ALBANY, N.Y. – The University at Albany men's soccer program and head coach Trevor Gorman have announced a 17-game schedule for the 2023 season.  The schedule features five 2022 NCAA Tournament teams and three 2022 conference champions.  UAlbany opponents accounted for a total of 12 wins in last year's NCAA Tournament.
 
"We are excited to announce our schedule and look forward to the upcoming season," said Gorman.  "As always, we strive to challenge ourselves against the very best competition and this schedule will provide us those kinds of tests in every match."
 
The season begins on the road on August 24 at Boston University, the first of four Patriot League opponents in 2023.  The Terriers finished second in the Patriot League in 2022.  BIG EAST foe Villanova, an NCAA Tournament team from 2021, features as the Great Danes' opponent in their home opener on August 27.
 
A second-straight home game, on September 1 against Niagara, leads into the showdown at Syracuse on September 4.  The reigning ACC champion Orange drew the three-seed in the NCAA Tournament and won their first-ever national title in 2022.  In the last two games against Syracuse, in 2016 and the spring of 2021, UAlbany is 1-0-1.
 
The Great Danes briefly return home on September 8 for a game against Marist, MAAC champions in 2021, before playing their next two on the road.  First, UAlbany will visit Army West Point on September 11.  The Black Knights claimed the regular season title in the Patriot League a season ago on a 5-1-3 record against conference opponents.  Next, the Great Danes head to Philadelphia to take on defending Ivy League champion Penn.  The Quakers ultimately advanced to the Second Round of last season's NCAA Tournament.
 
UAlbany returns home to play Lafayette on September 19, just ahead of the America East opener on September 23 against UMBC.  September 29 features a rematch of the 2022 America East title game at New Hampshire.  The Wildcats won their fourth America East championship in the last five years in 2022, and advanced to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament.
 
A break from conference play sees the Great Danes visit Cornell on October 3.  The Big Red earned the 14-seed in the 2022 NCAA Tournament after finishing as the Ivy League runner-up behind Penn and advanced to the Sweet-Sixteen.
 
Binghamton at home marks a return to conference play on October 7, followed by a second-straight home game against UMass Lowell on October 14.  The back-to-back home games precede a three-game road swing at Colgate, who finished third in the Patriot League regular season last year, on October 17, at Bryant on October 21, and at Vermont on October 27.
 
UAlbany played Vermont twice in 10 days late in 2022, at which time the Catamounts were ranked eighth in the national polls.  In both games, UAlbany held Vermont scoreless, and upset the Catamounts in the second game, the America East semifinal, 1-0 to advance to the conference title game.  Vermont earned an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament, and advanced to the Elite-Eight.
 
UAlbany's regular season will end at home against NJIT on October 31.  The Great Danes have hosted the Highlanders in each of the last two America East Tournament quarterfinal rounds.  The America East Tournament begins November 4.
 
UAlbany went 6-8-6 in 2022 and made its third appearance in the America East title game since 2016.