A new season brings new expectations for Utah Tech women’s soccer as the Trailblazers head into their first season in the Big Sky Conference.
After six seasons in the Western Athletic Conference, Utah Tech is entering a new chapter in the Big Sky Conference. While preseason games have produced mixed results for the Trailblazers, the team is using its non-conference schedule to prepare for conference play beginning in October.
“We’ve created this very tough non-conference for these players to really make sure that we see every scenario that we need to before we step into conference play,” head coach Lexi Brown said.
Utah Tech will continue its non-conference schedule on August 31 with a home game against Utah. Following their contest with the Utes, the Trailblazers face a tough stretch in their schedule, including Utah State, Colorado State and CSUN. The non-conference is where Utah Tech can prepare the team for the ultimate goal.
“Our goal is to win the Big Sky and advance to the NCAA tournament,” Brown said. “We feel like with this year’s team and with the conference we are in a great position to do so.”
Those expectations have followed Utah Tech into a new season. Despite being one of the newcomers in the conference, the Trailblazers were ranked third in the Big Sky Soccer Coaches Poll.
“We know that preseason polls really mean nothing,” Brown said. “We hoped and kind of expected to be placed high based on what we return, but it does place some pressure on us.”
Living up to the expectations of the preseason polls will come with a lot of tough battles for the Trailblazers.
“We’re going to get everyone’s best game and we’re going to have a little bit of a target on our back,” Brown said.
The Trailblazers have had a difficult preseason start with a 1-2-1 record, but redshirt junior Lataya Brost sees the preseason games as important opportunities to prepare for any situation during the season.
“I think continuing to remember that preseason is to prepare us for the season, and really our main goal is to do well in the Big Sky,” Brost said. “We know that championship teams do the dirty work. They do the work that’s ugly. That’s not fun. So we know that winning is going to be ugly sometimes.”
Despite the difficult start, the Trailblazers believe their chemistry and trust in one another will allow them to achieve the goals they set for this season. For Brost, that trust starts with the more experienced players and extends to the fresh faces.
“Just the underclassmen being able to trust us that we’re not going to lead them astray and we have their back,” Brost said. “Also, we’re going to celebrate each other’s wins 100% of the time. At the end of the day, even though we are competing, we are a team and we’re just always going to be there for each other.”
That confidence and trust has helped create belief within the team that they can achieve big things in their first year in the new conference. Senior forward Ella Rusick said the team does not look at themselves as the underdog entering the Big Sky.
“This is our first year in the Big Sky, and so usually people think, ‘Oh, we’re the underdogs, so we have nothing to lose. But we believe every single one of us on our team believes that we can win the Big Sky,” Rusick said. “ I think that’s the key: trusting each other and trusting that we can win.”
