The women’s soccer team has released the 2023 fall schedule for its 16^th season in the NAIA.

The Saints compete in the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) along with Huston-Tillotson University (HTU), Jarvis Christian University (JCU), Louisiana Christian University (LCU), LSU-Alexandria (LSUA), LSU-Shreveport (LSUS), Paul Quinn College, Texas A&M University – San Antonio (AM-SA), Texas A&M University – Texarkana (TAMUT), Texas College (TC), the University of Houston-Victoria (UHV) and the University of the Southwest (USW). The conference adds two new members – North American University (NAU) out of Houston and Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA).

Interim Head Coach Max Cruz commented, “We are excited and looking forward to this upcoming season. With the solid structure and team that we have coming back, along with the incoming Saints, our expectations and goals are high. We are confident that with the correct preparation and coaching, this team will continue being successful on and off the field.”

The Saints finished their 2022 campaign with a 8-4-7 overall record and 5-1-5 in conference. As the No. 3 seed in the postseason, the Saints defeated LCU 2-0 in the opening round, but fell to TAMUT 1-5 in the semifinals to end their season.

Preseason schedule

The Saints begin their preseason at home with a scrimmage against NCAA D3 Texas Lutheran University on Aug. 21, and a scrimmage in Laredo against NCAA D2 Texas A&M International on Aug. 26. Their official season begins on Sept. 2 in Chickasha, Okla., against the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (vs. – 1-3-2). The team moves to Oklahoma City for a nonconference matchup against Oklahoma City University (vs. – 4-3-1) on Sept. 4.

The Saints continue their nonconference schedule on Sept. 9 against Wayland Baptist University (vs. – 5-1) at home.

Conference lineup

On Sept. 14, the women begin their conference schedule with a home match against LSUS (vs. – 7-2-3/Overall 9-5-3/RRAC 4-5-2/8^th Place), and TAMUT (vs. – 6-2-1/Overall 17-2-1/RRAC 10-0-1/1^st Place) visits OLLU on Sept. 14 for a match.

The team hits the road the following week on Sept. 21 for a match against TC (vs. – 14-0/Overall 0-12/RRAC 0-10/12^th Place) in Tyler. The Saints travel to Hawkins, Texas, next for a match against JCC (vs. – 8-0-1/Overall 5-11-1/RRAC 2-8-1)/10^th Place) on Sept. 23. USW (vs. – 20-4/Overall 7-6-2/RRAC 5-4-2/7^th Place) comes to OLLU on Sept. 28, and PQC (vs. – 8-0/Overall 6-10-1/RRAC 2-10/11^th Place) will be in San Antonio on Sept. 30.

The Saints will travel south for a match against AM-SA (vs. – 1-0-1/Overall 9-4-3/RRAC 6-3-2/5^th Place) on Oct. 7, and on Oct. 12, OLLU will host XULA. The Saints will play NAU on Oct. 14.

LSUA (vs. – 9-1-1/Overall 10-6-1/RRAC 6-3-1/4^th Place) hosts OLLU on Oct. 19, and LCU (vs. – 2-2/Overall 8-5-2/RRAC 6-3-2/6^th Place) will host the Saints on Oct. 21. The Saints will travel to Victoria for a matchup against UHV (vs. – 13-1-2/Overall 10-3-5/RRAC 7-1-3/2^nd Place) on Oct. 26, and the women will play their last regular-season game on Oct. 28 in Austin, Texas, against HTU (vs. – 12-3/Overall 4-8-2/RRAC 3-7-1/9^th Place).

RRAC tournament

The conference will get set for the 2023 postseason beginning Nov. 3 at campus sites for the opening round and Nov. 10 for the final rounds in Texarkana, Texas. The Eagles won the regular season and postseason titles in 2022. They fell in the opening round of nationals to Tennessee Southern University to end their season.

NAIA tournament

The First and Second Round of the NAIA National Championship will take place Nov. 16-18 at campus sites. The 40^th Annual Women’s Soccer National Championship will take place Nov. 27-Dec. 4 at the Orange Beach Sportsplex in Orange Beach, Ala.

Plans for home matches

The Saints will broadcast home matches on the OLLU Saints Network, and will feature live-stats. Links will be available on the women’s soccer schedule page. 

General admission charge for all home matches is $10; free admission is available for OLLU faculty, staff and students.