Orangeburg, S.C.—The SC State women's soccer team will open its 2011 campaign, this Friday, Aug. 19 when they travel to Clemson, S.C. to take on the Lady Tigers of Clemson University. The Lady Bulldogs will have three away contests before opening their 2011 home season on Friday, Sept. 2 at 7 p.m. versus Georgia Southern. All women's soccer home contest with the exception of the contest versus NJIT (Oct. 15) will be played at the Oliver C. Dawson Bulldog Stadium on the campus of SC State. Due to a scheduling conflict, the NJIT game will be played in Rock Hill, S.C. but is considered a home game for the Lady Bulldogs. All home contests are free of charge.

The Lady Bulldogs concluded its two-week preseason practice on Wednesday (Aug. 17). Fourth year head coach Glad Bugariu feels that the preseason training went exactly how he anticipated. “The players came back in very good shape and ready to compete not only inside the conference but non-conference as well,” says Bugariu. “We have a team comprised of leaders and players who just want to win.” The team was very strong in its only scrimmage of the preseason (Aug. 12 vs. Coastal Carolina). About the scrimmage, Bugariu stated, “We focused more on individual and compartmental performances rather than the outcome. We used three 30 minutes halves to get a look at various line-ups and formations.” Bugariu continued, “In the scrimmage we saw more positives then negatives in the team.”

SC State is coming off its best season of the program. The 2010 Lady Bulldogs finished with a 13-6-1 overall record and undefeated in the Great West Conference (GWC) Eastern Division at 6-0. SC State was the number one seed in the East in the GWC Post-Season Tournament and made it to the semi-final, another first for the team.

--30--