Men’s Soccer 7/7/2020 3:24:00 PM Ryan Shumaker
PORTALES, N.M. – Eastern New Mexico men’s soccer recently announced the program’s 2020 regular season schedule which will feature a total of 14 matches.
The Hounds will be coming off a historic 2019 campaign that saw the program rise to as high as no. 9 in the national polls and set the school record for 12 wins in the regular season after finishing the year at 12-5-1. Eastern New Mexico will look to qualify for the Lone Star Conference Postseason Tournament for the first time in school history this fall, and will have to manage a schedule that will feature all opponents from the Lone Star Conference, with nine of those contests scheduled as conference games and five as non-conference games.
“We have a great group of returners for 2020.” Head coach Jon Fridal said, “All five of our All-LSC selections will return, in addition to a talented senior class that has worked hard to lay a big foundation for this program in the last two seasons. We have some very talented freshman and transfers joining our roster as well. This will be an incredibly deep and talented roster on paper and I’m looking forward to getting everybody back on campus.”
After compiling an undefeated non-conference record of 8-0-0 in 2019, head coach Jon Fridal and company must get off to a fast start once again if they hope to replicate last season’s success. The first four games of the 2020 campaign will pit the Hounds against LSC competition in games scheduled as non-conference contests.
That stretch of non-conference action will get started on Sept. 4 in Odessa, Texas against UT Permian Basin as the Hounds look to extend their winning streak over the Falcons to five games. Eastern will kick off the 2020 home slate of games on Sept. 10 and 12 with matches against Texas A&M-International and Oklahoma Christian before closing out the opening portion of the schedule on Sept. 19 on the road against Midwestern State.
The first four games will provide a balanced amount of competition for the Hounds to prepare for official LSC games as Texas A&M International and Midwestern State each finished 2019 with a record of 7-3 in conference play while UT Permian Basin and Oklahoma Christian finished with league records of 2-7-1 and 2-8, respectively.
The official Lone Star Conference schedule will get started for the Hounds on Sept. 26 in Laredo, Texas as they will take on Texas A&M International for the second time in a little over two weeks, this time as a conference competition. The road swing will continue for Eastern in Canyon, Texas on Sept. 30 as they take on arch-rival West Texas A&M looking to build off the just the program’s second win over the Buffs in school history last fall.
The Hounds will repeat opponents for the second time a few days later as they welcome Midwestern State to Greyhound Stadium on Oct. 3 before making the short trip over to Lubbock, Texas on Oct. 7 where they will meet Lubbock Christian.
A critical three-game home stand for Eastern New Mexico will get underway on Oct. 10 as the Hounds will play three games in 11 days, all inside Greyhound Stadium. The second of those matches will be designated as a non-conference match against West Texas A&M on Oct. 14, while the final meeting of the season against UT Permian Basin will be played as a conference match on Oct. 21.
Eastern will hit the road following that home stretch on Oct. 24 to face off with the defending Lone Star Conference Regular Season Champions in St. Mary’s before concluding the road schedule for the 2020 campaign on Oct. 28 against Oklahoma Christian. The Greyhounds will finish the 2020 regular season with a Halloween night match-up against UT Tyler inside Greyhound Stadium.
