ST. LOUIS – The defending Atlantic 10 Conference champion Saint Louis men’s soccer team announced its 2022 schedule today.
This year’s slate features 10 matches at Hermann Stadium and three nonconference games against NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship teams from a season ago. Eleven of the Billikens’ opponents finished in the top 100 of last year’s NCAA men’s soccer RPI.
“We are excited to be able to put together another challenging fall schedule,” SLU head coach Kevin Kalish said. “We have numerous matches scheduled both at home and on the road versus nationally ranked opponents and teams with NCAA Tournament experience. We believe it’s important to provide our players the opportunity to compete against various styles of play to help prepare our team to compete for championships.
“We also look forward to playing many challenging matches at beautiful Hermann Stadium,” Kalish continued. “SLU soccer fans helped our program in 2021 draw five of the 12 biggest crowds in college soccer, lead the nation in attendance with 3,061 fans per game – close to 40,000 fans overall – while culminating with nearly 7,000 fans at our second round match of the NCAA Tournament. We can’t wait to kick off the 2022 fall schedule this August.”
SLU’s first three matches of the regular season come against teams that qualified for the NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship last season. The 2022 campaign officially opens at Louisville (10-7-1 last year, NCAA first round last year) on Aug. 25 at Lynn Family Stadium.
The Bills’ home opener is Sunday, Aug. 28, at 6 p.m. when Lipscomb (12-4-2, NCAA first round last year) visits Hermann Stadium. SLU then heads back onto the road to face Creighton (9-8-2, NCAA second round last year) at Morrison Stadium in Omaha, Neb., on Friday, Sept. 2.
The Billikens will play five of their next seven matches in the St. Louis area, including the Bronze Boot game against SIUE on Tuesday, Sept. 13, at Korte Stadium in Edwardsville, Ill. The Bronze Boot rivalry dates back more than 50 years, and this will be the fourth matchup between the Billikens and Cougars since the Bronze Boot match was resumed in 2018.
Additional home nonconference games will be against Illinois-Chicago (Monday, Sept. 5), SMU (Friday, Sept. 9), Marquette (Tuesday, Sept. 27) and IUPUI (Tuesday, Oct. 18).
SLU welcomes the following A-10 foes to Hermann Stadium: VCU (Saturday, Sept. 24, Homecoming), Loyola Chicago (Saturday, Oct. 1), George Washington (Saturday, Oct. 15) and Saint Joseph’s (Saturday, Oct. 29).
The Billikens are on the road for the following A-10 matches: La Salle (Saturday, Sept. 17), Rhode Island (Wednesday, Oct. 5), Fordham (Saturday, Oct. 8) and Dayton (Saturday, Oct. 22).
The A-10 Men’s Soccer Championship begins Friday, Nov. 4, and will be played with a new structure this year. The top eight teams qualify, with the quarterfinals, semifinals and final spread out over 10 days. The better seed in each of the matchups will host. The A-10 final is slated for Sunday, Nov. 13.
The Billikens play their first of two exhibition matches on Sunday, Aug. 14, at Missouri State. The Bears led the nation in winning percentage last year with a 17-2 record.
The first opportunity for fans to see the Billikens at Hermann Stadium will be Saturday, Aug. 20, when Omaha comes to town for an exhibition contest. That match will also serve as the annual new student welcome, where all incoming Saint Louis University freshmen will be in attendance for a spirit contest.
Saint Louis is coming off a 2021 season that saw the Billikens post a 16-1-4 record, capture A-10 regular-season and tournament titles, and advance to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship.
Season tickets are available now for a limited-time offer of $40. All seats at Hermann Stadium are general admission. Single-game tickets will be available for purchase later this summer.
