Valparaiso University's 2004 women's soccer schedule will feature eight home matches, including the final two contests of the regular season, as the Crusaders released their fall slate of games on Wednesday.

Head coach Stephen Anthony's squad will open the regular season on August 27 at Illinois State, last year's Missouri Valley Conference champion and a NCAA Tournament participant. The Brown and Gold will open its 2004 home schedule two days later, August 29, against Loyola (Ill.) at Eastgate Field beginning at 1 p.m.

Valpo's Mid-Continent Conference opener will take place on September 19 at home against IUPUI, and the Crusaders will also host league foes Southern Utah and Oral Roberts throughout the season. The match against Oral Roberts will take place under the lights on October 28 at Thomas Jefferson Middle School beginning at 5 p.m.

Non-conference foes Indiana State, Cleveland State, and North Dakota State will also visit Eastgate Field this season, while Valpo will close the 2004 regular season on October 30 at home against Central Michigan for Senior Day. The Mid-Continent Conference Tournament will be held on November 5 and 7 at Oakland this season, with the top four teams in the standings qualifying for the year-end event.

Valpo will play a pair of exhibition matches prior to the start of the regular season, hosting St. Joseph's (Ind.) on August 19 at 5 p.m. before traveling to DePauw on August 22.

The Crusaders are coming off of a fifth place finish in the Mid-Con with a 1-2-3 record last year and are looking to improve upon their 3-11-3 overall mark.