Aug. 18, 2010
SEATTLE - The University of Washington men's soccer team reported to campus on Tuesday and went through initial meetings with various departments on campus. On Wednesday, they hit the Dempsey Indoor for the beginning of practice. The team is experiencing double-day practices to begin the season, as their first practice this morning was on the game field before moving to the East Field in the afternoon. A total of 24 student-athletes are on this year's roster as head coach Dean Wurzberger enters his 19th season as head coach. Freshman Zach Portillos talked about his first practice in a Husky uniform. "The first day was good, getting out here with the team and Coach," Portillos said. "Everything was quick and it will take a while to get used to but it was good. It's a hard working atmosphere. We push each other but support each other and expect a lot out of each other." Senior Matt Van Houten also commented on the first day of practice. "It's been exciting," Van Houten said. "The first practice we had everyone was really excited and there was a good attitude out there. The first 10 minutes everyone was just running around full speed because we were excited to get back and get playing. The last practice we were able to get on the ball, play full field with teams and it's fun to get back to playing." The Huskies will host a scrimmage against Simon Fraser (Canada) on Saturday at 5 p.m. at the Husky Soccer Stadium. "Ever since our captains practice we knew we were going to have a good team, it's going to be a solid year for us," Van Houten added. "The newcomers coming in are going to be really strong, I've been impressed with them already and they kept up with us throughout the day. We are focusing on these practices leading up to our first scrimmage and trying figure out what our lineup will be, what will work and what won't work and then in the game it will be the same thing, what combination works well in the game and hopefully we can score some goals." The scrimmage is free for all. Please note, due to NAIA rules involving the opponent, live stats will not be made available during the game. Stats will also not be kept or posted. Scrimmage and exhibitions do not count towards a team's or individual's record or statistics.
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