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Road warriors

With campus closed, UNCW sports will play away from Wilmington until October

Alex Riley StarNews Staff
If the schedule remains unchanged, the UNCW women's soccer team won't get a home match in Wilmington until Oct. 14 against Delaware, a 42-day stretch between true home games. [KEN BLEVINS/STARNEWS]

The nomadic lifestyle for UNCW’s fall sports teams will continue for the foreseeable future.

In a release, the athletic department outlined the coming schedule with contests slated for Wilmington relocating to various in-state locations. Damage from Hurricane Florence will keep campus closed to students and the general public until at least late September, with a tentative semester restart date of Oct. 1. The earliest a fall sports team could play in Wilmington is Oct. 3.

Men’s soccer was the first to resume competition, squaring off with Hofstra on Saturday at Elon’s Rudd Field. The Seahawks played to a scorless draw in their first game since beating Asheville on Sept. 9. UNCW will get a true road game against Charleston on Sept. 26, then a home match against James Madison at UNC Greensboro’s Soccer Stadium on Sept. 29.

The team’s first chance to play in Wilmington is slated for Oct. 13 against Belmont, putting the gap between home games at 34 days. A postponed game at Northeastern has not yet been rescheduled.

Women’s soccer is also experiencing a significant gap in playing time as the team last took the field Sept. 6 at Coastal Carolina. The storm forced a cancelation of a home match with East Carolina and a postponement of the team’s CAA opener against Elon, which has not been rescheduled. The Seahawks get true road games at Northeastern on Sunday and William & Mary on Thursday, followed by a home game against Hofstra at Duke’s Koskinen Stadium on Sept. 30. If the team plays Oct. 14 against Delaware at home, it will have been 42 days between home matches.

If the current schedule holds, UNCW volleyball will be the first fall sports program to play on campus since the storm. The Seahawks are scheduled to host Charleston on Oct. 3. It would be the team’s second home match of the season with the last coming 29 days prior against Campbell. The program did cancel four matches when the Seahawk Invitational was called off. Postponed contests against William & Mary and Elon have not been rescheduled.

Other fall sports teams lost events, but will resume play soon. After withdrawing from the Furman Invitational, women’s golf will open the fall season at the Oklahoma Schooner Classic in Norman on Sept. 28. Men’s golf didn’t compete at the River Run Collegiate in Davidson, meaning the Wolfpack Intercollegiate on Oct. 6 will be the team’s first fall tournament.

For the men’s and women’s cross-country teams, the Winthrop Adidas Invitational on Sept. 15 was a wash. The runners return to action at the USC Upstate Invitational on Sept. 29.

Men’s tennis did not take part in the Gamecock Invitational last weekend and won’t be on the court until the ITA Regionals starting Oct. 13. Women’s tennis has not started the fall season yet. They travel to Annapolis for the Navy Invitational Oct. 5.

Additionally, the UNCW baseball team was slated to play a fall exhibition against Campbell on Oct. 6. Coach Mark Scalf said the contest is being rescheduled but did not have a date yet.  UNCW softball's is also working to reschedule some of its fall exhibitions with North Carolina, N.C. State and UNC Pembroke.

Reporter Alex Riley can be reached at Alex.Riley@StarNewsOnline.com.