TAMPA -- University of South Florida women’s soccer head coach Denise Schilte-Brown and her staff are excited to announce their 18-game schedule for the upcoming 2009 season.

“We feel that we have put together a strong schedule,” said Schilte-Brown. “It is going to be challenge for us, but it is a challenge we want to take on. I really feel the schedule has great balance. Our non-conference schedule will prepare us well for the BIG EAST Conference. We will have to be able to perform at a very high level game in and game out.“

The Bulls schedule consists of five in-state opponents and six teams that qualified for the NCAA tournament.

In addition to two home exhibitions, the 2009 slate consists of seven home matches, including two matches that are a part of a four-team in-season tournament. The Bulls will play away from the confines of the USF Soccer Stadium nine times in 2009. A season ago, the Bulls tallied three wins on the road and also tied perennial power Connecticut, 0-0, in Storrs.  

The Bulls will begin the 2009 campaign with a pair of home exhibitions against the University of Jacksonville Aug. 16 and St. Leo University Aug. 22, before opening the season at home against Florida Atlantic on Aug. 28.

In 2008, USF handed the Owls a 1-0 double overtime loss in Tampa. The Bulls are 7-5-2 all time against FAU.

The Bulls will then head north on Interstate-75 to Gainesville to take on the Gators for the first time since 2007 and the third time ever. UF holds 2-0-0 advantage in the previous meetings.

From Sept. 4-6 the Bulls will host a trio of teams in Tampa for an in-season tournament. USF will welcome in-state foes Central Florida and Florida International and Top 25 fixture LSU.

“We are very excited about hosting three very good programs,” added Schilte-Brown. “It will be great to have our fans out to support us as we take on two solid programs, in LSU and FIU. It should be a fantastic soccer weekend.”

The Bulls will take on FIU Friday, Sept. 4 at 7:30 pm. The match will be the night cap of a double header where LSU will take on UCF in the tournament opener. The Bulls are 3-3-1 against the Panthers with the Panthers having won the last two.

The Bulls will then take on LSU on Sept. 6 at noon. The Tigers, who finished 2008 ranked No. 14 in the final Soccer America Top 25 of the year, have won consecutive Southeastern Conference West crowns and earned back-to-back NCAA tourney berths.  The Bulls were slated to travel to Baton Rouge in 2008 but due to inclement weather the trip was cancelled.

They will continue their season traveling to UCF, which reached the NCAA tournament for the seventh time.

The Bulls will open the BIG EAST portion of their schedule with a trip to Marquette followed by a trip to Stetson to close out the non-conference schedule. The Bulls haven’t tallied a loss to the Hatters since Sept. 3, 2000.

“The BIG EAST is always so tough and what makes it so tough is that there are good teams, top to bottom,” said Schilte-Brown. “You have to come ready to play every match.”

The Bulls will end their four-game road trip in Pennsylvania to take on Pittsburgh in a conference game. Last season against the Panthers, the Bulls tied 0-0, bringing them to an overall record of 1-0-2 against Pitt.

Following the match in the Steel City, USF will have a quick turn around and will return home to face the West Virginia Mountaineers on Sept. 27 at 1 p.m.

The following five games will be hosted at home and will all be BIG EAST conference games. West Virginia, which boasted a 14-3-6 record and went to a ninth consecutive NCAA Championship, Seton Hall, Rutgers, Providence, who the Bulls hold a 1-0-1 record against, and Connecticut, whom the Bulls tied last year, will be in the line-up.  The match-up against the Huskies will mark the last regular season home match of the season.

USF will end the season on the road for the next four games as the Bulls will travel to Louisville and Cincinnati as they look to avenge losses from a season ago.

USF will then wrap up the regular season with a weekend Empire State swing as it heads to Queens to take on St. John’s on Oct. 23 and then finishes up with the Orange of Syracuse on Oct. 25, a team that the Bulls defeated last season.