Yuma News Now

Yuma, Arizona - Arizona Western College has announced that the 2008 AWC Soccer schedule has been released. Kenny Dale’s Matadors-who came within one game last season of reaching the Region I Playoffs for an unprecedented third straight season-will host nine Matador home games and travel to eleven road contests as part of the 20-game regular season schedule.

The Matadors’ schedule starts at home and then quickly turns to the road. The Soccer Matadors will kick off their ’08 campaign against Glendale Community College in a conference match on Saturday night, August 23^rd, in a 6PM contest at the AWC Soccer Field. The Matadors then embark on a four-game road trip, kicking off the road side of their ACCAC schedule on Wednesday, August 27^th at ’07 Region I Semifinalist Mesa Community College. The Mats will then head west for a pair of non-conference California clashes, renewing their rivalry with Imperial Valley College just 50 miles down Interstate 8 on August 30^th, and then continuing on to the San Diego area to battle Cuyamaca College on September 1^st, before winding up the trip at Scottsdale in a conference matchup on September 3^rd. The Mats will then enjoy home cooking throughout much of the rest of September, including a four-game homestand against playoff participants from last year: defending national champion Yavapai (September 6^th), South Mountain (September 10^th), Phoenix (September 13^th) and Pima (September 17^th). The Mats also will face upstart Paradise Valley at home on Wednesday, September 24^th. The Mats’ other road games in September are at Chandler-Gilbert on September 20^th before starting the second half of the season on September 27^th at Glendale.

October will see the majority of the Matadors’ schedule happen away from home. They’ll kick off October with a pair of home games against Mesa (October 2^nd) and Scottsdale (October 4^th), but then will head out for a crucial 4-game road swing through Prescott (Yavapai on October 8^th), the Phoenix area twice (South Mountain October 11^th and Phoenix College on October 15^th) and then to Tucson for Pima on October 18^th. The Matadors will spend the final week of their regular season schedule hosting Chandler-Gilbert in their home finale on Wednesday night, October 22^nd, before heading back to the Phoenix area to finish out the campaign at Paradise Valley on Saturday afternoon, October 25^th. All home games will be played at the AWC Soccer Field on the AWC campus, and every home game will kick off at 6PM with the exception of the September 6^th matchup against Yavapai, which will be a 4PM start. Admission to all regular season home soccer games is FREE.