A large crowd greeted the Idaho women’s soccer team at their first unofficial game Monday at Guy Wicks Field. The sidelines were full as last year’s Big Sky regular season champions beat Eastern Oregon 2-0 in a scrimmage.
Senior forward Kavita Battan scored the first goal during the first half. Sophomore midfielder Megan Goo scored the second.
Head coach Derek Pittman said he could tell his team is still a little rusty.
“Our players had a lot of nervous energy,” he said. “Touches were a little off. The enthusiasm is there. Definitely a lot of things to work on this week.”
Senior midfielder Elexis Schlossarek thought Monday’s scrimmage was a good warm-up for the season.
“I think we passed the ball really well,” she said. “We have a lot of stuff to work on, but overall I think it was a pretty good game for us.”
Schlossarek said the team needs to work on adjusting the speed of the game to the other team and its defensive shape.
“[With] nine new people, it’s hard to figure out our defensive shape right away,” she said. “It’s hard but we want to keep pursuing that because it’s our bread and butter.”
Idaho returns all 11 starters from last season while adding nine freshmen to the squad.
The Vandals were predicted to repeat as the Big Sky regular-season champion as voted by league coaches, with 92 points and five first-place votes.
Participating coaches could not vote for their own team.
Last season, Idaho finished conference play 9-0-1. They fell to Northern Colorado on penalty kicks during the 2015 Big Sky Conference tournament.
The team set school records for goals, assists, points and shutouts. Eight Vandals earned All-Big Sky accolades and five were placed on an All-Big Sky first team.
Eastern Washington was picked to finish second with 81 points and two first-place votes.
The Eagles set program records for most wins, conference wins and longest winning streak. Chloe Williams, 2015 Big Sky Offensive Player of the Year, leads an experienced squad that also returns all 11 starters.
Northern Colorado was chosen for third and Montana for fourth.
The season officially starts Friday at noon against South Dakota in Vermillion, South Dakota.
Pittman said he is looking forward to starting the season.
“At this point in time, no one is going to be playing at their best,” he said. “It’s important that we have the right focus to go out and grind and do the little things.”