Western Kentucky’s soccer program announced its 2018 fall schedule that includes eight regular-season matches at the WKU Soccer Complex and nonconference road matches at Southeastern Conference foes Mississippi and Vanderbilt.

WKU will have exhibition matches at Austin Peay on Aug. 4 and at home against Saint Louis (Aug. 10) and Belmont (Aug. 12).

The Lady Toppers kick off the regular season with three straight road matches, including the regular-season opener at Murray State on Aug. 17 in the first meeting between the two programs since 2008.

WKU will head to Ole Miss on Aug. 19, marking the 11th consecutive season that the Lady Toppers have faced at least one SEC opponent.

WKU will round out its season-opening road trip at Evansville on Aug. 23, looking to maintain its streak of seven unbeaten matches against the Purple Aces.

In the regular-season home opener Aug. 26, WKU will square off against Miami (Ohio) as it seeks to improve on its 14-3 record in home openers at the WKU Soccer Complex. The Lady Toppers will face Lipscomb (Aug. 31) and Kentucky Christian (Sept. 3) to close the three-match homestand.

A match at Vanderbilt on Sept. 6 will mark the end of nonconference play for the Lady Toppers as WKU seeks its first win in the series.

WKU will enter its fifth season in C-USA play with four straight road matches against conference opponents.

The Lady Toppers will make the Gulf Coast swing at Southern Miss (Sept. 16) and Louisiana Tech (Sept. 23) before going to the East Coast for bouts at Charlotte (Sept. 28) and Old Dominion (Sept. 30).

WKU will face Louisiana Tech for the first time since the 2015 season, and WKU’s matchup at Charlotte will be the first against the 49ers since falling in penalty kicks during the C-USA quarterfinals two years ago.

Over the final month of the regular season, WKU will play five of its six matches at home.

The Lady Toppers will meet Florida International (Oct. 5) and Texas-El Paso (Oct. 7) before a pair of matches against perennial C-USA championship contenders North Texas (Oct. 12) and Rice (Oct. 14).

The Mean Green and the Owls reached the 2017 NCAA Tournament after splitting the C-USA regular-season (Rice) and tournament (North Texas) championships.

WKU will hit the road Oct. 19 and take on UAB in Birmingham, Ala.

For the second straight season, the Lady Toppers will host Marshall for senior night Oct. 26 to close the regular season.

Old Dominion will host the C-USA Tournament with the top eight teams in the regular-season standings qualifying for the conference tournament. In three of its four seasons as a member of the league, WKU has fallen in the C-USA Tournament to the eventual champion.

WKU returns its leading scorer from a year ago in Chandler Backes (15 points) and also brings back a young core of players including All-Freshman Team member Tally Bishop, Ashley Leonard and Deven Jackson.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Lady Toppers will look to replace four-year starting goalkeeper Allison Leone, but they have two-time C-USA Defensive Player of the Week Christina Bragado manning the center of the back line and All-C-USA pick Nicole Roseland at defensive midfielder.{&end}