HARRISONBURG, Va. – The James Madison women's soccer team will be taking on a national selection of teams before playing their inaugural season in the Sun Belt Conference to complete its 2022 season, as announced by Head Coach
Joshua Walters, Sr. on Monday morning.
"When I look at our phenomenal growth across the spring, nationally ranked incoming recruiting class, move to the Sun Belt with ESPN, and game day locker rooms being built at Sentara Park, I can't help but be excited about this upcoming fall," said Walters.
Highlighting the non-conference portion of the schedule for the Dukes is the Fairfield by Marriott Invitational that will host competitive rematches against Virginia (Sept. 1) in Charlottesville and Louisville (Sept. 4) in Harrisonburg. Memphis rounds out the four-team field for the invitational.
To open the season, the Dukes will host VCU on Aug. 18 before hopping on the road for their next four matches. They will travel to Morehead State (Aug. 21), UNCC (Aug. 25), and La Salle (Aug. 28) ahead of the opening game of the invitational at Virginia.
The Dukes will then wrap up their non-conference slate with a pair of home matches after the invitational. They will host Northern Colorado and Oregon State at Sentara Park on Sept. 8 and Sept. 11, respectively.
The first game of Sun Belt action for the Dukes will be on Sept. 16 as they travel to Coastal Carolina. The Dukes will also face Southern Miss (Sept. 25), Texas State (Oct. 6), Marshall (Oct. 14), and Georgia Southern (Oct. 23) all on the road.
JMU will welcome South Alabama on Oct. 9, as the Jaguars are coming off their third consecutive Sun Belt title and eight in the last nine years. Old Dominion (Sept. 22), App State (Sept. 30), and Georgia State (Oct. 20) will all be visiting Sentara Park as well, with Senior Night being held on the Oct. 27 match against Troy.
The 2022 Sun Belt Women's Soccer Championship will be held in Foley, Al. and gets kicked off with a play in game on Oct. 31.
"I always want to schedule so that we will be challenged because our goal is to be a very good team come November in the conference tournament," added Walters.