University of St. Thomas Athletics
Men's Soccer announces 17-game schedule for 2023
7/13/2023 4:35:00 PM | Men's Soccer
St. Paul, Minn. -- St. Thomas Men's Soccer looks to continue its steady progress in 2023, season three of its Division era.
Coach Jon Lowery will have his most experienced roster yet as he embarks on a 17-game schedule that starts in just six weeks with a Aug. 24 trip to Evanston, Ill., to face the Big Ten's Northwestern University.
"The schedule ahead will bring more home games to campus and sets up as a great challenge to our group," Lowery explained. "We'll renew some emerging rivalries in our region while solidifying our non-conference schedule out of region with quality opponents. The conference battles will be a challenge again, and ones we look forward to as our growth continues."
The Purple are expected to have a more experienced team with as many as nine seniors or graduate students among a roster of 20-plus returners. They are set to play seven home contests over their 17-game schedule, starting with a Sep. 16 non-conference game here at South Field against Chicago State.
The Toms open an eight-game Summit League schedule with a Sept. 23 home game against Denver, last year's conference playoff tourney champion.
St. Thomas plays four games against conference champion or runner-up teams from 2022:
- two against Denver (14-3-5 last season);
- a home game vs. 2022 Summit regular-season winner Oral Roberts (11-4-2);
- a road non-conference game against Drake (7-4-4), last year's Valley conference runner-up.
Northwestern is one of four first-time opponents on St. Thomas' schedule, joining Illinois-Chicago, Stetson and North Florida. All four of those games will be played on the road.
Lowery's 2021 team played exhibition games on the road at Wisconsin and at Notre Dame, but the August Evanston trip will mark Tommie Men's Soccer's first regular-season game against a Power 5 opponent.
Lowery is starting his 12th season leading Tommie Men's Soccer. He coached his 200th game at St. Thomas last season, and holds the second longest tenure at his school among Summit League men's soccer head coaches. Over his last four Division III seasons, Lowery guided St. Thomas to a 70-12-8 record. His first two Division I teams have shown progress while navigating the D-I learning curve. Those two teams combined to post six wins and four ties while battling to nine one-goal losses.
2023 Tommie Men's Soccer Schedule
(start times TBA)
August
Thur. 24: at Northwestern (Ill.)
Sun. 27: at Illinois-Chicago
September
Fri. 1: at Stetson (Fla.)
Mon. 4: at North Florida
Sat. 9: at Stonehill (Mass.)
Sat. 16: Chicago State
Sat. 23: Denver**
Sat. 30: Kansas City**
October
Tue. 3: UW-Milwaukee
Sat. 7: at Western Illinois**
Tue. 10: at Drake
Sat. 14: Omaha**
Wed. 18: Oral Roberts**
Sat. 21: at Denver**
Tue. 24: at UW-Green Bay
Sat. 28: at Kansas City**
November
Sat. 4: Western Illinois**
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Bold: Home games
**: Conference games
