within the Patriot League, will push us to our limits. We are very excited for the challenges that await.”
Colgate opens up the 2017 season with a trip to New Hampshire on August 25. The Wildcats finished a strong 2016 campaign with a 12-7 record.
The Raiders’ home slate begins with an August 28 contest against local foe Binghamton. The contest against the Bearcats will kick off a four-game home stand that continues with the Central New York Classic. Colgate welcomes the Big Ten’s Northwestern and the Ivy League’s Princeton on September 1 and 3. Colgate wraps up the homestand with a Friday night contest against the Pac 12’s Oregon State on September 8. The Raiders will host their annual Down Syndrome Awareness game benefitting Pathfinder Village when Colgate welcomes the Beavers.
The Raiders will hit the road for non-league tune-ups at Saint Francis (Pa.) and UMass Sept. 10 and 16 before opening up Patriot League play the following weekend.
Colgate begins its run towards defending its 2016 Patriot League title when the Raiders open league action at home against Loyola on September 22. The Raiders will then welcome Syracuse, a squad that made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament a season ago, for a Monday night non-league showdown Sept. 25.
Colgate’s Patriot League action includes road contests at Army (Sept. 29), defending regular-season champion American (Oct. 7), Lafayette (Oct. 21), Holy Cross (Oct. 25) and Boston University (Nov. 3). The Raiders will host Lehigh (Oct. 4), Bucknell (Oct. 14), and Navy (Oct. 29) in home Patriot League action.
The Patriot League Tournament begins Tuesday, November 7 with the quarterfinal round. The Semifinals will be played on November 10, with the Championship match set for November 12. The winner of the Patriot League Tournament earns the league’s automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.
The Raiders are coming off a 2016 season that saw Colgate finish 13-7-2 and claim the program’s sixth-ever Patriot League Championship and NCAA Tournament berth.