The women’s soccer team looks for help from open tryouts

The women’s soccer team will host an open tryout this Thursday in hopes of filling the 25-player roster requirement and to find a scorer that will help turn their 0-5 season around.

It may seem peculiar to have a tryout when the season has already started, but head coach Brian Zwaschka said the main reason for this is mostly to fill the empty spot on their roster.

He’s also expecting the girl that makes the cut to be able to play at varsity level.

“We need somebody that can help us win games, not just adding another body to fill the roster of 25,” Zwaschka said.

The team came home Sunday with two more losses at the UC Irvine tournament. They lost to UC Irvine on the first day of the tournament 3-0, and UC Riverside 1-0.

The tournament added to their scoreless streak, but it showed the players’ improvements, which makes Zwaschka optimistic about the team’s future.

He said he was encouraged by the team’s passing movements and aggressive plays, which with more practice, could help them win games in time for the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) games.

“In last weekend’s tournament, we’ve had some flashes of brilliance. Unfortunately, it didn’t give any results,” Zwaschka said. “But we’ve gone to every game with a right frame of mind and we provide the players with an environment to win.”

One player who stood out this weekend was sophomore defender, Kendall VanDine. VanDine had four overall shots in both games, one against Irvine and three against Riverside. She said that the team did much better in the tournament than the first three opening games.

VanDine said that the open tryout is a great opportunity for the team to find a talented player to help them win games.

“We’re obviously missing something,” VanDine said. “We’re trying to find someone who will really contribute to our team.”

The empty spot on the roster is open for any position, but the key position they are hoping to fill is on offense.

“We need help in scoring, so if someone is a great attacker, that would help us score and win,” VanDine said.

Zwaschka agreed, saying that the team is in need of someone who will challenge the other team’s goalkeeper.

“We’re always looking for quality players but we’d love an amazing goal scorer,” he said.

With 24 other players already on the roster, the current players are not threatened by a newcomer taking their spot. VanDine said that everyone is willing to make sacrifices to get a win.

“Even if the girl takes someone’s spot, we have the same attitude where we just want to have the best team we can have,” VanDine said. “We just want to win.”

Inquiries about the tryout can be directed to assistant coach Kevin Botterill at kbotterill@csufresno.edu. The main requirements for those who are interested are that the player has to be a full-time Fresno State student and has to meet the NCAA eligibility requirements.

Though it takes a whole team to turn a losing season around, the women’s soccer team is hoping to find someone who can bring back their winning ways.

“I don’t think one girl can change the season but we’re hoping she can help the team to get the ball rolling in the right direction,” VanDine said.