Coming off a 13-4 season that earned them an NCAA tournament appearance and a No. 11 national ranking, the Yale Bulldogs have announced a 2008 schedule that includes four games against teams that ended the season ranked in the top 20.

Yale opens by hosting Fairfield Feb. 27, the first of five non-league games to start the season. The Bulldogs also host James Madison (Mar. 1), which ended the season ranked No. 17 and was responsible for one of Yale's four losses last year, and New Hampshire (Mar. 5) before taking off on their annual spring break trip. This year they are headed to Boston, with games scheduled at Boston College (Mar. 8) and UMass (Mar. 12).

When the Bulldogs return home they start league play with a crucial game against defending Ivy champion Penn, the only Ivy team to beat Yale last year. The Quakers ended the season ranked No. 2 in the country after making a run to the NCAA Final Four.

After a trip back to Boston for a game against Boston University Mar. 19, Yale faces another tough Ivy League test with a game at Dartmouth Mar. 22. The Big Green has won 10 Ivy championships, but Yale has won the last two meetings between the two teams.

A stretch of three straight home games follows, including local rival UConn Mar. 26. The Huskies ended last season ranked No. 20. Harvard comes to Johnson Field Mar. 29, and the Bulldogs host Holy Cross on Apr. 2. The Crusaders won the Patriot League last season and made an appearance in the NCAA tournament.

Yale hits the road for another key Ivy game Apr. 5 at Princeton. The Tigers, who earned an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament, finished a game behind the Bulldogs in the standings last year.

In between home games against league foes Columbia (Apr. 9) and Brown (Apr. 16), Yale makes a special trip to Baltimore for a game at Maryland-Baltimore County. That will be a homecoming for the seven Bulldogs from Maryland.

Yale concludes the regular season with its final Ivy League game at Cornell Apr. 19.

The first round of the 16-team NCAA tournament is scheduled for May 11 at campus sites. The quarterfinals are May 17 at campus sites, and the Final Four is at Johnny Unitas Stadium in Towson, Md., on May 23 and 25.

Yale returns nine starters from last season, including three All-Americans: goalie Ellen Cameron (Monkton, Md.), defender Jess Champion (Moorestown, N.J.) and midfielder Lauren Taylor (Manhasset, N.Y.).

Date   Opponent / Event      Location              Time / Result
02/27  vs. Fairfield         Johnson Field         3:00 p.m. ET
03/01  vs. James Madison     Johnson Field         12:00 p.m. ET
03/05  vs. New Hampshire     Johnson Field         3:00 p.m. ET
03/08  at Boston College     Chestnut Hill, Mass.  12:00 p.m. ET
03/12  at Massachusetts      Amherst, Mass.        3:00 p.m. ET
03/15  vs. Penn *            Johnson Field         12:00 p.m. ET
03/19  at Boston University  Boston, Mass.         4:00 p.m. ET
03/22  at Dartmouth *        Hanover, N.H.         12:00 p.m. ET
03/26  vs. Connecticut       Johnson Field         3:00 p.m. ET
03/29  vs. Harvard *         Johnson Field         1:00 p.m. ET
04/02  vs. Holy Cross        Johnson Field         3:00 p.m. ET
04/05  at Princeton *        Princeton, N.J.       2:00 p.m. ET
04/09  vs. Columbia *        Johnson Field         3:00 p.m. ET
04/13  at UMBC               Baltimore, Md.        1:00 p.m. ET
04/16  vs. Brown *           Johnson Field         4:00 p.m. ET
04/19  at Cornell *          Ithaca, N.Y.          1:00 p.m. ET

2007-12-04