The new era of Central Arkansas men's soccer begins Friday as the Bears make their 2012 debut at Loyola Chicago in their first regular-season game under first-year head coach Ross Duncan.
Duncan, who served as assistant coach the previous two seasons, gets his head coaching career underway with a pair of tough tests as the Bears open the season with two NCAA tournament teams from 2011 in Loyola Chicago and Western Illinois.
In the season opener Friday night at 7, the Bears take on a Ramblers team that won the Horizon League tournament and return the tournament MVP and two other all-Horizon performers from last season.
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On Sunday, the Bears will travel to Western Illinois to take on a Leathernecks crew that returns six starters from last season's Summit League champion. The Leathernecks have won five of the past eight league titles, and return the Summit League's reigning Defensive Player of the year and last year's leading scorer.
The Bears return nine starters from 2011, including the team's top four scorers – Ethan Miller, Daylon Schiffel, Chris Deaville and Elia Louis – and goalkeeper Patxi Shortsleeve.
After the two-game swing through Illinois, the Bears will play their first home games next weekend, opening with Lipscomb on Friday at 4 p.m. and following that up with Oral Roberts on Sunday afternoon at 2:30.
The subsequent stretch does the Bears few favors as they hit the road for seven of their next eight, with only a home game against Mercer on Sept. 22 breaking up the extended road trip that includes visits to IUPUI, Butler, Eastern Illinois, UMKC, Saint Louis, Drake and Memphis.
Three of the final five matches are at home, including the marquee game of the season on Oct. 13 when Creighton – which enters the season ranked No. 3 after advancing to the Final Four last season – comes to Conway. Four days later Missouri State travels south for the battle of the Bears, and SIU Edwardsville visits on Oct. 27 in the final home game. The regular season concludes on Nov. 3 in Peoria, Ill. at Bradley, which enters the season ranked No. 25.
