Morris, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris men's soccer team kicks off play Wednesday night (Sept. 1) when they host St. John's University in non-conference action.

The Cougar men kick off the 2010 campaign under the lights with a 7:30 p.m. kickoff out at Big Cat Stadium.  The two teams also met last season's opener, in Collegeville, with the Johnnies pulling out a 1-0 win in the 76th minute.

Admission is free to the match, but if you can't make it out, fans can catch all the action live online through the Cougar Sports Network.  The stream will begin just before the start of the match and the link can also be found on the men's soccer schedule page.

The match will mark the season opener for both schools with the Cougars coming off the 2009 UMAC Championship. Minnesota Morris posted a 16-4-1 record last season and went 13-1-0 in conference play. St. John's meanwhile went 5-11-2 last year, including a winless mark in their last six games.

The 2010 season will be the debut of new head coach Scott Turnbull, who takes over the program after previously serving as an assistant with both the men's and women's programs. Turnbull's debut, comes with a team recently picked to finish second in the UMAC by his peers in the preseason coaches poll. The Cougars received one first place vote to land as the preseason runner-up to favorite St. Scholastica.

The Cougars' will hit the road this weekend for two more non-conference matches, traveling to St. Paul, Minn. to play Hamline, and to Superior, Wis. to take on the University of Wisconsin-Superior. After five total non-conference games, UMM begins conference play at home on Sept. 17 and 18 when they host Crown and Northwestern respectively.

It all gets started on Sept. 1 at 7:30 p.m. at Big Cat Stadium with St. John's coming to town.