BREVARD, N.C. – Fresh off its first postseason appearance since 2016, the Brevard College Men's Soccer program has released its upcoming schedule for the Fall 2020 season – a season that marks the program's first as fully-eligible members of NCAA Division III.
"I am excited about our schedule for 2020 for several reasons," commented Head Coach Helio "L" D'Anna, who enters his second season at the helm of Brevard men's soccer. "We have a good balance of home/away games, we avoided having back-to-back games as much as possible, and we have a good strength of schedule. Just as important, we are playing mainly DIII regional games and we are giving our kids a fair shot to qualify at large to the NCAA DIII postseason."
D'Anna leads a Tornado team that is fresh off the program's first playoff appearance since the 2016 SAC Men's Soccer Tournament. Brevard's 2019 team, following a 7-6-3 regular season that included a 7-3-3 mark in USA South Conference play, earned a bid into the 2019 ECAC Men's Soccer Championships last season.
The Tornados begin the 2020 campaign with a pair of exhibition competitions against Piedmont International University and Southern Wesleyan University. Brevard will travel to Winston-Salem, North Carolina on Saturday, August 22 to take on the Bruins at 4 p.m. before hosting the Warriors of Southern Wesleyan on Saturday, August 29 under-the-lights at Ives-Lemel Family Field with a 7 p.m. kickoff time.
Brevard's regular season begins with a home match on Tuesday, September 1 against local Western North Carolina-area opponent Warren Wilson College at 7 p.m. at Ives-Lemel Family Field. The non-conference matchup is the first of three-straight home contests for the Tornados, who continue this stretch with matches against Sewanee University (Friday, Sept. 4, 7 p.m.) and Mississippi University for Women (Sunday, Sept. 6, 2 p.m). Non-conference play wraps up on Wednesday, September 9 when the Tornados hit the road for the first time in the regular season with a trip to Greensboro, North Carolina to face Guilford College at 6 p.m.
The Tornados will shift their focus to a loaded 13-match USA South Conference slate beginning on Saturday, September 12 when Brevard visits Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia. The Scots and Tornados will face off at 4 p.m. Brevard will play its first back-to-back weekend with its first trip in program history to Staunton, Virginia to face second-year program Mary Baldwin University on Saturday, September 19 at 1 p.m. Just 24 hours later, Brevard will be back in action in Danville, Virginia on Sunday, September 20 against Averett University in a 1 p.m. kickoff.
Brevard closes out the month of September with three-straight home matches, beginning with a Saturday, September 26 contest against Methodist University at 11 a.m. at Ives-Lemel Family Field. The Tornados will then host defending USA South Men's Soccer Tournament champions NC Wesleyan College on Sunday, September 27 at 1 p.m. September wraps up on Wednesday, September 30 when Brevard hosts Piedmont College for a midweek, 7 p.m. start time at home for the Tornados.
BC will head to Misenheimer, North Carolina on Saturday, October 3 to play Pfeiffer University at 1 p.m. before returning to Brevard for Homecoming Weekend on the Brevard College campus. An action-packed Homecoming Saturday begins on October 10, as the men's soccer team begins the Homecoming festivities with a match against William Peace University at 11:30 a.m. at Ives-Lemel Family Field. Brevard will then play host to Greensboro College for a Sunday, October 11 matchup that will begin at 2 p.m.
The Tornados will then travel to Maryville, Tennessee to matchup against Maryville College on Wednesday, October 14 at 6 p.m. One of the biggest highlights for the Tornados in 2019 came when Brevard defeated Maryville by a dominant final score of 5-0 in a midweek home contest back on October 2, 2019.
Brevard's Senior Day will take place on Saturday, October 17 when the Tornados play host to LaGrange College at 5 p.m. on the campus of Brevard College. BC concludes its regular season with consecutive road contests, beginning with a midweek tilt against Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Alabama on Wednesday, October 21 at 4 p.m. before the Tornados conclude its 2020 regular season on Saturday, October 24 at Berea College in Berea, Kentucky with a 1 p.m. kickoff time.
Coach D'Anna's squad will be seeking a bid into the 2020 USA South Men's Soccer Tournament, where first-round play is scheduled for Saturday, October 31 between each division's top-four seeds. The winners of the first-round matchups will then face each other on Saturday, November 7, with the tournament culminating with the championship match scheduled for Sunday, November 8.
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-BC-