Despite slow start, Vandal soccer was threat in Big Sky
For any team, the transition into a new conference and a new head coach can be difficult.
For the Idaho women’s soccer team, it had to transition into both at the same time in 2014.
After Pete Showler, the all-time winningest coach in school history stepped down early in 2014, the Vandals had a new head coach for the first time in almost a decade as Derek Pittman made the short trek from Spokane to Moscow. He was an associate coach for four years with the Gonzaga Bulldogs before taking the head job at Idaho.
Defender/forward Olivia Baggerly fights a Gonzaga opponent for the ball during Idaho’s 1-1 tie with the Bulldogs Saturday on the SprinTurf.
These factors coupled with a nonconference schedule featuring teams from the Big XII and Pac 12 could have been a factor in the Vandals starting the 2014 season 0-9.
But Pittman doesn’t use this as an excuse. He said the slow start had more to do with the team taking a few games to gel together and become a cohesive unit before the start of Big Sky play in late September.
“The slow start had more to do with the fact that we were still trying to figure out who we were,” Pittman said. “It took time. It took a good eight games or so for us to kinda figure out the formula that worked for our group. Luckily, we were able to figure that out right before we went into Big Sky play.”
The Vandals took their lumps early in the season before they finally got into the win column Sept. 26 by way of a thrilling 3-2 victory over Northern Colorado. This win became a catalyst for the Vandals, as they went on to start Big Sky play with a 4-1-1 record.
Because of their slow start, the Vandals were able to catch a few teams off-guard, especially early in conference play, but that doesn’t mean the conference wasn’t a competitive one.
“In some conferences there are a few defined leaders where in this conference it is literally anyone’s game and I think that’s a neat conference to be in, especially for us who have been an underdog for a couple of years now,” sophomore midfielder Elexis Schlossarek said.
The adversities the Vandals faced during their inaugural Big Sky season could be huge for the program moving forward, Pittman said. Now, with a year in the conference under their belts, they are more prepared for the season than they were a year ago. On the flipside though, other teams will be more prepared for Idaho as well.
The team hopes the closeness it has developed over the last few months will help on the field this fall, Schlossarek said.
“We actually spend a lot more time together doing fun things and planning activities,” junior Reagan Quigley said. “Like this weekend we just went to Coeur d’Alene and had breakfast. We totally wouldn’t have done that a couple of years back.”
Joshua Gamez can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @Gamez_VN