ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. − Head Coach John Lynch, entering his 12th year at Flagler College, released the 2010 fall men's soccer schedule this afternoon. The men will play 16 matches this year, including eight at Saints Field.

Flagler is coming off one of its best seasons in school history with a 14-6-2 overall record and a 7-1-0 mark in its first season in the Peach Belt Conference. The Saints won the regular season championship and played to a draw in the conference tournament championship before falling on penalty kicks. Flagler also made its first appearance in the NCAA Division II Tournament.

The Saints will be playing one of the toughest schedules in not only the country, but arguably I the school's history. Five of the teams Flagler will be playing participated in last year's NCAA Tournament, including Lees-McRae College who advanced all the way to the finals. Three opponents were ranked in the final NSCAA poll, all in the top 10. Only four schools had sub-.500 records a year ago. The winning percentage of the opponents is .603.

Flagler opens the 2010 slate at Lees-McRae in a two-day tournament. The Saints will open with the Bobcats on Sept. 3 at Banner Elk, N.C. Lees-McRae is the defending Conference Carolinas regular season champion and also own a 24-match home unbeaten streak. Coming off an 18-3-2 season where they were the national runners-up, the Bobcats will have to replace their starting goalkeeper and top goal scorer from a year ago. On Sept. 4, Flagler will finish the tournament by taking on King College, an independent Division II school.

Continuing on the road, Flagler will open defense of its Peach Belt regular season crown at the University of Montevallo on Sept. 11. The Saints came away with two one-goal victories last year over the Falcons. The road trip ends on Sept. 15 at Wingate, the team that ended Flagler's season last year in the Southeast Region Tournament.

Flagler's home opener will be against UNC Pembroke, Sept.18 at 7 p.m. UNCP is under the guidance of its new head coach, Phil Hindson.

The Saints return to the road for matches at Coker College, Sept. 21, and Clayton State College, Sept. 25. Coker won the Conference Carolinas postseason tournament and Clayton State made it to the semifinals of the Peach Belt Tourney.

Flagler closes out the season by playing seven-of-its-last-nine matches at home. Kicking off the home stretch is regional-rival Rollins College. The Tars were co-regular season champs last year in the Sunshine State Conference and finished ranked 10th in the final national poll. USC Aiken ventures to St. Augustine for a conference match on Oct. 2. Florida Tech pays a visit on Oct. 5.

One of the only two road contests left is league-rival Lander University. The Saints will visit the Greenwood, S.C.-school for the first time. These two teams tied for the conference tournament championship, but Lander won in penalty kicks.

Flagler hosts Saint Xavier of Chicago on Oct. 15. Following that match is Division II heavyweight, University of Tampa. The Spartans split the SSC crown with the Tars of Rollins and have three national titles in their trophy case. The Saints close out the home half of their schedule with conference matches – North Georgia College & State University (Oct. 23) and Georgia Southwestern State University (Oct. 27).

The final match of the regular season will be at Francis Marion University in Florence, S.C. on Oct. 30.

The Peach Belt Conference Tournament will hold quarterfinals at the higher seeded team before the semifinals and final will be played at Evans, Ga., Nov. 5-7.

Click here to view schedule.