NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale men's soccer team will once again challenge itself against some of the nation's top programs this fall. The 2023 schedule features 10 games against teams that finished in the top 75 of the NCAA RPI rankings last year. The biggest test will come on Oct. 18 when the Bulldogs travel to Upstate New York to meet defending national champion Syracuse. Yale plays eight of its 16 games in the friendly confines of Reese Stadium, including four of seven Ivy League games.
A top four Ivy finish would earn the Bulldogs a berth in the inaugural league tournament, which will be held on Nov. 10 and 12 and hosted by the regular season champion.
"We are excited about another very challenging schedule this year, that I think has a chance to be a Top 25 strength of schedule," said
Kylie Stannard, the 5K Corral Head Coach of the Bulldogs. "Unquestionably, our non-conference games will prepare us very well for the strongest and deepest conference slate since I have been at Yale. With four Ivy teams in the top 50 RPI last year, and ranked the fourth strongest conference in the country, I think it has a chance to be even stronger this year. We are also very much looking forward to finally having the opportunity to compete for a spot in the inaugural Ivy League Tournament."
Even the preseason will present a challenge for Yale, which plays an exhibition game at Vermont on Aug. 20. The Catamounts finished 16-4-2 last year and were No. 8 in the final RPI rankings.
Perennial NCAA Tournament participant West Virginia visits Reese Stadium for the season opener on Sept. 1. Last year in Morgantown,
Max Rogers scored the game-winning goal with 2:22 remaining in the second half to lift the Bulldogs to a thrilling 2-1 victory over the Mountaineers, who were ranked No. 10 in the nation at the time.
Yale will stay in the New England for its first road game – at UMass on Sept. 4. Then comes two more games against traditional national powers. UConn comes to Reese Stadium on Sept. 8, and then the Bulldogs head to Dallas to face SMU on Sept. 11. The Mustangs were No. 26 in the final RPI last year.
Two more home games wrap up the pre-Ivy schedule. The Bulldogs welcome UC Irvine to Reese on Sept. 16 and then host Colgate on Sept. 19.
The Ivy opener is Sept. 23 against defending champion Penn. The Quakers finished 6-1 in Ivy play last fall and dropped a heartbreaking overtime decision to eventual champion Syracuse in the second round of the NCAA Tournament after beating Rutgers in the opening round. Yale will remain in Philly to play at Saint Joseph's on Sept. 25.
The Bulldogs wrap up September by hosting Princeton in the first Ivy home game on Sept. 30. Yale is back at Reese the following week on Oct. 7 to host Dartmouth. Then comes back-to-back trips to Boston. The Bulldogs play at Boston College on Oct. 10 and then return to meet Harvard on Oct. 14.
The visit it to Syracuse on Oct. 18 is part of a stretch of four of five games on the road. Yale finished 6-1-3 away from home last year. The one home game comes against Columbia on Oct. 22 and then it's back to Upstate New York to face Cornell on Oct. 28. The Big Red was No. 12 in the final RPI after receiving an at-large NCAA Tournament berth.
Senior Day at Reese comes in the regular season finale on Nov. 4 against Brown.
The Bulldogs are coming off a successful 2022 season that saw them finish with a 7-4-5 overall record that came against a very challenging schedule that included four games against teams that finished in the national RPI top 21. Yale earned draws against two teams in the RPI top-12 – Duke and Cornell.
