HANOVER, N.H. — After having its 2020 season canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Dartmouth men's soccer team is excited to announce its schedule for this fall. The challenging slate features a pair of top-10 teams from this past spring and 15 games in all, including the regular showdowns against Ivy League opponents in the Big Green's quest to win its 14th conference title.
"We are super excited to get back on the field after such a long layoff due to COVID," said
Bo Oshoniyi, the Bobby Clark Head Coach of Men's Soccer. "At Dartmouth, we always want to test ourselves against the best teams in the country and the 2021 schedule is no different. Our non-conference schedule will give us a lot answers to some tough questions before we get into Ivy League play. The players and staff are really excited to be playing former national champions and Sweet 16 teams, along with our always tough Ivy League schedule."
The 2021 season will begin with six consecutive games on the road, starting on Sept. 10 with a trek to the great Northwest to take on the University of Washington. The Huskies ended the spring ranked eighth in the nation while posting a 12-4 record and advancing to the quarterfinals in the NCAA Tournament, only to fall to second-seeded Pitt. The Green will also play at Seattle two days later against a Redhawks team that was nationally ranked in 2019 before going 6-4-1 this past spring.
Dartmouth will return to the Northeast to play regional rival UMass, which received votes in the national rankings with a 7-2-3 mark, on Sept. 15, followed by a trip to UConn (Sept. 21). On Sept. 25, the Big Green will get another big test, this time against a Georgetown team that finished the season ranked fifth in the polls and, like Washington, advanced to the round of eight. The long road trip will finally conclude at Hartford on Sept. 28.
The home opener will double as the Ivy League opener when Princeton comes to town on Oct. 2. The Tigers ended Dartmouth's four-year reign atop the league standings in 2018, but the Green are unbeaten in the series over the last six meetings (4-0-2).
Following a non-conference contest against Albany on Oct. 5, Dartmouth returns to the road for games on consecutive Saturdays at Yale (Oct. 9) and Penn (Oct. 16). The final game outside of the league will take place at Burnham Field when the Big Green host Twin State rival Vermont on Oct. 19. The final four Ancient Eight matchups will take place on the next four Saturdays — home versus Columbia, at Harvard, home against Cornell and at Brown.
For local fans that don't want to wait until October to see the squad play in person, Dartmouth will host Southern New Hampshire in an exhibition game on Aug. 28 at 5 p.m.