2009 Fall Sports Schedules Released
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.-- North Central University Athletics has released the tentative schedules for the 2009 Fall Sports Season. The Rams will compete in 77 scheduled dates of competition in six varsity sports while traveling to six states during the season starting on September 1. NCU will also be hosting the 2009 NCCAA Division II (DII) North Central Region Men's & Women's Soccer Championships on October 30-31.
The season begins with a busy day on September 1 when Men's & Women's Cross Country, Men's & Women's Soccer, and Volleyball all open up their 2009 schedule with home or local competitions. Men's Golf opens their season the next day with a home triangular.
Men's & Women's Cross Country will open their slate with a small meet verses familiar Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) opponents Crown College (St. Bonifacius, Minn.) and Northwestern College (St. Paul, Minn.) in the second annual Bassett Creek Triangular taking place at Bassett Creek Park in Plymouth, Minnesota. The Rams will travel to Crown the next week for their annual Storm Invite before traveling to St. Olaf for their invitational on September 19. September wraps up for the Runnin' Rams with the Roy Griak Invitational hosted by the University of Minnesota on the 26th. October will feature trips to the Wiscosin-Eau Claire Blugold Invite and the Minnesota-Duluth Pine Hill Invite before wrapping up with the UMAC Conference Championships hosted by Crown College. The first Friday in November NCU travels to St. John's University (Collegeville, Minn.) for the Fall Finale before concluding their season with the 2009 NCCAA National Championship Meet.
NCU Golf will tee off its season with a home dual match at Hiawatha Golf Club on September 2 before going on the road for two invitationals hosted by UMAC opponents Bethany Lutheran College (Mankato, Minn.) and Martin Luther College (New Ulm, Minn.) on September 11 and 15. The Rams will viist metro area opponent Concordia University (St. Paul, Minn.) for a dual match on September 19 before visiting another UMAC team hosted invitational, this time at Northwestern College on September 23. North Central will host its annual NCU Invitational at Bracketts Crossing on September 28 before finishing up its regular season fall slate with the two-day UMAC Conference championship in St. Cloud, Minnesota on October 2-3.
Men's & Women's Soccer begin the 2009 season with a home match verses Presentation College. A road trip to the Milwaukee area will have the Men playing a double header with NAIA opponent Robert Morris College (Chicago, Ill.) while the women will battle Alverno College and Mt Mary College on back to back afternoons. The Rams return home for a battle with Bethany Lutheran College before taking another road trip to Ankeny, Iowa to battle NCCAA DII Regional opponent Faith Baptist Bible College. On September 15 both squads begin a two game homestand with each hosting Martin Luther College. The Men follow that up with a game verses NAIA Dakota Wesleyan University and the women battle NCCAA DII Maranatha Baptist Bible College (Watertown, Wis.). September 24 the men begin a stretch of road games including games with NCAA DIII Wisconsin-Superior and Crown College, NCCAA DII Northland International University (Dunbar, Wis.) and NCAA DIII Finlandia University (Hancock, Mich.). The women will be on the road for tilts with Crown, Northland, and Finlandia. The Rams come home on October 9 and 10 for two games with NCCAA DII region rivals Providence College (Otterburne, Manitoba) and Faith Baptist and before a road trip to Martin Luther. The women will finish up the regular season with matches verses NCAA DIII Northland College and Finlandia on October 20 and 23. The men will host Northland and Finlandia before wrapping up their regular season slate with a metro area away match verses Bethel University (Arden Hills, Minn.) on October 26. NCU soccer will conclude their schedule by hosting the 2009 NCCAA DII Men's & Women's Soccer Regional Championship Tournaments on October 30-31.
Rams Volleyball starts the 2009 campaign at home with a match verses Martin Luther College on September 1. Later that week NCU will travel to Milwaukee for the Wisconsin Lutheran Invitational Tournament. The Rams will stay on the road for the next several matches including trips to Crown College, Faith Baptist, and a two day tournament at Trinity Bible College (Ellendale, N.D.) on September 11, 12, 18, 19 respectively. Two home dates come next with a single match verses NAIA Waldorf College (Forest City, Iowa) on September 21 and triangular match with Minnesota-Morris and Crossroads College (Rochester, Minn.) on the 22. Next the Rams sandwich road games with Martin Luther College and Crown College around a home match with Northland International University on September 29 and October 2 and 6. NCU hosts a triangular with NCCAA DII Regional opponents Faith Baptist and Providence College on Oct 10 before finishing up their regular season with away competitions at Waldorf College, a two day tournament at Northland International, and a final single match verses Crossroads College. On October 30-31 North Central will travel to Trinity Bible College for the 2009 NCCAA DII Regional Championship tournament.
For more details and times stay updated by checking back through out the summer. Also keep up with the Rams on Twitter by following NCUAthletics.