AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn soccer and head coach Karen Hoppa have announced the team's schedule for the upcoming 2019 season.
Nine of Auburn's 18 games in the regular season are against teams coming off a NCAA Tournament appearances, including eight teams that advanced past the first round.
"We are excited to announce our 2019 schedule," Hoppa said. "This schedule is extraordinarily challenging with half of our opponents in last year's NCAA Tournament. We open up with two really tough road trips that will no doubt prepare us for the always demanding grind of SEC play."
After a pair of exhibition matches at Kennesaw State and versus Mercer, Auburn will open its season with four straight road contests. The Tigers start the fall slate in the Sunshine State, taking on South Florida on Thursday, Aug. 22 before traveling further south to face Florida Gulf Coast on Sunday, Aug. 25.
The challenging start to the season continues with a tournament hosted by Georgia Labor Day Weekend. Auburn will play a pair of Power Five foes, squaring off with Maryland on Friday, Aug. 30 and Virginia Tech on Sunday, Sept. 1.
The Tigers will host another ACC foe in Syracuse in the team's home opener at the Auburn Soccer Complex on Thursday, Sept. 8. Three more home matches against Troy on Sunday, Sept. 8, Southern Miss on Friday, Sept. 13 and Samford on Sunday, Sept. 15 will cap off non-conference play.
The Southeastern Conference slate begins with a road trip to Lexington, Kentucky, to take on the Wildcats on Thursday, Sept. 19, and the Tigers will alternate between home and road matches for the remainder of the regular season.
The Tigers begin its home conference schedule with a matchup against 2018 quarterfinalist Tennessee on Thursday, Sept. 26. The team's remaining home schedule includes contests against LSU on Thursday, Oct. 3, Texas A&M on Sunday, Oct. 13, Arkansas on Thursday, Oct. 24 and the regular season finale against South Carolina on Thursday, Oct. 31 – all teams that advanced to the second round of the tournament a season ago.
Auburn's road schedule in the league also includes trips to Oxford, Mississippi, on Sunday, Sept. 29, Starkville, Mississippi, on Thursday, Oct. 10, Gainesville, Florida, on Friday, Oct. 18, and Tuscaloosa, Alabama on Sunday Oct. 27. The Tigers have defeated Alabama in 15 of the last 18 meetings, including six straight.
Continuing the tradition, the SEC Tournament will once again be held in Orange Beach, Ala., from Nov. 3-10.
The NCAA Tournament begins Nov. 15 with the first four rounds set to take place on campus sites until the College Cup is held in San Jose, California, Dec. 6-8.
Admission to all Auburn soccer home contests is free.