Soccer | 9/2/2021 8:35:00 AM

DENTON, Texas - The Texas Woman's University soccer team will take to the pitch for its first contests of the 2021 season, playing a pair of non-conference matchups at Ouachita Baptist and Harding. 

Thursday's contest at Ouachita Baptist will begin at 4 p.m. and Saturday's contest at Harding begins at 11 a.m. 

FOLLOW IT LIVE

• Live video and statistics for both contests are available at www.twuathletics.com. 

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

• LABOR OF LOVE - Head coach Babak Abouzar's squad faces off against a pair of talented Great American Conference squads this Labor Day weekend. Thursday's season opener will feature last year's GAC champion, the Tigers of Ouachita Baptist, who finished 8-3-1 during the spring 2021 season. OBU was the second-place team in the regular season but topped the regular-season champion, Oklahoma Baptist, 1-0 in the championship game. Harding was 2-3-2 in the abbreviated campaign. 
• THE ALL-TIME SERIES - TWU and Ouachita are evenly split with a 2-2 all-time record. OBU won the first two meetings between the schools, with TWU winning the most recent two, and each team sporting a 1-1 record at home. The last meeting between the two teams was on September 17, 2015, when TWU topped OBU 3-1 in Arkadelphia. The Pioneers are 1-2-2 all-time against Harding, with the Pioneers' lone win in the series coming in the last meeting between the two teams - a 4-0 Pioneers victory on September 14, 2014. 
• COMING HOME - After the weekend's contests, TWU returns home next weekend for games against region foes Regis and Colorado-Mines. Friday's home opener against Regis begins at 7 p.m. while Sunday's matchup with Mines begins at 11 a.m. In all, the Pioneers will play five of their next six games in Denton.