Women’s soccer

The women’s soccer team had such a successful year that when it was over, head coach Tara Erickson was lured away to Eugene, where she accepted the Ducks’ head coaching position. After starting the season 1-4-1 the Vikings rebounded to finish out the year strong, going 7-4-2 to win the regular season championship and host the Big Sky tournament.

The Vikings’ run ended prematurely though as they lost to Weber State 0-2 in the tourney semifinals. Despite the loss, the team had a great year highlighted by two wins over Oregon and Oregon State, winning 2-0 and 1-0 in those games.

When Erickson left in January to coach the Ducks, the Vikings had a good opportunity to lure a talented coach to the South Park Blocks thanks to the weapons Erickson had assembled, including 2004 Golden Boot Winner Jamie Blakesly. The Vikings finally settled on Tim Bennett in March. Bennett came to PSU from North Dakota, but he had years of experience as an assistant at the University of Kentucky, coaching both the men’s and women’s teams.

During the Vikings’ spring exhibition games Bennett was impressed with what he saw, but said that defensively the team still had a lot to work on. With a strong core of talent returning and a new coach in place, there is no reason to believe that the Viks won’t be able to sustain their level of play next season.