SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State women's soccer head coach Kirk Nelson has announced the Bears 2025 season schedule Friday (May 30) as his squad prepares for its inaugural season in Conference USA.
 
The upcoming slate will feature four teams that played in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, including Missouri State's rematch with its opening-round foe Iowa in a game to be played in Springfield on Sept. 7.  The Bears will also square off with NCAA Tournament foes like Kansas in the season opener in Lawrence (Aug. 14), at Saint Louis (Sept. 14) and defending CUSA champion FIU in the regular-season finale in Miami (Oct. 26).
 
"All of us here are very excited about the fall match schedule," said Nelson. "It contains top opponents from strong conferences like the SEC, Big 12, Big Ten and A-10. Plus, we are entering a proud new era competing in CUSA for the first time this fall. The new conference brings another level of energy, enthusiasm, and opportunities for everyone in the program. We are confident going forward and can't wait for this new journey to begin."
 
The 2025 slate includes seven home matches, in addition to an Aug. 2 exhibition game against Kansas State to begin the season. In-state foes Kansas City (Aug. 21) and Missouri (Aug. 31) will visit Allison South Stadium in addition to the Iowa match and home CUSA contests against Delaware (Oct. 5), Western Kentucky (Oct. 12), LA Tech (Oct. 16) and Sam Houston (Oct. 19).
 
The Bears will play nine of their first 12 games on the road with non-conference matchups at Kansas (Aug. 14), Nebraska (Aug. 17), SIUE (Aug. 24) and SEMO (Aug. 28) kicking off August before non-conference road events at Saint Louis (Sept. 4), Central Arkansas (Sept. 11) in early September.
 
The CUSA schedule commences with road matches at Liberty (Sept. 19), Jacksonville State (Sept. 25) and Kennesaw State (Sept. 28) before the four-game home stand in October. The regular-season concludes at defending champion FIU on Oct. 26.
 
Liberty will play host to the Conference USA Tournament in Lynchburg, Va. on Nov. 2, Nov. 4 and Nov. 7.