CEDAR CITY, Utah – The Southern Utah University Soccer team recently wrapped up their spring season, highlighted with a 2-0 over in-state rival Utah Valley University.
Of the win, Southern Utah head soccer coach Becky Hogan said, “There hasn’t been a prouder moment in my time at SUU than when we walked off the field at UVU victorious. It was a culmination of 4 months of hard work, dedication, sacrifice, time management, and all out effort.”
The Thunderbirds also recorded wins over Dixie State University and the Real Salt Lake women’s soccer club.
“We put more into this spring season than we have ever before given – including any fall season. Our countable hours were nearly maxed out and the players were juggling difficult class schedules with heightened soccer demands,” commented Coach Hogan.
Southern Utah will return a full crew of players to vie for starting spots, as they only lost four players to graduation. Coach Hogan felt this intra-squad competition helped the team reach a new level.
“… We saw a heightened sense of urgency for players to prove themselves and separate themselves from the pack. This made for very competitive practices, and had players focusing on doing extra work to establish an edge,” said Hogan. “Out of a group of 25 players who participated in spring ball, without exaggeration, we have easily 18 who could be starters.”
She added, “It is a coaches dream to have the ‘problem’ of too many good players on your squad.”
Southern Utah strength and conditioning coach Ian Clardy was especially proud of the work the team has put in during their off-season.
“Overall we had an excellent spring of development to build the foundation for the coming season. The girls did a great job buying in and we saw tremendous improvements throughout the spring in their mobility, strength, speed and overall health. To say I’m proud of the transformation this team made in the last three and a half months is an understatement, but like I’ve stressed all spring, complacency breeds mediocrity and we need to constantly seek out improvement in the pursuit of perfection. It’s all part of the bigger process to win championships.”
The Thunderbirds look to continue building on this success as they ready for the fall season. Coach Hogan and her staff are continuing to teach their team that the hard work will surely pay off when the regular season rolls around.
“It’s a very exiting time to be a Thunderbird soccer player and fan,” mentioned Hoagn, “We have enjoyed building success with each and every year, and come this fall I think the fans will have a team they can get behind. I anticipate us scoring a lot of goals, and putting up a staunch defense.”
Results of the Thunderbirds 2015 Spring schedule are posted below.
Opponent: Alumni Game
Result: 1-0 W, Thimsen game winner
Opponent: Western Colorado
Result: 0-1 L
Opponent: Westminster
Result: 0-0 T
Opponent: BYU
Result: 0-3 L
Opponent: Dixie State
Result: 2-1 W, Flandro goal (French assist), Johnson game winner
Opponent: RSL Women
Result: 1-0 W, Flandro game winner (Thimsen assist)
Opponent: Utah Valley
Result: 2-0 W, Johnson game winner, French goal (off corner)
Hayden Coombs 