CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Just four months after concluding its unprecedented spring 2021 season, Western Carolina women's soccer is ready to get back on schedule as head coach Chad Miller today announced the 2021 fall campaign. 

The Catamounts play 18 regular season matches featuring nine home games at the Catamount Athletic Complex. Western Carolina will also play a pair of exhibition matches, one at home and one on the road. The season culminates with the SoCon Championships.

"The ladies and coaching staff are excited about this fall and getting back out there to compete for a championship," said Miller. "We have a very good core group returning and have added some exciting talent that we think will lead to a very competitive campaign this fall."

Western Carolina will face teams from seven different states: North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Virginia, and Florida. The Catamounts match-up against teams from seven different NCAA conferences including the ACC (Duke), Mid-American (MAC) (Ohio), Atlantic-Sun (North Florida and Liberty), Atlantic-10 (Davidson), Big South (Gardner-Webb, Longwood, Winthrop, Presbyterian, and UNC Asheville), and Ohio Valley (UT Martin).

WCU squares off against five Southern Conference opponents on the road, traveling to ETSU, Wofford, Furman, UNCG, and VMI, while four conference teams - Chattanooga, Samford, The Citadel, and Mercer - each visit the Catamounts in Cullowhee.

"We look forward to starting the season this fall and feel our out-of-conference schedule will challenge and prepare us for SoCon play," Miller said. "We have a handful of teams in the nonconference schedule that played in their conference finals and or the NCAA tournament last spring. We have a mixture of some tough away games, as well as home fixtures that will get us ready for the grind of conference play."

The Catamounts will tangle with three teams that made NCAA Championship appearances in the 2020 spring season. Top-25 Duke reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship before falling to Florida State on PKs. Liberty won the Atlantic Championship earning an NCAA bid along with Furman who won the SoCon Championships to punch their ticket. 

WCU will play two exhibition games, hosting Winthrop in Cullowhee on Sunday, Aug. 8 before closing out the exhibition portion of the schedule at Presbyterian on Aug. 14.

Despite opening the season at home by hosting North Florida on Aug. 19 and mountain-rival UNC Asheville on Aug. 22, three of Western Carolina's first five games come on the road. The Catamounts hit the road for a three-match, in-state road swing at Duke (Aug. 26), Gardner-Webb (Aug. 26) and Davidson (Sept. 2). 

After the three-consecutive road matches, Western Carolina has the luxury of playing five of its next six matches at home. WCU entertains Longwood (Sept. 5) and Liberty (Sept. 9) before traveling to UT Martin (Sept. 12). After a trip to play the Skyhawks, WCU returns home to host Ohio (Sept. 19) in nonconference play before closing out the month by opening league play against Mercer (Sept. 24) and The Citadel (Sept. 26). 

Western Carolina travels to Furman (Oct. 1), Wofford (Oct. 3), and ETSU (Oct. 8) before returning home for its final two conference matches. The Catamounts host Samford (Oct. 15) and Chattanooga (Oct. 17) before closing out the regular season at VMI (Oct. 22) and UNCG (Oct. 24). 

"In terms of league play, the SoCon is always very competitive and we have to be at our best every time we step out there," Miller admitted. "In my opinion, our league has gotten more and more competitive over the past few years from top to bottom. The gap between the top teams and the bottom is as thin as it has ever been."

He added, "It will be an exciting fall for SoCon women's soccer. We have some great coaches and players in our league that we have a lot of respect for, and we are looking forward to the challenge." 

The SoCon Tournament begins Oct. 26 with the first round and quarterfinals played three days later Oct. 29, with each of the first two rounds hosted by the higher seed. The semifinals and championship game will be on Oct. 31 and Nov. 6 at the highest seed remaining in the tournament. 

The Western Carolina women's soccer student-athletes officially report to campus on Aug. 2 for preseason. WCU returns 23 players from the spring 2021 season.