Full Schedule: Web | PDF
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — WKU Soccer has announced its 2021 schedule for the fall that includes 11 home events, 16 regular season matches and two exhibitions.
"We've built a terrific schedule again this year, welcoming to Bowling Green the likes of Vanderbilt, Ole Miss, Rice, and even a cross-division non-conference matchup with UTEP," said head coach Jason Neidell. "Conference USA is a fantastic league with quality teams, venues, and great places to visit. Every league game is intense and competitive."
The Lady Toppers home slate includes matchups against Power Fives Vanderbilt (Aug. 26) and Ole Miss (Sept. 12) and last season's C-USA tournament winner, Rice (Oct. 2). All three of those teams played in the NCAA Tournament in the spring with Ole Miss and Rice making it to the third round.
"It's a pretty quick turnaround this season, since we just finished playing our championship segment in April due to the pandemic," said Neidell. "As a result, we're only playing 16 regular season games, instead of the standard 18-20. C-USA is also sticking with the East-West divisional alignments, which means mostly single game weekends when we get to league play. This will be fantastic for our league, aiding in our periodization and recovery and perhaps giving our conference teams the advantage of being fresher as we head into the NCAA tournament. We are certainly excited for this season and the future."
WKU finished last season 8-2-2, clinching a C-USA East division title with an unbeaten 4-0-2 record in conference play. The Lady Toppers went on to advance to the semifinals of the C-USA tournament in April.
The final match of the spring season was April 15 and the first exhibition match of the fall will be Aug. 7, giving the Lady Toppers 114 days between competitions. A stark difference from the 458 days WKU had to wait between official matches from the 2019 season to the spring of 2021.
After the first exhibition match on Aug. 7 at UT Martin, WKU returns home for an exhibition against Bellarmine on Aug. 15. The Lady Toppers will officially start the season with a four-game homestand against Austin Peay (Aug. 19), Union (Aug. 21), Vanderbilt (Aug. 26) and Tennessee Tech (Sept. 3).
WKU goes on the road for a pair of non-conference matchups at Louisville (Sept. 5) and Belmont (Sept. 9) next before returning to Bowling Green to host Ole Miss (Sept. 12).
Conference play kicks off with a road match at Marshall on Sept. 16 and continues on Sept. 19 with a home match against Middle Tennessee. The Lady Toppers go to UAB (Sept. 24) before hosting Rice (Oct. 2) and Old Dominion (Oct. 8). WKU goes to FIU (Oct. 15) and then hosts UTEP (Oct. 17) and Florida Atlantic (Oct. 22) to close out the home portion of the schedule. In the final regular season match, the Lady Toppers will go to Charlotte (Oct. 28).
The C-USA Tournament will be Nov. 1-7 in Boca Raton, Florida hosted by Florida Atlantic.
WKU's home matches will be streamed on Facebook Live (here) with the exception of the exhibition match against Bellarmine and the Tennessee Tech match on Sept. 3. All streams are dependent on weather. Inclement weather in the area could cause cancellations of streams.
How to follow the Lady Toppers: For complete information on WKU Soccer, visit WKUSports.com or follow the program via social media @WKU_Soccer on Twitter and Instagram.
Western Kentucky University Athletics
- Champions Climb Here
- WKU Athletics
- Athletic Director
- Academic Services
- Annual Report
- Athletic Communications
- Athletic Hall of Fame
- Athletic Training
- Big Red
- CLIMB Program - NIL
- Compliance
- Facilities
- Financial Reports
- For Students
- Student Employment
- Forms/Requests
- Book Big Red
- Donation Requests
- Site Feedback
- For Fans
- Hilltopper Highlights
- Gameday Promotions
- Alumni Tailgates
- Big Red's Rascals
- Basketball Gameday
- Football Gameday
- Mobile Tickets
- Travel Center
- Tickets
- Give
