VERMILLION, S.D.— For the third-straight season, the South Dakota soccer team will host nine games, eight of them being regular season, on its home turf of First Bank & Trust Soccer Complex head coach Michael Thomas announced Friday.
 
"We are extremely excited for our 2020 schedule," Thomas said. "It is the most challenging schedule that we have faced since I have taken over here. We are grateful for the opportunity to be able to go out and challenge ourselves against these teams."
 
The Yotes will start off their 2020 campaign with two exhibitions against Iowa State and Creighton. The games against the Cyclones will be in Ames, Iowa while the game against the Bluejays will be at home at the First Bank & Trust Soccer Complex.
 
USD opens regular season play on the road against Northern Iowa on Aug. 20 and hosts its first home game of the regular season against the back-to-back Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Champs, Loyola-Chicago on Aug. 23. The Coyotes will continue their nonconference slate with four-straight road game against Green Bay (Aug. 28), Minnesota (Aug. 30), Idaho State (Sept. 4) and Utah State (Sept. 6).
 
South Dakota will finish nonconference action with three of the last four at home. The Yotes host Wyoming (Sept. 11) and Drake (Sept. 13) before traveling to Montana (Sept. 18). Morningside makes the short trip to Vermillion on Sept. 26 in the last nonconference game of the season for USD.
 
Summit League action begins in Grand Forks, North Dakota, against North Dakota on Oct. 1. South Dakota will host its first league game on Oct. 4 against Oral Roberts. That game starts a string of three-straight home game as the Coyotes also host Western Illinois (Oct. 11) and North Dakota State (Oct. 15).
 
In the second half of the conference slate, USD hits the road for three-straight road game starting with Denver (Oct. 18), the 2019 regular season champion. Then a trip to Brookings for the South Dakota Showdown Series against South Dakota State (Oct. 22), who took home the Summit League Tournament title last season. The Yotes will finish the road trip at Kansas City on Oct. 25.
 
South Dakota ends the regular season at home against Omaha on Oct. 29.
 
The 2020 Summit League Tournament is slated for Nov. 5-7 in Denver. The top four teams in the league qualify for the tournament to compete for the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.