Missouri State University field hockey head coach Dawn Callahan has finalized and released her team’s 2009 schedule.
The Bears will play seven games at Plaster Sports Complex this season including four Mid-American Conference contests. MSU will also welcome Robert Morris, St. Louis University and 2008 NCAA Field Hockey Championship host Louisville to town as part of a challenging slate for the upcoming campaign.
“I am excited for the fall season,” Callahan said who will begin her 12th season as Missouri State head coach. “I believe we have a wide variety of competition that will ultimately prepare us for MAC play.”
Missouri State, which was 6-14 overall and 1-9 in the Mid-American Conference in 2008, begins its 2009 campaign in California where it will play Pacific, Stanford and UC Davis, before returning home for a three-game home stand against the aforementioned non-conference trio.
“We start the 2009 campaign with a trip out west where we get a chance to rekindle some old rivalries with our former conference,” said Callahan whose Bears competed in the Northern Pacific Field Hockey Conference from 1998 to 2004. “We also get to play a Big Ten opponent in Northwestern in mid-September which really gives a chance to see different styles of play.”
The Bears will travel to Evanston, Ill., to take on Northwestern and St. Joseph’s (Pa.) September 18-19 before starting MAC play at home against Kent State and Ohio, September 25 and 27, respectively. Missouri State then embarks on a season-long, five- game road swing that includes its final non-conference game of the season at St. Louis on October 1, along with road conference games at Ball State, Miami (Ohio), Kent State and Ohio.
The team’s final home stand runs October 24-25 when Ball State and Miami (Ohio) come to Plaster Field. The Bears then close out the regular season with two conference games at Central Michigan, October 24-25. The Mid-American Conference Tournament runs November 5-7 in Muncie, Ind.
Missouri State will also host two field hockey introductory camps for grades K-12 this summer -- June 16-19 and July 7-10 at Plaster Sports Complex. For more information and a registration form, please go to www.MissouriStateBears.com and click on the field hockey tab.
