Utah State University - » Utah State men’s soccer team kicks off season with Idaho State Sept. 6

By Christopher Farnes

LOGAN — Women’s soccer season at Utah State University has already begun with two home wins, but the unsponsored USU men’s team will not be kicking off their season until Sept. 6.
The men’s soccer team concluded open tryouts for students this week and selected a first team and reserve team.  Out of 65 students who tried out, 22 made the first team and 14 were selected for the reserve team.

“It is always hard to cut people but we are really trying to be more competitive and I think we have a chance to achieve more than did last year,” said Sherri Dever, head coach of the USU men’s team.

“I think we had a really good turnout this year,” said Nate Jarman, a team captain. “I think this is the most that we’ve had try out in years and the competition was really intense.”

A $20 fee was required to try out. The money collected from tryouts will be put towards uniforms and equipment as well as travel expenses.

“We are not sponsored at all from the university, the only thing that they give us is the name,” said Joseph Burt, another team captain. “We rely on the tryout money as well as money from our own pockets to keep the program going.”

In past seasons the men’s team has only had a first team with alternates to fill in for injured players, so this is the first season that a full reserve team has been organized.

“We wanted to have a smaller group for the actual team to help us become a more tight-knit group, so we cut down the numbers for the first team,” Burt said. “But we also wanted to have a stronger reserve team as well which is why we selected 14, which is more than we have done in the past.”

Last season the men’s soccer team earned a record of 6-4-1 and finished third in the  regional tournament. “This year we want to play in the regional tournament championship,” Burt said. “We have a lot of starters coming back from last year and we are feeling pretty confident. I really think we can win nine or 10 of our season games as well.”

The men’s soccer team kicks their season off at home with Idaho State University Friday at 8 p.m. on the Aggie Legacy Turf Field.

NW