JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The University of North Florida men's soccer team officially starts its 2009 season with a pair of matches at the UCF Fall Classic in Orlando, Fla. The Ospreys open up the tournament with a match against host UCF on Friday, Sept. 4 at 8:30 p.m. before taking on Iona in a match on Sunday, Sept. 6, at noon.
“We are looking forward to it,” head coach Ray Bunch said of the UCF Fall Classic. “UCF is a very established team and one of our closest state rivals. Over the past couple of years, we have developed quite a rivalry with them. We won two years ago and they won last year. We are excited to start the season against them.”
“As for Iona, they have a very strong reputation,” Bunch continued. “They have been around for a while and are an established program. Any time you get to play an out of region team, it is exciting.”
The Ospreys enter the regular season after playing three exhibition matches. UNF finished the preseason with a 1-1-1 record. The Ospreys opened the preseason with a 0-0 tie on the road at the Savannah College of Art & Design before returning to Jacksonville for a pair of matches. North Florida fell to Rollins, 3-1, before shutting out Middle Georgia by a score of 2-0.
UCF enters the match with a 0-1-0 record, dropping its season opener to No. 11 South Florida, 2-1, in Tampa, Fla. The match with the Golden Knights will mark the home opener for UCF. The Golden Knights have a 3-1 all-time record against UNF. In the last two contests against UCF, the home team has had the advantage. Last season, the Ospreys fell 3-1 to the Golden Knights, but in 2007, UNF claimed a 3-2 overtime victory at Hodges Stadium.
Iona enters the match 1-0-0 after claiming a 1-0 victory over New Hampshire in its season opener in New Rochelle, N.Y. The match with Iona will mark the first time the two teams have met on the soccer field. The match with the Gaels will also mark the first time the Ospreys have taken the field against any of the current members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC).
The final team in the tournament is Georgia Southern. Like the Ospreys, the UCF Fall Classic will kickoff the 2009 season for the Eagles. GSU squares off with Iona to start the tournament before closing out the weekend against UCF.
Following the UCF Classic, UNF will participate in the Furman Diadora Tournament in Greenville, S.C. on Sept. 11-13, before playing their home opener on Friday, Sept. 18, against Georgia State at 5 p.m. at Hodges Stadium.
