Several Ranked Teams Highlight 2005 Field Hockey Schedule
3/30/2005 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
KENT, Ohio - Kerry DeVries, Kent State University field hockey coach, today announced the 2005 schedule for the upcoming fall season. The schedule features a flurry of top ranked competition, including eight of its 10 non-conference opponents ranked or receiving votes in the final 2004 STX/NFHCA Top 25 Coaches poll.
Kent State begins the 2005 season with its first five games away from home. The Flashes open with road games at James Madison (Aug. 27), Dartmouth (Sept. 3) and No. 13 Boston College (Sept. 4) before taking on Syracuse and No. 15 William & Mary in Syracuse, N.Y. Sept. 9-10.
Kent State finally comes home September 16-18 when they play host to No. 3 Wake Forest and No. 8 Michigan State in Kent. The Flashes will face the Spartans Sept. 16 and the Demon Deacons Sept. 18. KSU came within one goal of knocking off then-No. 1 Michigan State last season and dropped another close one to then-No. 5 Wake Forest, 2-4.
Other non-conference teams include No. 5 Michigan, Indiana and Ohio State out of the Big Ten, with the Hoosiers and the Buckeyes both finishing 2004 receiving votes in the final Top 25 poll.
The Flashes open the MAC portion of the schedule Sept. 23 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. New to the conference this season is Southwest Missouri State who replaces University of Louisville who is now a member of Conference USA.
The Bears compete in the 10-member Missouri Valley Conference in all sports except football, which is in the NCAA Division I-AA Gateway Football Conference, and field hockey. SMS spent seven seasons as a member of the Northern Pacific (NORPAC) Field Hockey Conference after joining in 1998.
The 2005 MAC Tournament will be hosted this season by Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant, Mich. Nov. 3-5.
