GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University women's soccer team will play a 17-match schedule for the 2023 season, head coach Vanessa Fyffe has announced.

The Pioneers will play eight home matches and 11 South Atlantic Conference contests over a two-month span, starting with four consecutive games on the road but finishing with four of their final seven at home.

Fyffe, a 2010 Tusculum graduate, begins her first season as head coach following seven seasons as the top assistant to longtime head coach Mike Joy, who retired after the 2022 season in which the Pioneers finished with a 9-4-5 overall record and took seventh in the SAC with a 3-3-5 record for 14 points. Tusculum ended the regular season with a nine-match unbeaten streak (5-0-4) which included five shutouts, but return just four starters from that squad for the 2023 season.

Tusculum opens the season with a road swing through Alabama, playing its season opener on Friday, Sept. 1 at West Alabama. The Tigers placed third in the Gulf South Conference last season with 28 points on a 9-3-1 record, then were eliminated in penalty kicks in the GSC semifinals by Mississippi College to end the year at 11-5-2. The Pioneers beat the Tigers 3-0 on the road in 2017 and 3-2 at home last season in their only two previous meetings.

The Pioneers will visit Alabama Huntsville for the eighth all-time meeting with the Chargers on Sunday, Sept. 3. UAH missed the Gulf South tournament last season, finishing in ninth place with a 4-5-4 league record (16 points) and 5-7-5 overall. Tusculum beat UAH 1-0 at home last season and is 5-2-0 all-time against the Chargers.

Tusculum begins its SAC schedule on Saturday, Sept. 9 at Lenoir-Rhyne. The Bears were undefeated in conference play last season at 9-0-2 (29 points) but were upset in overtime by Limestone 2-1 in the league semifinals. Lenoir-Rhyne would get revenge on the Saints with a 1-0 win in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, but fell 1-0 to Columbus State in the second round to end the year at 12-4-3. The Bears have beaten the Pioneers five straight meetings, including 2-0 last year, to extend their series lead to 20-12-4.

The Pioneers will return to the road for a non-conference match at Salem on Wednesday, Sept. 13. The Tigers compiled a 3-11-3 record as an independent last season, which included a 5-0 loss at Tusculum at midseason in the first-ever meeting between the programs.

Tusculum hosts Coker for its home opener on Saturday, Sept. 16. The Cobras snapped a long SAC winless drought last season, going 2-8-1 for seven points and 10th place in the league standings. Coker, which ended the year 4-8-3, upset Tusculum 1-0 at home last season to snap an eight-match losing streak to the Pioneers. Tusculum holds an 8-3 advantage in the all-time series over Coker.

The Pioneers will remain home to take on Mars Hill on Wednesday, Sept. 20. The Lions finished 11th in the SAC last season with a 1-7-3 league record (six points) and were 4-8-3 overall. The teams played to a 1-1 draw last year, the first deadlock in a series that has the Pioneers holding a 26-7 advantage.

Tusculum will go back on the road to visit Catawba on Saturday, Sept. 23. The Indians placed second in the SAC regular season with an 8-1-2 record (26 points), then beat the Pioneers 4-1 in the opening round of the conference tournament before being knocked out 1-0 by Wingate in the semifinals. Catawba got back at the Bulldogs with a 2-0 win in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, but were eliminated on penalty kicks by Flagler in the second round to finish the season at 16-3-3. Catawba beat Tusculum 4-0 during the regular season to increase its lead in the all-time series to 15-10-4 with five straight wins.

September will conclude with a home match against Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday, Sept. 27. The Railsplitters missed the SAC Tournament last season, placing ninth in the conference with a 3-8 record (nine points) and 4-11 overall. The Pioneers beat the Railsplitters 2-1 on the road last season and has a 17-10-5 lead in the all-time series with LMU.

Tusculum will face perhaps its strongest challenge of the season with a non-conference home game against Columbus State on Sunday, Oct. 1. The Cougars were the Peach Belt Conference regular-season champions with a 9-0-1 record, but lost 1-0 to Flagler in the championship match. Columbus State then advanced all the way to the NCAA Division II semifinals before falling 2-1 to eventual champion Western Washington to end the year at 19-3-2. The Cougars have been ranked in the top 10 in each of their last four meetings with the Pioneers, and have won seven in a row since 2008 to hold an 8-3 lead in the all-time series.

