Along with home volleyball and football games, Homecoming also encompasses the Vandal soccer team as it prepares to host Weber State to kickoff the final home weekend of the season at Guy Wicks Field.
The Wildcats currently sit at 4-11 overall (1-5 Big Sky), but that doesn’t mean the Vandals are taking them lightly.
“We don’t want to become complacent because there is no time for that,” sophomore midfielder Elexis Schlossarek said. “We are still an underdog in this league no matter what anyone says. We could lose the next four games and be out of conference. We need to keep our heads focused on one game at a time.”
Playing during Homecoming Weekend is always special and Idaho coach Derek Pittman said he hopes that means additional fan support on top of the already rowdy Vandal soccer faithful.
“We are able to be home for Homecoming which is exciting for our fans and players to be able to protect our home field in front of hopefully a good crowd,”Pittman said. “We have had great crowds up to this point and we hope that people will turn out again on Friday and Sunday to support the Vandal soccer program.”
Weber State is a perennial Big Sky power and despite them having a down year this year in the Big Sky, the game still affect the Big Sky standings and potential tournament seeding. The Big Sky Tournament is still the team’s main goal and focus on the year.
“That is our number one goal, it has been the whole season,” Pittman said. “After that the chips will fall where they fall and we will see where we land in the standings and go from there.”
Along with the game Friday afternoon against the Wildcats, the Vandals are preparing for their annual “Pink Game” and Senior Night on Sunday afternoon against the Idaho State Bengals.
The Vandals only have one senior on the active roster this season in defender Emily Ngan. Senior forward Kat Comesana is sidelined with an ACL injury, but that doesn’t mean they will be any less missed by Pittman and the team next year.
“Both Kat and Emily have brought so much to the team, even though Kat has been out with an ACL injury, off the field she is the most positive attitude on the entire team,” Schlossarek said of her teammate.
Along with the two players, the Vandals are also losing manager Terren Phillips who is also a senior.
“Our seniors have been tremendous — Emily, Kat even Terren Phillips our manager,” Pittman said. “All three of them have contributed to this program in very positive manners. As a program and as a staff we are very thankful for the hard work and dedication that they have put in to turning this program around and doing everything they can to bleed for the Vandals.”