Bethlehem Steel announced their complete 2017 schedule on Tuesday.
The team opens the season with a two-game homestand at Lehigh University’s Goodman Stadium, with the home opener against Rochester Rhinos on Saturday, April 1 followed by FC Cincinnati on Sunday, April 9. before facing Harrisburg City Islanders for their first road game on Saturday, April 15.
The team hosts Harrisburg on May 28 and then faces the City Islanders on the road again on June 20.
Three days before the City Islanders game on June 20, the team faces reigning USL champions New York Red Bulls II on the road on June 17, before hosting the northern New Jersey team on July 9.
The Steel will meet cross-state rival Pittsburgh Riverhounds for the first time in 2017 at home on July 15, away on August 26, and home again on September 24.
The regular season concludes at home against St. Louis FC on Sunday, Oct. 15.
Start times for the games below will be announced at a later date.
| Date | Opponent |
| Saturday, April 1 | vs. Rochester Rhinos |
| Sunday, April 9 | vs. FC Cincinnati |
| Saturday, April 15 | @ Harrisburg City Islanders |
| Sunday, April 23 | vs. Orlando City B |
| Sunday, April 29 | vs. FC Cincinnati |
| Saturday, May 6 | @ Charleston Battery |
| Saturday, May 13 | @ FC Toronto II |
| Saturday, May 20 | @ FC Cincinnati |
| Thursday, May 25 | vs. Charleston Battery |
| Sunday, May 28 | vs. Harrisburg City Islanders |
| Sunday, June 4 | vs. Ottawa Fury FC |
| Sunday, June 11 | @ Saint Louis FC |
| Saturday, June 17 | @ New York Red Bulls II |
| Tuesday, June 20 | @ Harrisburg City Islanders |
| Saturday, July 1 | vs. Richmond Kickers |
| Sunday, July 9 | vs. New York Red Bulls II |
| Saturday, July 15 | vs. Pittsburgh Riverhounds |
| Saturday, July 22 | @ Richmond Kickers |
| Saturday, July 29 | vs. Charlotte Independence |
| Saturday, Aug. 5 | @ Ottawa Fury FC |
| Sunday, Aug. 13 | vs. Toronto FC II |
| Wednesday, Aug. 16 | @ Charlotte Independence |
| Sunday, Aug. 20 | vs. Louisville City FC |
| Saturday, Aug. 26 | @ Pittsburgh Riverhounds |
| Thursday, Aug. 31 | @ Orlando City B |
| Saturday, Sep. 9 | vs. Tampa Bay Rowdies |
| Friday, Sep. 15 | @ Louisville City FC |
| Sunday, Sep. 24 | vs. Pittsburgh Riverhounds |
| Saturday, Sep. 30 | @ Tampa Bay Rowdies |
| Friday, Oct. 6 | @ Toronto FC II |
| Tuesday, Oct. 10 | @ Rochester Rhinos |
| Sunday, Oct. 15 | vs. Saint Louis FC |
Home game days of the week.
.
Weekdays – only one. Thursday, May 25 hosting Charleston Battery
Saturdays – five
Saturday, April 1 hosting Rochester Rhinos
Saturday, July 1 hosting Richmond Kickers
Saturday, July 15 hosting Pittsburgh Riverhounds
Saturday, July 29 hosting Charlotte Independence
Saturday, September 9 hosting Tampa Bay Rowdies
Twenty-eight of their 32 games are provided by the home and away schedule pattern. They play the following four teams a third time.
Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, Toronto FC II, and FC Cincinnati
Unlike last season when twice the number was higher, they have no more than three consecutive road trips before having a home game. Similarly, and also unlike last year, they have no more than three consecutive home games before going on the road.
Schedule crunches
They have four games in fourteen days from May 13 to May 29. They have three in ten days from June 11 through June 20. They have three in eight August 13 through August 20. And they finish the season with three games in ten days October 6 through October 15.
There are no breaks in the schedule longer than nine days.
If travel patterns follow last season, they will fly to St. Louis, Tampa, and Orlando. Louisville was a flight last year because otherwise the return bus trip would have eliminated any practice day to prepare. all other trips were by bus. Louisville and Charleston both consume approximately ten hours of the rubber rolling over the road, KY slightly more and SC slightly less.
The three teams new to Steel fans are St. Louis FC, returned from the Western Conference, and Tampa Bay Rowdies and Ottawa Fury, both fleeing the questionable finances that have earlier been part of NASL. Ottawa has replaced FC Montreal as the USL affiliate of the Montreal Impact. Tampa Bay hopes to win approval for promotion to MLS, imitating Orlando City, for one, who jumped from USL to division one.
Topics for further and future analysis include the Steel schedule’s intersection with that of the Union, and that same intersection with YSC Academy’s Developmental League slate.
The Game listed above as Sunday April 29th is a misprint. April 29th is a Saturday, and the schedule on the USL website lists the Steel as playing on Saturday the 29th.