Potter’s dozen show good signs
PULLMAN — Matt Potter is in just his second year as head coach of the women’s soccer team at Washington State University, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t already brought in plenty of his own people.
Thanks to a senior-laden squad in 2003, Potter had room for 12 new players on a roster of 30 for this season. While Potter might have liked a long fall camp to get his new players into the fold, his was actually the first Cougars team of the fall to get started.
The women traveled to Missoula, Mont., last weekend to play Denver and Montana, winning the first match 2-0 and dropping the second, 2-1 in overtime. The early matches, coupled with an exhibition against Idaho, provided Potter a great way to see how his new players will fit in.
“It was exciting to see what could be coming in the future,” Potter said. “Other than the freshmen, there are a lot of players that haven’t had the opportunity to get significant minutes in the past, and a lot of those players got significant minutes too and proved their worth.”
Potter said his players did a nice job in the last month of incorporating all the new talent seamlessly. The recruiting class was ranked by Soccer Buzz Magazine as the 47th best in Division I, which includes 306 programs. Coming off of a 6-11-2 season, it’s given the Cougars a breath of fresh air.
“The credit goes to the players for that,” Potter said. “The returning players have done an excellent job of embracing the freshmen and the freshmen have done everything in their power to meet them and fulfill the team’s expectations.”
For the newcomers, having so many of each other to lean on has made the transition much simpler.
“It makes it a lot easier on our class,” said forward Brooke Bemis, a freshman from Coeur d’Alene whose twin sister, Brynn, is a freshman goalie for WSU. “We have a lot of people in the same position.”
Even with a handful of new faces getting time in the starting lineup, it’s likely that much of the burden this season will fall on the shoulders of a couple of veterans. Junior forward Alix Rustrum scored both of the team’s goals in the win against Denver, and fellow junior Katie Hultin recorded her first shutout of the year in net during the same game.
“The first game against Denver, I was ecstatic to say the least,” Hultin said. “I could do nothing but smile after the game. We played really, really well, fought hard for each other and we didn’t stop working.”
The Cougars don’t open their Pac-10 schedule until the second week of October, but they’ll get perhaps their best test of the year at noon Sunday against Tennessee, ranked No. 8 in the nation.
“We couldn’t have asked for a better challenge,” Potter said of having the Volunteers come to Pullman. “It’s going to test us and test our resolve. Ultimately, if the team that played on Friday (against Denver) comes out to play, then it’s going to be a great game to watch.”
Elsewhere around the region, Gonzaga is also off to a 1-1 start after defeating Wyoming, 3-1, and losing to No. 24 Utah, 2-1. The Bulldogs are coming off of an 11-8 season in which head coach Shannon Stiles was named West Coast Conference coach of the year.
Eastern Washington is a third team at 1-1 this year. The Eagles will rely on a strong defense to improve last year’s 3-12-2 record, hoping to parlay a couple of late-season wins from 2003 into momentum for 2004.
Idaho is 0-2 and was picked to finish last in the Big West Conference preseason coaches’ poll.