NORFOLK, Va. - The Old Dominion Men’s soccer team opens the regular season with a home game against George Washington and hosts Kentucky for Senior Night to highlight the 2025 schedule, as Old Dominion Head Coach Tennant McVea announced the schedule on Wednesday.
“I am extremely excited about another really competitive schedule in 2025,” said ODU Head Coach McVea. “We are fortunate to have five Sun Belt conference games at home this year, pitting ourselves against some of the best programs in the country including last year's beaten national finalists Marshall.”
The Monarchs open the season with a run of exhibition games starting off at UNCW. ODU heads to Wilmington, North Carolina on August 9 for a 5 p.m. kickoff. Old Dominion hosts its first game at the ODU Soccer Stadium on August 16 against Longwood at 7 p.m.
The Monarchs officially open the 2025 regular season at home against George Washington at 7 p.m. on Thursday, August 21 in Norfolk. ODU opened last season against the Revolutionaries and were victorious 4-2 in Washington, D.C. Old Dominion leads the all-time series 5-1-1.
“In the lead up to conference play we are playing some extremely competitive games here, and on the road,” said McVea. “As always, we are excited for local derbies against W&M and VCU. Both great programs who we have a great tradition of playing regularly. Every game we play is a chance for us to get better and ultimately compete for the Sun Belt Championship. This schedule helps us get there.”
ODU heads to North Carolina on Monday, August 25 to meet Elon at 7 p.m. in the second regular season game. The Monarchs have a 5-1-1 all-time record against the Phoenix. Last time the two sides met was in 2011 when ODU found a winner in overtime to secure a 3-2 win at Elon.
Old Dominion will welcome in-state rival VCU to Norfolk when the Monarchs battle the Rams on Friday, August 29 at 7 p.m. ODU holds the lead in the all-time series with a record of 28-11-6 and in the last six games the Monarchs have a 3-2-1 overall record.
ODU heads out on a three-game road trip with games in Pennsylvania and Maryland, the first stop is Bethlehem, Pennsylvania to take on Lehigh on Thursday, September 2 at 7 p.m. The two programs have not met since 1991 and only faced off four times dating back to 1979. ODU leads the all-time series 3-1-0.
The next stop on the tour is Lewisburg, PA to match up against Bucknell on Sunday, September 7 at 1 p.m. Old Dominion has never matched up with the Bisons in its history.
The Monarchs finish the road trip in Baltimore, Maryland to play UMBC on Friday, September 12 at 7 p.m. Last season the two sides played out a 1-1 draw in Norfolk which saw ODU pepper the net of the UMBC goalkeeper with nine shots on target but could not find the winning goal. This will be the fifth all-time matchup with ODU holding the only win in the series, 1-0-3.
ODU returns home and hosts the first game of Sun Belt Conference play against Georgia Southern on Friday, September 19 at 7 p.m. Last season, ODU defeated GS in a come-from-behind victory in Statesboro, 3-2. The Monarchs trailed 2-1 after Matthew Dean scored for the Eagles in the 55th minute. Old Dominion responded with a goal from Timothy Ennin in the 68th and then Micah Wayland regained the advantage in the 84th off an assist from Michael Eberle. Georgia Southern had a corner in the 90th minute but ODU snuffed it out and secured the win.
Old Dominion will head up I-64 to Williamsburg to play William & Mary on Tuesday, September 23 for a 7 p.m. kickoff. This will be the 60th all-time matchup between the two programs dating back to 1970. Last season, ODU defeated the Tribe 2-0 in Norfolk thanks to goals by Eberle in the seventh minute and Arnesen in the 86th.
The Monarchs head to the Peach State for a Sun Belt Conference matchup against Georgia State in Atlanta on Sunday, September 28 starting at 7 p.m. ODU leads the all-time series against the Panthers, 9-3-2.
ODU heads back to Norfolk to welcome the Chanticleers on Saturday, October 4 kicking off at 7 p.m. Last season the two sides played in Conway and the Monarchs came away victorious, 3-2. ODU went up 2-1 at the half, but shortly after the break CCU’s Deryn Armstrong found an equalizer in the 56th. The two sides stayed level until the 72nd minute when Bennett found Evan Watt for what ended up being the winning goal.
Old Dominion goes on the road to Columbia, South Carolina to play the Gamecocks on Friday, October 10 at 7 p.m. In the last four games against USC the two sides are tied 2-2-0 and ODU leads the all-time series 10-7-1.
