After netting 14 goals in seven games during the spring, the Vandal soccer team now is setting its sights on its first opponent of the 2014 fall season, the same team it saw three times to end the 2013 season, the Seattle U Redhawks.
In each of the three Seattle U versus Idaho contests, the Redhawks bested the Vandals by a combined score of 12-2, including a 6-1 defeat in the opening round of the WAC Tournament.
Despite the familiarity the two programs share after being conference rivals in the WAC before Idaho left to return to the Big Sky this summer, both teams look different this fall. Both teams graduated a number of starters and Idaho coach Derek Pittman is preparing for his first full season with the program after taking the job this winter after long time head man and all-time winningest coach in school history, Pete Showler, resigned after last season.
With such an influx of young talent the first year head coach is unsure of how exactly everyone will fit onto the field, but with very few upper classmen, only two seniors and four juniors, the Vandals should be athletic and strong this season, Pittman said. Many of the younger players have come in hungry and ready to compete right away, he said.
The few upper classmen on the roster have been more than welcoming to the younger players. They have been very helpful in teaching them the ins and outs of the program and how to adjust to being Vandals, Pittman said.
Despite having two games this weekend against two tough opponents in Seattle U and TCU respectively, he said the focus is more on how the Vandals play and what they can control, rather than what the opposition is doing. If the team takes care of everything they can control, there is no reason they cannot come away with favorable results, Pittman said.
“My expectations are for us to go out and work our tails off. We are going to put in the effort and attitude to represent the Vandal soccer program in the right way,” Pittman said. “If we can control what we can control, there is no reason we cannot put ourselves in the position to get a win.”
The season opener with the Redhawks is the first of nine consecutive non-conference tilts to start the season before the Vandals open their Big Sky schedule on Sept. 26 at home against Northern Colorado.
However, the Vandals are not worried about any of that just yet, Pittman said. They first must get past the Redhawks and then their second opponent and first home opponent of the year in TCU, making its first ever trip to Guy Wicks Field on Sunday.
In total the Vandals will play on Guy Wicks Field nine times this fall, including five times in Big Sky play.
After hosting the Horned Frogs, the Vandals will not be back on the field before hosting Eastern Washington next Friday.