The announcement comes as the Eagles released their regular-season schedule, one that includes 26 games and 14 home contests.
USI, which captured the Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division title a year ago with a 16-11 overall record and a 12-6 mark in league play, opens the season with four straight home games before traveling to Louisville, Kentucky, for the Bellarmine University Thanksgiving Classic.
Included in the four-game home stretch, USI’s longest homestand of the year, are games against Principia College (November 15), Mid-Continent University (November 18), and Midwest Region foe Northwood University (November 22).
“When you put together a schedule you not only want to put together a competitive schedule, but one that fits your team,” Stein said. “I’m excited to have some games at home early, but the thing is that two of the games are against regional competition. Our team is going to be young, but at the same time I wanted to put together a schedule that will challenge them and get them ready for conference play.”
USI will square off with St. Catharine College November 26 to open the Bellarmine Thanksgiving Classic before closing the two-day trip November 27 against Coker College.
The Eagles open GLVC play December 1 when they visit defending GLVC Tournament champion Lewis University. The now 16-member GLVC will feature two eight-team divisions, with USI, Bellarmine, the University of Indianapolis, Kentucky Wesleyan College, Lewis, Northern Kentucky University, Saint Joseph’s College, and the University of Wisconsin-Parkside comprising the GLVC East Division.
USI wraps up its GLVC-opening weekend December 3 with a trip to Wisconsin-Parkside before returning to the PAC December 17 to take on Salem International University.
After closing the 2011 calendar year with a trip to Detroit, Michigan, December 30 to take on Midwest Region foe Wayne State University, the Eagles return to GLVC play January 5 when they host GLVC West Division adversary Missouri University of Science & Technology.
The Eagles play just four games against the GLVC West Division, but will get one of the top teams January 7 when they host Drury University. They finish their GLVC West Division slate with a trip to GLVC-newcomer William Jewell College January 12 and Rockhurst University January 14.
USI, which plays a home-and-home series with the teams in the GLVC East Division, begins a three-game homestand January 16 when it hosts Kentucky Wesleyan. The Eagles host Indianapolis January 19 and Saint Joseph’s January 21 before visiting Bellarmine January 26.
The Eagles host Northern Kentucky January 28 before embarking on a two-game road trip that sees them make stops to Saint Joseph’s (February 2) and Indianapolis (February 4).
USI begins its final three-game homestand of the season when it hosts Wisconsin-Parkside February 9. Games against Lewis (February 11) and Bellarmine (February 16) round out the Eagles’ 2011-12 home schedule, while trips to Northern Kentucky (February 18) and Kentucky Wesleyan (February 23) conclude USI’s regular-season slate.
GLVC Tournament play opens with seeds four through 12 meeting on campus sites February 26 for the right to advance into the quarterfinals. The quarterfinals, semifinals, and championship are March 1-4 at the Prairie Capital Convention Center in Springfield, Illinois.
The NCAA II Midwest Region Tournament will be played at a site to be determined March 9-12, while the NCAA II Elite Eight is March 20-23 in San Antonio, Texas.