The Monarchs have a two-game homestand starting with visitors from Virginia Beach. Regent heads to Norfolk on Tuesday, October 14 for a matchup with the Monarchs at 7 p.m. Old Dominion has never matched up with the Royals in its history.
ODU hosts Central Florida when the Knights come to Norfolk to play at the ODU Soccer Stadium on Saturday, October 18 at 7 p.m. ODU trails by one win in the all-time series, 2-3-0 and the Monarchs will seek its first win against UCF since 2013.
Old Dominion travels to Morgantown, West Virginia for a matchup against the Mountaineers on Wednesday October 22 at 7 p.m. Last season the Monarchs held the #5 Mountaineers to one goal but could not find the back of the net, falling to WVU 1-0 in Norfolk.
The Monarchs head back to Norfolk to host Marshall, the Herd will play Old Dominion at the ODU Soccer Stadium on Sunday, October 26 starting at 6 p.m. ODU fell to the #8 ranked Herd 3-2 in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. The Monarchs struck first through Noah Madrigal in the 35th but a three-goal barrage in 12 minutes from Marshall was too much to overcome. Watt responded with a goal in the 87th to give ODU a chance to force overtime but could not find the equalizing goal. Marshall was the national runner-up a season ago.
ODU will meet JMU when the Monarchs head to Harrisonburg for a 7 p.m. kickoff on Friday, October 31st. Old Dominion defeated JMU 1-0 in the TowneBank Royal Rivalry on Senior Night last season. ODU’s Wayland found Ennin in the 64th minute for the lone goal of the game.
Old Dominion rounds out their regular season and has their Senior Night against Kentucky in the final game of Sun Belt Conference play on Tuesday, November 4 at 7 p.m. Last season, ODU fell 1-0 to the Wildcats in Lexington after a hard-fought effort from the Monarchs, who registered 10 total shots, but could not get the ball past UK’s goalkeeper Ryan Jack.
“Sun Belt men’s soccer has proven to be one of the most competitive and unique conferences in the nation and we are really looking forward to testing ourselves week in and week out.” said McVea
The Sun Belt Conference Championship begins on Wednesday, November 9 and the final is set to be held on Sunday, November 16.
ODU Men's Soccer 2025 Schedule
|
Date |
Opponent |
Venue |
Time |
|
Sat, Aug 9 |
UNCW |
Wilmington, NC |
5:00 PM |
|
Sat, Aug 16 |
Longwood |
Norfolk, VA |
7:00 PM |
|
Thu, Aug 21 |
George Washington |
Norfolk, VA |
7:00 PM |
|
Mon, Aug 25 |
Elon |
Elon, NC |
7:00 PM |
|
Fri, Aug 29 |
VCU |
Norfolk, VA |
7:00 PM |
|
Tue, Sept 2 |
Lehigh |
Bethlehem, PA |
7:00 PM |
|
Sun, Sept 7 |
Bucknell |
Lewisburg, PA |
1:00pm |
|
Fri, Sept 12 |
UMBC |
Baltimore, PA |
7:00 PM |
|
Fri, Sept 19 |
GA. Southern |
Norfolk, VA |
7:00 PM |
|
Tue, Sept 23 |
William & Mary |
Williamsburg, VA |
7:00 PM |
|
Sun, Sept 28 |
GA. State |
Atlanta, Ga |
7:00 PM |
|
Sat, Oct 4 |
Coastal Carolina |
Norfolk, VA |
7:00 PM |
|
Fri, Oct 10 |
South Carolina |
Columbia, SC |
7:00 PM |
|
Tue, Oct 14 |
Regent |
Norfolk, VA |
7:00 PM |
|
Sat, Oct 18 |
UCF |
Norfolk, VA |
7:00 PM |
|
Wed, Oct 22 |
West Virginia |
Morgantown, WV |
7:00 PM |
|
Sun, Oct 26 |
Marshall |
Norfolk, VA |
6:00 PM |
|
Fri, Oct 31 |
JMU |
Harrisonburg, VA |
7:00 PM |
|
Tue, Nov 4 |
Kentucky |
Norfolk, VA |
7:00 PM |
|
Sun, Nov 9 |
Sunbelt QF |
TBD |
TBD |
|
Wed, Nov 12 |
Sunbelt SF |
TBD |
TBD |
|
Sun, Nov 16 |
Sunbelt Final |
TBD |
TBD |