A couple months removed from an impressive 2018 season, Idaho soccer is ready to begin the growing process as the preseason arrives.
The Vandals finished last year as one of the top teams in the Big Sky conference, with stellar defense and goalkeeper play to go along with an explosive scoring attack under their first-year head coach.
“I’m thrilled of how the 2018 season went,” Idaho Head Coach Jeremy Clevenger said. “Obviously we would have liked to have won the championship – but just reflecting on the staff coming in late, players and coaches trying get to know each other and implement new philosophies and structures, the players adapted well, and I thought we were playing some of our best soccer by the end of the year.”
But that success is in the past now and the spring season is underway, with new goals and mindsets.
Idaho will now look to new leaders to step up within the program, having graduated nine seniors, including de- fenders Kelly Dopke, Anna Rose Wiencek, Claire Johnson, Josilyn Daggs, goalkeeper Makayla Presgrave and forwards Bridget Daley, Megan Goo, Kayla Watanabe and midfielder Jordyn Dion.
Clevenger said seniors Julia Byerlein and Morgan Crosby, along with junior Taylor Brust, will be tasked with filling the now vacant leadership roles, but anyone can step up to help lead this team during the learning process of spring training.
“When you lose a big and impactful senior class, I think there is definitely opportunities for people to step up and that is what we will be looking for, especially individuals in the upper class,” Clevenger said.
The spring season does have a different feel compared to the fall schedule, with no stats recorded and records not carried over. It is a time to practice and work on skills in game-like environments.
“Spring ball is an opportunity, plain and simple,” Clevenger said. “It is an opportunity for players to not necessarily hit the reset button but continue to find our identity and just grow as a team.”
Spring season is not about wins or losses, but a chance to give all of the players action and get comfortable in the systems Clevenger wants to start seeing, along with simply bettering their skill sets.
Idaho will start off with what should be a solid test to get things started, going over to Pullman to meet with a talented Washington State squad, which ranked as one of the top-25 teams in the country.
“We have a lot of respect for Washington State — for us to play a team like that, it is going to be great for us,” Clevenger said. “I think we can play with anybody in the country and I want our players to have the confidence to go into a game like that and be able to showcase their skills, get after it and compete.”
Idaho plays the Cougars Sunday at 12:30 p.m. in Pullman.
Zack Kellogg can be reached at [email protected]