By Mason Nesbitt, TMU Sports Information Director

The Master’s University’s men’s soccer team announced its 2018 schedule Thursday.

At the end of eight conference games, one Golden State Athletic Conference team will be four wins away from a national title.

That’s how high the stakes have risen since the announcement that the GSAC will host the 2018 NAIA Men’s Soccer National Championships in Irvine, California, and receive an automatic berth into the NAIA tournament’s final 16 as a result.

The GSAC’s regular-season champion will earn that berth, and The Master’s University, which released its schedule Thursday, hopes to be that team.

“Every game has always been important,” said TMU coach Jim Rickard. “But now every game is going to have a playoff atmosphere.”

The excitement will be accentuated by the fact that the GSAC moved from 10 conference games to eight this season. Master’s will play Vanguard, Arizona Christian, Hope International and San Diego Christian at Reese Field during conference play and William Jessup (Rocklin, CA), Menlo College (Atherton, CA), Westmont College (Santa Barbara, CA) and new GSAC member Ottawa University Arizona (Surprise, AZ) on the road.

It helps that the Mustangs return the GSAC’s reigning Player of the Year, midfielder Benjamin Tembo, who scored 17 goals with eight assists as a junior.

The Mustangs also return All-GSAC picks Leonardo Anjos and Luis Garcia Sosa to a midfield that’s among the NAIA’s best.

Master’s opens the season with three tournaments: one in Oregon, one in Arizona and one at home. The Mustangs will host Hope International, Oregon Tech and UC Merced at Reese Field on Aug. 31 and Sept. 1 for the Master’s Fall Classic.

Thursday, Rickard scrolled through a document on his cell phone, looking at other members of TMU’s non-conference schedule – the University of Antelope Valley (Sept. 13, home), Marymount California University (Sept. 15, away), Florida National University (Sept. 18, home).

“Some pretty consistently good teams,” Rickard said.

See the complete schedule here.

Should Master’s fall short of a GSAC regular season title, there would still be hope of an automatic bid to the national tournament. The winner of the conference tournament will be admitted to the NAIA tourney’s opening round field.

Master’s finished tied for third in GSAC last season with a record of 6-4. TMU ended up 12-6-2 overall, advancing to the conference tournament semifinals.