June 20, 2012
SEATTLE - The 2012 women's soccer season is two months away as the University of Washington has released its schedule along with the Pac-12 Networks schedule. In its inaugural season, the Pac-12 Networks brings an unprecedented level of exposure to its acclaimed member institutions that have combined to collect a record 450 NCAA titles. The 58 televised Pac-12 women's soccer matchups are just a portion of 217 exciting events including football, volleyball, men's and women's soccer, men's water polo, field hockey and cross country telecast over 100 days this fall, putting the Conference of Champions on a national stage. The Pac-12 Networks launch August 15 and will consist of one national and six regional networks devoted solely to the Pac-12. In addition to the hundreds of live televised Pac-12 sporting events, Pac-12 Networks subscribers will have access to their carrier's TV Everywhere platform, providing access to all Pac-12 Networks programming on any device through their broadband service. Fans can find out if they can get Pac-12 Networks by visiting www.Pac-12.org or by contacting their television provider. The Pac-12 Networks will show 58 live televised contests in the network's inaugural season, including 39 appearances from 2011 NCAA Tournament-qualifying teams. "We are excited about the opportunity to deliver the kind of exposure to women's soccer that it richly deserves," said Gary Stevenson, President of Pac-12 Enterprises. "Year after year, the Pac-12 produces some of the very best teams and most prolific women's soccer players in the country, including last year's national champion Stanford. Through the Pac-12 Networks broadcast schedule this Fall, fans will have a chance to see championship caliber soccer as well as the next wave of international stars every week." Seven of UW's women's soccer games will be live on the Networks, starting with the USC game on Sept 21. UW will also have games on TV on the road at Colorado (Sept. 28), at Cal (Oct. 19), at Stanford (Oct. 21) and at Washington State (Nov. 2). Two of UW's home games will air live beginning with a matchup vs. Arizona on Oct. 5 and the Oct. 25 game vs. Oregon. "We are looking forward to the 2012 season and we have an interesting schedule put together to say the least," said head coach Lesle Gallimore. "The movement across conferences and the Pac-12 television network debut has made for scheduling challenges for sure, but we are as excited as ever about the 2012 season and this year's team is looking to erase the bitter taste of a 2011 season that fell just short of our goal of a fourth-straight NCAA appearance when our final season draw versus Washington State failed to get us to the .500 mark required to be eligible for post-season." The Huskies begin the season with the first three games on the road starting with Seattle U on Aug. 17 and then two games in New York vs. Colgate (Aug. 24) and Syracuse (Aug. 26). The annual home soccer tournament, the Husky/Nike Invitational, is Aug.31-Sept. 2 and features UW, Portland, LaSalle and Fresno State. Other non-conference games, all on the road, include, Gonzaga (Sept. 7), Notre Dame (Sept. 9) in Portland, Utah State (Sept. 13), and BYU (Sept. 15), "We'll see very strong opponents in 10+ game winners BYU from the WCC, as well as Seattle U (WAC) and Fresno State from the Mountain West," Gallimore added. "A trip to upstate New York will pit the Huskies against strong young squads from Colgate and Syracuse out of the Patriot League and Big East respectively." Gallimore continued, "This year's nine-game non-conference schedule will be fun as we play 2011 NCAA tournament teams LaSalle out of the Atlantic-10, Utah State from the WAC, and perennial Big East power and 2010 NCAA Champion, Notre Dame. Cross-state foe Gonzaga from the WCC is always a tough road test and we'll look forward to our early September match against them." The first three Pac-12 games of the year will be on the road at USC, Colorado and Utah. The Pac-12 home opener is Oct. 5 vs. Arizona. UW will also host Arizona State, UCLA, Oregon and Oregon State this season. "The Pac-12, which consists of 2011 National Champions Stanford, will be as brutal and competitive as ever from top to bottom," said Gallimore. "Our particular schedule sees us with a split of the So. Cal schools with USC away to open up and UCLA at home around the half-way mark in October. We'll get a feel for playing at altitude when we travel in non-conference to Utah State and BYU, before we take our first conference trips ever to Salt Lake City where we'll see Utah and our first match in the history of our program versus Colorado in Boulder. The Bay Area schools on the road are always a challenge, and we'll be able to showcase our talents against the best when we meet defending Pac-12 and NCAA Champions in a National TV broadcast at Stanford. In addition to UCLA, we'll host the Arizona and Oregon schools at Husky Soccer field, before heading to Pullman...arguably the toughest place to play in the conference, to finish off the regular season in the soccer Apple Cup versus the Cougars." The postseason begins with the NCAA First Round Nov. 9-12. The Second and Third Rounds are the following weekend, followed by the Quarterfinals and the College Cup Nov. 30-Dec. 2. "We'll approach this schedule as we do every year, with a one game at a time mentality and look forward to the opening game with Seattle University," Gallimore said. "We'll aim to have a positive record after nine matches heading into the Pac-12 conference battles. Every game will be significant in conference play and we will compete and fight to be in the hunt for the title and to earn an NCAA tournament bid." |
