ANNVILLE, Pa. – The Lebanon Valley women's soccer team heads into the 2023 season ready to take on a new conference as they look to extend their postseason streak to three seasons.
 
The Dutchmen will play 15 matches this fall including seven in the Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom. LVC has recent history with the top half of the conference and have played five of their seven opponents in the past five years. Head coach Frank Carrozza also has a lot of familiarity with the conference after spending 12 years at King's College. The season begins on September 1 as the Dutchmen host Moravian University at Herbert Field. LVC will play their first road match of the year on September 9 with the short trip to Elizabethtown College to face the Blue Jays. Four days later the squad will be back on Herbert Field to take on Ursinus College. The team will face Haverford College on September 16 in Haverford in their final non-conference road match.
 
LVC will play MAC teams the rest of the way with four non-conference matches against former MAC Commonwealth rivals and seven MAC Freedom matches. The team will have back-to-back mid-week home matches against Eastern University and Alvernia University on September 19 and September 27. They will open conference play with a tough test at two-time defending champion Misericordia University on September 30. The Cougars are ranked fifth in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll after going 21-1-1 last year falling in the Elite Eight to eventual National Champion Johns Hopkins University.
 
The Dutchmen will play four straight matches on Herbert Field starting on October 4 as they welcome York College of Pennsylvania to Annville for a rematch of last year's MAC Commonwealth Semifinal battle. Three days later, FDU-Florham visits Herbert Field for the first meeting between the programs since 2009. The Dutchmen are 5-0-0 all-time against the Devils. LVC will host Hood College on October 10 in the final non-conference contest of the year before finishing the homestand on Homecoming Saturday against Delaware Valley University. LVC and DVU have not faced each other since 2008 with the Aggies holding a slim 4-2-0 advantage in the all-time series.
 
Three of the final four games will be on the road starting with a trip to Center Valley to take on DeSales University. The Dutchmen are 16-5-0 all-time against the Bulldogs but DeSales has won the past three meetings including the latest in 2021. The Dutchmen will host King's on October 21 in their final home game. The Dutchmen are 15-2-1 against the Monarchs all-time and have won or tied the past 16 meetings. The final week of the regular season begins with a trip to former MAC Commonwealth rival Arcadia University for a game under the lights in Glenside. The Knights lead the all-time series 9-7-0 but the teams haven't played since Arcadia moved over to the MAC Freedom following the 2019 season. The Dutchmen will close the regular season in Hoboken, New Jersey against Stevens Institute of Technology for the second meeting between the programs. The Ducks won the only meeting between the programs in 2019 and have played in the MAC Freedom Championship match in all three seasons they have been a part of the conference.
 
The top four teams qualify for the MAC Freedom Championship. The semifinals are scheduled for November 2 with the final on November 4 at the site of the higher seed.
 
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