JOLIET, Ill. -- Under the direction of first-year head coach Tom Welsh, the Saints will hit the floor with two exhibition contests before opening their 45th season of competition on the road at the Aquinas College (Mich.) Invitational Aug. 19 followed by their Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) opener at Indiana University South Bend Sept. 1.

The Saints will then travel to Fort Wayne, Ind. for four straight matches beginning on Sept. 4 when the team takes part in the Indiana Tech Invitational (Sept. 4-5).  Competing in that field will be host Indiana Tech, Grand View University (Iowa), St. Ambrose University (Iowa) and Grace University (Iowa). 

Upon returning from that trip, St. Francis will continue its Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference season at home against Saint Xavier University on Sept. 8.  All ten league teams will play each other two times on the season with a home-and-away format at each team's site.

Following the Saint Xavier home match, USF's other home CCAC contests will be on Sept. 15 (Calumet College of St. Joseph), Sept. 17 (Olivet Nazarene University), Sept. 24 (Governors State University), Oct. 8 (Indiana South Bend), Oct. 13 (Judson University), Oct. 24 (Mount Mary University), Nov. 3 (Indiana University Northwest) and Nov. 5 (Viterbo University).

As for the away league matches, St. Francis will travel to Judson (Sept. 10), Mount Mary (Sept. 22), Indiana Northwest (Sept. 29+), Viterbo (Oct. 6), Saint Xavier (Oct. 10), Calumet St. Joseph (Oct. 20), Olivet Nazarene (Oct. 22) and Governors State (Oct. 21).

The only other non-conference dates on the schedule find the Saints facing Moody Bible Institute at home on Sept. 18 and Cumberland University (Tenn.) at home on Oct. 3.

The CCAC Tournament commences on No. 10 and runs through Nov. 14.  The NAIA Opening Round takes place Nov. 21 with the NAIA National Tournament in Cedar Rapids, Iowa running from Dec. 2-8.

St. Francis posted an overall record of 19-14 one year ago.  In conference play, the Saints went 14-4 to place in a tie for second among 12 teams.

For the complete St. Francis women's soccer schedule, go to Schedule.

You can keep up with everything happening around USF Athletics on X @USFSaints.