The College of Staten Island men’s and women’s soccer teams will be looking to contend for CUNYAC titles in 2014 and the path towards prominence will begin with what should be an exciting regular season. The 2014 schedules have officially been announced for the upcoming year, and both schedules hold the promise for tough competition littered with what should be exciting tilts against familiar conference foes.
Both teams will start their season with their 3rd Annual CSI Soccer Fall Classic. Both squads will host three teams for what will be eight games over the three-day Labor Day weekend. The Dolphin men will kick off first on August 30th with a clash against the United States Merchant Marine Academy at 12 Noon in what will be their first meeting since 1998, while the women will start right after for their first-ever meeting with Illinois Institute of Technology. Play will continue on Sunday and Monday, with the women facing off against New Jersey City University and the men closing the tourney against Trine University.
The CSI women will open their season on a five-game home stand, and will play seven of their first eight games at the CSI Soccer Complex. They will wrap up the season with three of their final four games on the road leading up to the CUNYAC Tournament that will take place at Brooklyn College starting November 5. The Dolphins faced off against Brooklyn in last year’s title game, and the rematch for that tilt will be CSI’s last conference match of the season on the road on October 18.
The Dolphins will learn about their team make-up from their out-of-conference tests. CSI will face two teams that have never before beaten, against Ramapo College (0-6) on October 8, and Rutgers-Camden (0-1) on October 22. The schedule also includes a rematch against Rutgers-Newark (September 3), whom the Dolphins beat for the first time in four tries last year, and SUNY-Old Westbury on October 2, the same team that put a halt on CSI’s season opening 16-game unbeaten streak in 2013.
The CSI men will be trying to avoid a slow start that put them in a hole last year at 1-8-1 before catching fire in mid-October. The Dolphins start with four of their first five at home but conditioning will be a key factor, as the Dolphins play their first six games in the first two weeks on the season. CSI’s first eight games are against non-conference competition, and will finish up with eight CUNYAC contests among their final 11 games, including 2013 postseason rematches against John Jay College (September 29) and Baruch College (September 20).
While the schedule boasts some familiar faces, some notable matches for the men this season will be first-ever meetings with Kings College (September 7), Rowan University (September 10) and SUNY-Canton (October 5) and the first meeting against The College of New Jersey (October 1) since 1980.
All CSI home events are FREE for all spectators and PG CLUE Certified for all students. A majority of home and away soccer matches are covered by CSI SportsNet, CSI Athletics’ official webcasting stream available live, world-wide, and free of charge. Check schedule for broadcast dates and times. You can visit the schedules directly here:
