Schedule News: 2024 schedules released for UMHB men’s and women’s soccer

Photo by Luke Zayas/True To The Cru/LukeZayasPhotography

BELTON—With the 2024 season just around the corner for both the UMHB men’s and women’s soccer programs, The Cru released its complete slates for the upcoming campaign on Wednesday morning. They are highlighted by a matchup for men’s soccer against the defending national champion and women’s soccer traveling to Tennessee for a duel against 2023 SAA champion Sewanee.

As a reminder, the ASC will be a five-team conference in 2024-25, and in soccer, as in most other sports, will utilize a double round-robin format, playing each league opponent twice during the regular season. In past seasons, men’s and women’s soccer played a single round-robin conference schedule, with eight ASC matches. 2024 will still see eight conference tilts on each ASC program’s slate. 

Women’s Soccer

The Crusaders made the NCAA Tournament for the first time in back-to-back seasons last year, going 16-1-2 overall and 7-0-1 in conference play. UMHB won the ASC regular season title and hosted an opening weekend pod in the NCAA Tournament, falling to Emory in the first round on PKs. Under head coach Barry Elkins, The Cru has posted two straight years of at least 16 total wins, marking the first time in program history that feat has been accomplished. 

The upcoming season will open with a pair of August exhibitions, facing Navarro College at home on August 16, followed by a match at D2 Dallas Baptist on the road on August 26. 

The true season opener will also be UMHB’s home opener, with an August 30 duel against Southwestern University. The Cru has won each of the last two meetings against the Pirates, as well as the last four played in Belton.

A road duel in Round Rock against former ASC foe Concordia (TX) follows on Sept. 2, and then an out-of-state trip to Sewanee, Tennessee comes the next weekend. UMHB will face both Sewanee and Trine for the first time in program history, playing those matches on Sept. 6 and Sept. 8, respectively. Sewanee comes off a 14-2-4 season in 2024, winning the SAA Tournament title with a 2-1 win over Rhodes before reaching the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Home matches against McMurry, Concordia, and UT-Dallas, along with a road contest at Texas Lutheran, round out the non-conference portion of the schedule. That is, with the exception of an Oct. 19 match at UT-Dallas, which will not count towards conference results as the Comets transition to Division II. 

As expected, Hardin-Simmons and Howard Payne will serve as travel partners as will ETBU and LeTourneau. Women’s soccer opens its ASC schedule with a critical duel against reigning ASC Tournament champ Hardin-Simmons on Oct. 3, followed by an Oct. 5 contest against HPU. The Oct. 10-12 weekend brings home matches against ETBU and LeTourneau, and the second home weekend of conference play will come on Oct. 24-26, as HPU and HSU come to Belton. The regular season concludes with a trip to East Texas, facing ETBU and LETU on OCt. 31, and Nov. 2, respectively. 

Men’s Soccer

Three exhibitions begin the 2024 season for Crusader men’s soccer, who will be led by third-year head coach Ben Allen. UMHB went 9-5-2 overall, but 7-1 in the ASC last season, winning the conference’s regular season title. It marked the program’s third consecutive ASC regular season championship, and the fourth all-time in UMHB history. 

An August 17 exhibition against Blinn College in Belton leads off the exhibitions, followed by an August 24 match against Solar ECNL at home. Schreiner comes to Belton the following day for an exhibition. 

The regular season begins with four straight road contests for The Cru, starting with a big-time duel against Concordia (TX). The Tornadoes were the only ASC team to beat The Cru last season, and that rivalry proved to be one of the most competitive in ASC men’s soccer over the last several years. The match against Concordia on August 30 in Round Rock is followed by a contest against Texas Lutheran in Seguin on Sept. 1. 

A huge trip to the Upper Midwest follows, as UMHB heads to Northfield, Minnesota. There, The Cru will face St. Olaf College on Sept. 5  followed by a neutral site match against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (who hails from Claremont, California) on Sept. 7. UMHB has never faced either opponent. St. Olaf is the reigning Division III national champion, having gone 20-3-3 in 2023. The Oles defeated Amherst, 2-1, in double-overtime, in the national championship match, and became the western-most program since Trinity (TX) in 2003 to win it all. St. Olaf will enter the 2024 season having either won or tied its last 19 matches. 

The regular season home opener comes against Austin College on Sept. 12, and four more home matches follow against McMurry, Trinity, St. Thomas (TX), and UT-Dallas. The conference schedule has The Cru facing Hardin-Simmons and Howard Payne on Oct. 3 and Oct. 5, respectively, followed by a home conference weekend against ETBU and LeTourneau. Four more conference matches come after what will technically be a non-conference contest against UT-Dallas on Oct. 19. Howard Payne and Hardin-Simmons come to Belton Oct. 24 and 26, followed by road matches at ETBU and LeTourneau that close the regular season.