NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion University head men's soccer coach Alan Dawson announced the Monarchs' 2017 schedule, which will feature six NCAA tournament participants from a year ago and at least five teams who were ranked in the final NSCAA Coaches poll or receiving votes.

The season will be capped off as the Monarchs host the 2017 Conference USA Men's Soccer Tournament for the second time in four years. ODU hosted and won the C-USA tournament in 2014 claiming ODU athletics' first C-USA title.

“We're excited to kick off the season and hopefully gain some momentum early on with quite a few home games,” said coach Dawson. “Our ODU Soccer Classic should be a real challenge with Saint Francis and Iona coming to town. Right after the ODU Classic we step into conference play with arguably one of the strongest teams, if not the strongest team in the conference next year in FIU. So the conference schedule will be extremely difficult as usual. We've got Coastal Carolina and North Carolina, perennial Division I top-20 teams, so again that will be a big challenge for us outside of conference action. And of course the exciting part is that we are hosting the Conference USA tournament here in Norfolk. I am looking forward to that, the boys are looking forward to that, and hopefully we can qualify and put ourselves in a good position to make a run for the title.”

Teams that made the NCAA tournament last season that the Monarchs will face this season include North Carolina, Coastal Carolina and Conference USA rivals Kentucky, Charlotte, South Carolina and New Mexico.

The Monarchs begin competition with a pair of exhibitions with the first on Aug. 15, against Virginia, who ranked 13th at the end of 2016. ODU follows that with their second exhibition at home on Saturday, Aug. 19, as they host former CAA rival George Mason at 7 p.m.

Regular season action begins with four consecutive home games including two matches in the 42ndannual ODU Soccer Classic. Appalachian State and Oakland open up action at the ODU Soccer Complex on Aug. 25 and 27 respectively.

Old Dominion will host the 42nd annual ODU Soccer Classic at the ODU Soccer Complex, which will include Saint Francis (Pa.) on Sept. 1 and Iona on Sept 3. VCU, who is also in the Classic will play both teams, Iona on Sept. 1 and St. Francis on Sept. 3 in Richmond.

A duo of conference games await the Monarchs as they hit the road for their first road contests of the season against FIU and Florida Atlantic. The Panthers and Monarchs square off on Friday, Sept. 8, while Florida Atlantic takes on ODU a week later on Friday, Sept. 15.

Old Dominion returns to Norfolk for another four game stint as they host VCU, UAB, Campbell and Kentucky.

The Monarchs old CAA rival VCU travels to Hampton Roads for a mid-week match on Tuesday, Sept. 19, to kick off the four-game home stand. C-USA foe UAB, arrives in Norfolk on Saturday, Sept. 23, for the first conference match in front of the crowd.

The Campbell Fighting Camels come to town on Tuesday, Sept. 26, for another mid-week match with the Monarchs. Wrapping up the month of September for ODU is Kentucky, who earned a 16th seed in the 2016 NCAA Soccer tournament.

ODU closes out their schedule with six games before hosting the 2017 Conference USA Men's Soccer Tournament Nov. 8-12.

The Silver and Blue start off the month of October by traveling to Charlotte, N.C., on Oct. 6 to face the Charlotte 49ers. Charlotte held a top-10 ranking throughout most of 2016 and received a first round bye in the NCAA tournament only to fall to Virginia Tech 3-2.

The Chanticleers of Coastal Carolina travel to Norfolk for a nonconference match on Saturday, Oct. 14, before the Monarchs travel back to North Carolina to face the Tar Heels of North Carolina. The showdown between ODU and UNC will take place on Tuesday, Oct. 17, in Cary, N.C. at Wake Med Park, home of the Carolina RailHawks of the North American Soccer League.

ODU returns home on Saturday, Oct. 21, as they host the Marshall Thundering Herd at the ODU Soccer Complex. The Monarchs travel to South Carolina for their last road game of the regular season to face the Gamecocks on Sunday, Oct. 29.

New Mexico travels to Norfolk to face Old Dominion in their last regular season match on Nov. 3, before the 2017 Conference USA tournament comes to town the following week, Nov. 8-12.

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ODU Men's Soccer 2017 Schedule

Date	Opponent	Venue	Time
Aug. 15	@ UVA (exh.)	Charlottesville, Va.	7:00 PM
Aug. 19	GMU (exh.)	Norfolk, Va.	7:00 PM
Aug. 25	App St	Norfolk, Va.	7:00 PM
Aug. 27	Oakland	Norfolk, Va.	7:00 PM
Sept. 1	St. Francis (Pa.) %	Norfolk, Va.	7:00 PM
Sept. 3	Iona %	Norfolk, Va.	5:00 PM
Sept. 8	@ FIU *	Miami, Fla.	7:00 PM
Sept. 15	@ FAU *	Boca Raton, Fla.	7:00 PM
Sept. 19	VCU	Norfolk, Va.	7:00 PM
Sept. 23	UAB *	Norfolk, Va.	7:00 PM
Sept. 26	Campbell	Norfolk, Va.	7:00 PM
Sept. 30	Kentucky *	Norfolk, Va.	7:00 PM
Oct. 6	@ Charlotte *	Charlotte, N.C.	7:00 PM
Oct. 14	Coastal Carolina	Norfolk, Va.	6:00 PM
Oct. 17	@ UNC	Cary, N.C.	7:00 PM
Oct. 21	Marshall *	Norfolk, Va.	7:00 PM
Oct. 29	@ South Carolina *	Columbia, S.C.	2:00 PM
Nov. 3	New Mexico *	Norfolk, Va.	7:00 PM
Nov. 8	C-USA Quarterfinals	Norfolk, Va.	TBD
Nov. 10	C-USA Semifinals	Norfolk, Va.	TBD
Nov. 12	C-USA Championship	Norfolk, Va.	2:00 PM
	* - Conference game	% - ODU Soccer Classic