Men's Soccer | 7/21/2017 9:39:00 AM

ROCHESTER, NY -- RIT men's soccer coach Bill Garno is pleased to announce the 2017 regular season schedule. The Tigers will play 15 regular season games, including nine home contests.

The Tigers will play four teams who competed in the 2016 NCAA Division III Tournament: Rutgers-Newark, University of Rochester, Vassar College and St. Lawrence University. RIT will play nine Liberty League contests and six non-conference games.
 
 "We'll have an opportunity right out of the blocks to see where we're at," said Garno, who enters his 22nd season as RIT head coach. "We will need our veterans to continue the positive trajectory we started last spring and give our newcomers time to get in sync. Our opening six games will be good preparation before opening our always extremely competitive Liberty League schedule against the 2016 Liberty League champions."

The Tigers open the 2017 campaign by hosting the 14th Annual Doug May Memorial Classic on Sept. 1-2. Local rival The College at Brockport (Sept. 1) and 2016 NCAA Tournament participant Rutgers-Newark (Sept. 2) invade Tiger Stadium.

RIT hits the road Sept. 7 for a night game at Keuka College before coming home to play Elmira College on Sept. 13 and University of Rochester on Sept. 16 in the sixth annual Hillside Community Shield. It will be the second year the Hillside Community Shield will be contested on the campus of RIT.  [Office1] [Office2] 
 
The Tigers close out the non-conference portion of their schedule on Sept. 19 when RIT faces former Empire 8 rival Nazareth College at 4 p.m.

RIT opens play in the highly competitive Liberty League Conference at home versus 2016 NCAA Tournament participant and defending Liberty League champion Vassar College on Sept. 23. The Tigers close out the month with two conference games, playing at Hobart College on Sept. 27, while hosting[Office3] [Office4] [Office5] [Office6] [Office7] [Office8]  Clarkson University on Sept. 30.

The Tigers play six Liberty League games in the month of October, including three straight road games to begin the month at St. Lawrence University (Oct. 7), Rensselaer (Oct. 13), and Skidmore College (Oct. 24). RIT will close out the regular season hosting three straight Liberty League games, first against Bard College (Oct. 21), league newcomer Ithaca College (Oct. 25), and Union College (Oct. 28).

With the addition of Ithaca as the ninth Liberty League team, the league postseason format has changed, with six teams qualifying for postseason play. The Liberty League quarterfinal will take place on Oct. 31, while the semifinals will be played on Nov. 4 with the title game taking place on Nov. 5. The 2017 Liberty League Champion earns the automatic berth into the 2017 NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship.