The final whistle that blew in Thursday’s 1-0 loss to Northern Arizona in the semifinal round of the Big Sky Tournament represented the end of the Vikings’ 2008 campaign. But to first year head coach Laura Schott and the strong core of players that will be returning next year, it marked the beginning of a new era in Portland State soccer.
New beginnings
The final whistle that blew in Thursday’s 1-0 loss to Northern Arizona in the semifinal round of the Big Sky Tournament represented the end of the Vikings’ 2008 campaign.
But to first year head coach Laura Schott and the strong core of players that will be returning next year, it marked the beginning of a new era in Portland State soccer.
“It’s hard to feel disappointed after so many successes this season,” Schott said.
In the first year under the new regime of Schott and her two assistant coaches, Melanie Langley (’04) and Janine Szpara, the Vikings rolled to their best conference record (4-1-2) in the school’s Division I history.
They also posted their highest-scoring game (4-1 against Eastern Washington on Oct. 19) in four years.
Schott, who had served as an assistant coach at Portland State since 2005, knew that she was taking over a defensively-minded squad. One of the many aims in her inaugural season was to encourage her players to hone their attacking instincts.
“Prior to me, there was somewhat of a defensive mentality,” Schott said. “A lot of coaches at the higher levels work on defense first, and of course that’s a necessity. But you can’t win if you don’t score.”
Nobody was more familiar with that simple equation than the Vikings, who scored only one goal in their first five games, all losses.
In fact, success wasn’t easy to come by in the early stages of the Vikings’ season, especially when they fell to NCAA powerhouses USC (2-0) and UCLA (7-0) in the second weekend of play.
But Schott highlights those games as important lessons for the young team that featured 11 new players on their roster.
“We basically went through a final four weekend (against USC and UCLA). It’s a testament to the team that they were able to make it through a very difficult nonconference schedule and still approach conference play and know they could win it,” Schott said. “We weren’t dejected by [the losses].”
Far from being dejected, the Vikings bounced back from their tepid nonconference play (1-9-2) and roared into conference action with a home win against Northern Colorado (2-1) on Oct. 10.
That game marked the emergence of the Vikings’ strong offensive attack, and the team would go on to amass nine goals en route to a program best 4-1-2 conference record.
“I think the biggest obstacle the team overcame was definitely our confidence: going forward and attacking,” said junior goalkeeper Cris Lewis. “As the season progressed, it was nice to see a change from just defending to going into the attack and being confident up front.”
Though the Vikings offense certainly grew stronger as the season progressed, the last four games of the year featured only one Portland State goal (in a 1-0 win over Idaho State on Oct. 25).
In their loss to Northern Arizona during the tournament semifinals, the team again failed to execute their attack. The Lumberjacks went on to defeat Weber State in the final and clinch the conference’s automatic birth in the NCAA College Cup.
“The game was a battle,” Schott said of the battle between the Vikings and Lumberjacks. “We had a lot of ties [this season], which means we played solid defense but had trouble scoring. We broke through that at times, but we still have a ways to go.”
Now that the season is over and the dust has cleared, Schott is looking forward to next year and the advantages that will come with a year of experience under her belt.
With the team losing only three seniors next year, a large veteran group will be returning to the Park Blocks to lead the team on its quest for a third Big Sky Tournament berth in three years.
And as always, a new wave of players will arrive in late summer to add their talent toward the reinvention of the program.
“As for incoming freshmen, I’m excited to see what the competition will be,” said Lewis, who will be earning her fourth letter next season. “Every spot will be up for grabs and that competition will only make us better.”
Top Returning Players
Frankie RossSophomore, midfielderFirst Team All-Big Sky
Dolly EnnekingJunior, midfielderSecond Team All-Big Sky
Cris LewisSenior, goalkeeperSecond Team All-Big Sky
Tish ParsonsFreshman, midfielderSecond Team All-Big Sky