The Pioneers will visit Anderson on Wednesday, Oct. 4. The Trojans earned fourth place in the SAC last season with 21 points (6-2-3 record) and lost 2-0 to Limestone in the SAC quarterfinals to end the season with a 10-4-4 record. The Pioneers and Trojans played to a 2-2 draw last season, the fifth deadlock in 17 all-time meetings between the programs. Tusculum has a 7-5-5 lead in the series over Anderson.

Tusculum will be back home for Limestone on Saturday, Oct. 7. The Saints were fifth in the SAC in the regular season with a 6-3-2 record (20 points), but pulled off wins over Anderson, Lenoir-Rhyne and Wingate to win the SAC Tournament championship. The Saints were eliminated 1-0 by Lenoir-Rhyne in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to finish with a 12-4-2 record. The Pioneers and Saints played to a 0-0 draw last season, leaving Limestone with a 2-1-1 lead in the all-time series.

The Pioneers will play their first SAC home game against Emory & Henry on Wednesday, Oct. 11. The Wasps were 0-9-2 in their first season in the SAC last year and ended the season with a 3-11-2 overall record. Tusculum beat Emory & Henry 5-1 on the road last season in the second all-time meeting between the two programs and first since a Pioneer victory in 1997.

Tusculum visits Newberry on Saturday, Oct. 14 to take on a Wolves team that earned eighth place in the SAC last season with a 4-7 record (12 points). Newberry lost 1-0 to Lenoir-Rhyne in the SAC quarterfinals to end the year with a 5-11-1 record. Tusculum snapped a winless drought dating to 2017 with a 1-0 victory last season, which gave the Pioneers a 20-4-4 advantage in the all-time series.

The Pioneers will visit Georgia College for a non-conference match on Wednesday, Oct. 18. The Bobcats placed sixth in the Peach Belt Conference with a 4-4-2 record (14 points) and lost to North Georgia 4-2 in the first round of the PBC Tournament to end the season at 5-8-3 overall. The Pioneers have a 3-2 advantage over the Bobcats in the all-time series, with Georgia College winning 3-2 in the last meeting between the two teams in 2021.

Tusculum will wrap up its home schedule with back-to-back matches, starting Saturday, Oct. 21 with Wingate. The Bulldogs came in sixth in the SAC at 4-3-4 (16 points) but went all the way to the conference tournament finals following wins over Carson-Newman and Catawba. The Bulldogs lost 1-0 to Limestone in the championship, then earned an NCAA Tournament bid before being knocked out 2-0 by Catawba in the first round to finish at 11-5-4. The teams played to a 0-0 draw last season, which kept the all-time series deadlocked at 13 wins apiece with four ties.

The Pioneers will host Young Harris on Wednesday, Oct. 25. The Mountain Lions are playing their first season in Conference Carolinas this year after going 4-6-0 (12 points) and taking seventh in the Peach Belt Conference last season. The Mountain Lions lost 2-1 to Flagler in the first round of the PBC Tournament to finish with a 4-11-0 overall record. Tusculum won 2-1 on the road last season to take a 2-1 lead in the all-time series with one draw.

The regular season will conclude on Wednesday, Nov. 1 at Carson-Newman. The Eagles were 7-2-2 in the SAC last season and took third place with 23 points, but saw their season end in the conference quarterfinals with a 3-1 loss to Wingate for a final record of 9-4-4. Tusculum snapped a four-match losing streak to Carson-Newman with a 1-1 draw last season, with the Eagles holding a 21-19-3 all-time record in the series.

The SAC Women's Soccer Championship tournament will start Saturday, Nov. 4 with quarterfinal matches at campus sites. The semifinals and finals will be contested in Matthews, North Carolina with the semifinals on Friday, Nov. 10 and the championship match on Sunday, Nov. 12.