Spring break begins next week and while many students are planning to relax the University of Idaho soccer team prepares to jump into its spring season Sunday.
The Vandals host Montana at noon Sunday on the SprinTurf in the first spring game of the year.
“It gives us a great chance to work on fundamentals,” Idaho coach Pete Showler said. “We have an opportunity to try new things.”
Showler enters the spring season returning every starter from the season before, something he said he’s never experienced before. Idaho will bring back every player that logged minutes during November’s conference championship tournament.
The returning starters, he said, will spur what he called exciting competition with returning bench players.
“A majority of these players will compete for time,” he said.
The spring season consists of six games against regional opponents such as Montana, Central Washington, Gonzaga and Washington State in Moscow, North Idaho College in Coeur D’Alene and an all day tournament in Spokane March 24 to close out the season.
Showler said he hopes his team continues to build competition and chemistry throughout spring play.
“Results aren’t as important,” Showler said. “It’s how we improve as a team.”
Idaho is lucky to. compete in a spring season as a proposed piece of NCAA legislation would have cancelled spring soccer altogether.
The legislation stemmed from a desire to cut NCAA competitions by 10 percent and targeted almost exclusively non-revenue sports. Soccer coaches around the country spoke out in large numbers against the measure.
“I don’t know any D-1 coach that wasn’t in favor of keeping spring soccer,” Showler said.
Showler said his players would be robbed of a beneficial opportunity if the spring season had been cancelled, considering they train in the spring regardless of games.
“Girls would be training so hard for no reward,” he said. “These games are a reward and it would have been a sad day if that opportunity was taken away from them.”
Positions of interest for the Vandals this spring include forward where the team will look for the compliment striker to senior goals-leader Chelsea Small. Sophomores Morgan Porter, Katie Baran and Nikki Adams compete to for the position. At goal keeper Idaho welcomes three players who accumulated playing time last season, including senior Liz Boyden and sophomore Marissa Fehrman who are coming off leg injuries. Senior Caroline Towles finished the season for Idaho between the pipes.
Idaho faces familiar foes in the spring season, as it saw all except NIC in the 2011 regular season.
The Vandals nabbed one-goal victories over Montana and Eastern Washington, while dropping to Washington State by a goal and Gonzaga 3-0.