Coming off an impressive victory over North Idaho College, the Vandal soccer team is looking to their next spring doubleheader and it is a big one. Not only do they face rival Boise State, but they also will play future Big Sky opponent Montana.
“Our expectation is to come out and battle. We are working on attacking stuff to be able to create opportunities to score goals,” Coach Derek Pittman said. “It will be a good, tough battle with both opponents.”
One of Pittman’s strategies is creating offensive opportunities through a high pressure attacking defense. An example of this was the Vandals’ explosion on offense during Saturday’s dominating win over NIC.
With the constant defensive pressure, it is easier to get control of the ball on the attacking side of the field, which creates more scoring opportunities, sophomore forward Alyssa Pease said.
Montana has consistently been one of the tougher programs in the Big Sky over the last few seasons. Getting a sneak peak at what the Vandals will need to compete with in the conference next year is a great opportunity to see how far they’ve come this spring, Pittman said.
The Vandals and Grizzlies were originally slated to play on March 1, but the game was postponed due to weather. The Vandals now have the opportunity to get their first taste of Big Sky competition on their home turf.
“We want to be able to compete and show Montana what we have and set us up for conference play,” senior defender Emily Ngan said.
Pittman thinks the game against Montana will be a huge opportunity to show the young squad the type of competition they will need to be prepared for this fall and moving forward. Although it is only a spring game, Pittman said he is preparing like this is a regular season game.
Although playing conference opponents in the spring is unusual, Pittman doesn’t think there were any issues with lining up this game with the Grizzlies.
“(Montana coach) Mark (Plakorus) at Montana is a good friend of mine. They’re looking for games in the spring just like we are,” Pittman said. “As far as playing in-conference opponents, it’s not really a big deal.”
Pittman emphasized the weekend is more about continuing to grow as a unit and play their brand of soccer, regardless of who lines up on the other side.
“We are going to bust our tails and work hard to make other team’s miserable. When they turn the ball over, we are going to punish them on the attack,” Pittman said.
The Broncos are also a quality opponent. This past fall, they came close to getting an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament with a 13-7-3 record, including wins over Pac-12 teams in Washington and Arizona State.
“Both games are going to be very tight. I don’t expect either game to be a blowout one way or the other,” Pittman said.
The Vandals, Grizzlies and Broncos will play a total of three games on Saturday. The Vandals and Grizzlies kick off the day, followed by BSU and Montana. The Broncos and Vandals collide in the main event.
Joshua Gamez can be reached at [email protected]