By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6110

SALEM, ORE. -- The Willamette University women's soccer team has announced its 2015 schedule, which features 10 home games for the Bearcats at Sparks Field. Overall, the Bearcats are set to play 20 regular season games, including 16 games against Northwest Conference opponents.

WU will take on Northwest Christian University in an exhibition game on Thursday, Aug. 27 at Sparks Field starting at 7 p.m (PDT). The Bearcats will open the regular season five days later, on Tuesday, Sept. 1, with a home game against crosstown rival Corban University at 7 p.m.

The non-conference portion of the schedule continues with a home game against University of Redlands (Calif.) on Sept. 5, followed by a trip to California. Willamette will play at Whittier College on Sept. 11 and will take on Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Sept. 13.

Northwest Conference action begins with a mid-week game against archrival Linfield College at Sparks Field on Wednesday, Sept. 16. Three days later, the Bearcats will take on Pacific Lutheran University in Parkland, Washington.

Three of the next five games will be at home, starting with Whitman College on Sept. 26 and Whitworth University on Sept. 27. After playing at George Fox University on Oct. 3 and Lewis & Clark College on Oct. 4, the Bearcats will return to Sparks Field to host Pacific University on Oct. 10.

A stretch with four of five games on the road begins on Oct. 11 and continues over the next two weeks. Willamette will play at University of Puget Sound to open the string of games, before taking on Linfield in McMinnville, Oregon, on Oct. 14. Pacific Lutheran will play at Willamette on Oct. 17, while the Bearcats will go to Whitman on Oct. 24 and Whitworth on Oct. 25.

The Bearcats will play during on Halloween during the day, as George Fox will be in Salem on Oct. 31. WU will also play at home on Nov. 1 against Lewis & Clark. After traveling to Forest Grove, Oregon, to take on Pacific on Nov. 6, the Bearcat will close out the regular season with a home game against Puget Sound on Nov. 8. The game with UPS with be Senior Day at Willamette.

As in recent years, most of the NWC games will begin at 12 p.m. (PDT), but will switch to 11 a.m. for games on Oct. 31, Nov. 1 and Nov. 8. The Bearcats' home match-up with Linfield and the road game at Pacific are the only night games on Willamette's NWC schedule.