The Lenoir-Rhyne men’s soccer team has released their 2023 schedule. It will feature 15 contests with four non-conference games and the remaining 11 against South Atlantic Conference opponents.

The Bears will start the season on the road on Sunday, September 3 when they face Young Harris. Last season, the Bears opened at home against the then 11th ranked Mountain Lions and won 3-1. It will be the sixth all time meeting against the Georgia school with the Bears looking to even the series at three.

The home opener for L-R will be Wednesday, September 6th when the Bears host Nova Southeastern. The Bears will seek their first win against the Sharks. The Bears lost at home in 2019, 3-0 but tied the Sharks, who were ranked third in the nation at the time last season in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The Bears open South Atlantic Conference play later that week at home. Tusculum will visit Hickory on Saturday, September 9. The Bears have only lost once to the Pioneers in the last six games against them. In that time, they have gone 3-1-2.

The Bears will face Limestone (Sept. 16) and Anderson (Sept. 20) on the road to continue South Atlantic Conference action. L-R will then host Mars Hill on Saturday, September 23rd.

Francis Marion will host the Bears in a non-conference midweek game on September 27th. It will be the first of four straight road games for the Bears. They will resume South Atlantic Conference play with matches at Wingate on September 30th, at Emory and Henry on October 4 and at Carson-Newman on October 7.

The Bears will host Coker on Wednesday, October 11th. L-R will break again from South Atlantic Conference action when they travel to Chowan on Tuesday, October 17th.

L-R will end the season with two of their final three games at home. The Bears get Newberry at home Saturday, October 21st and Lincoln Memorial a week later on October 28. L-R wraps up the regular season at Catawba on Wednesday, November 1st.

The South Atlantic Conference tournament quarterfinals will be held at the higher seeds on Saturday, November 4th. The semifinals and finals will be held November 10 and 12th at the Matthews Soccer Complex.

Lenoir-Rhyne is coming off a 12-4-3 campaign last season, with a 6-4-1 record in South Atlantic Conference play. The Bears won the South Atlantic Conference tournament to receive an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament, where they fell in the opening round to Wingate on penalty kicks at home.