Charlotte 49ers men's soccer tackles eight playoff teams

CHARLOTTE ATHLETICS

Charlotte 49ers men's soccer, which went 9-5-2 last year after a 7-0 start, play eight teams that made the NCAA tournament in 2023.

Charlotte men's soccer schedule includes a challenging gauntlet of American Athletic Conference foes and renewal of a cross-county rivalry.

The 49ers, who finished 9-5-2 last year after a 7-0 start, will play eight teams that earned berths in last year's NCAA tournament, with five of those matches at Transamerica Field. They also travel to Davidson Sept. 20 in a non-conference game. Charlotte will host nine matches at home.

“It is a balanced and tough schedule which will challenge us against perennial NCAA tournament teams and instate rivals,” Charlotte coach Kevin Langan said. “The aim as always with our schedule is to prepare us for the rigors of conference play and help keep our RPI strong. Last year the AAC had the second most teams in the national tournament and we can’t wait to compete for a Conference Championship against some of the best programs in the nation.”

The 49ers’ eight-game AAC schedule begins at UAB on Sept. 16 and Florida Atlantic (Sept. 24) is the first of four home conference matches. Charlotte hosts NCAA tournament teams Tulsa (Oct. 13) and Memphis (Nov. 1) in addition to Temple. The road games are against Alabama-Birmingham (Sept. 16), 2022 AAC tournament winner Florida International (Oct. 27), Southern Methodist, and South Florida.

FIU was one of two conference teams (along with Tulsa) to advance to the third round of last year’s NCAA tournament. The Nov. 1 home match against Memphis is the regular season finale.

Charlotte will open the season Aug. 24 at home against Connecticut, the second straight year the 49ers and Huskies opened their seasons together. This match will follow the Niners' two preseason exhibition matches at Coastal Carolina Aug. 12 and at home Aug. 18 against cross-county opponent Queens.

The non-conference schedule includes home dates against opponents that appeared in the 2022 NCAA postseason. Charlotte will host Lipscomb and UNC Greensboro in consecutive games in early September, and Elon between a pair of AAC matches in October. Charlotte will also face Wofford Aug. 28 on the road in a non-conference match.

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