The Portland State women’s soccer team looks forward to yet another successful season after announcing the 2012 schedule. The team will kick off its campaign with an exhibition game against Fraser Valley at Hillsboro Stadium Aug. 11.
Last year, the Vikings were crowned as the Big Sky regular season co-champions after they finished with a 4-1-2 record. However, the team could not make it to the finals of the Big Sky tournament.
“We have a tough schedule this year,” fifth-year head coach Laura Schott said in a statement. “We’re going to learn a lot about ourselves right off the bat.”
The Vikings have not finished lower than second place in the conference since Schott began leading the team in 2008.
Before the start of their defense of the Big Sky regular season championship, the Vikings will face both of their state rivals, the Beavers and the Ducks. The team will also host Saint Mary’s College in the month of August.
“Saint Mary’s has improved a lot over the past couple of years, and we play three Pac-12 teams this year,” Schott said. “We use the non-conference games to improve and establish our style of play. This year we’re going to have some games that are good challenges for us.”
After that, the Vikings will host the Viking Classic in September and play Boise State and Utah State at the Hillsboro Stadium. The team will also participate in the Nike Classic tournament later in the month.
On Sept. 21, PSU will play its first Big Sky regular season game at Northern Colorado and follow it up with a game at North Dakota two days later. Both are new additions to the Big Sky Conference this season. In early October, the Vikings will make another long road trip to Northern Arizona and Southern Utah in a span of two days.
“The conference schedule is difficult this year for us,” Schott said. “We have two road trips with extensive travel. One is a plane flight away to a new conference opponent in North Dakota, who we haven’t faced. Then we have a long bus trip when we go from Northern Arizona to Southern Utah.”
Overall, the Vikings will play five conference games at Hillsboro Stadium and four Big Sky games on the road. In 2010 PSU was undefeated at home in the conference.
However, the team did not win a Big Sky game on the road, including the tournament semifinal. Despite that, they were able to win the regular season championship.
“Last year we had some challenges we had to overcome on the road, and we were able to do it,” Schott said. “This year I feel confident that we can do the same.”
Since last year’s heartbreaking shootout loss to Weber State in the Big Sky semifinals, the Vikings have added nine players to the 2012 roster.
In 2011 the team had two players named to the Big Sky All-Conference first team and three players to the second team; four players received honorable mentions. In addition, junior forward Megan Martin won the Big Sky Golden Boot and Offensive MVP awards. Most of last year’s starters return this season.
The team will also be hosting open tryouts Aug. 4 at 9:30 a.m. at the Peter W. Stott Community Field. Interested participants are required to bring their student ID and proof of enrollment for fall term. Students can wear their own soccer gear, but black shirts are preferred.