Sophomore defender Kayla Kret, seen here battling with a
Pepperdine player, has helped the ‘Dogs challenge some of
the best teams in the country in No. 1 UCLA, No. 19 Texas
A&M and No. 12 Pepperdine with defense.
Esteban Cortez / The Collegian

The ‘Dogs have shutout six of their 13 opponents so far this season.

In his third season as the head coach of Fresno State’s only soccer program, Brian Zwaschka has matured his team into a regional powerhouse in hopes of becoming a national contender.

“The approach is ‘Anybody, Anytime, Anywhere’,” Zwaschka said after Wednesday’s practice at Bulldog Stadium. “That means we have to play smart, but also play with some of that animal instinct.”

The mantra that head football coach Pat Hill made famous is oozing down to the soccer program as it has played some of the best soccer programs in the country in No. 1 UCLA, No. 19 Texas A&M and then-No. 21 Loyola Marymount in their backyards. The defense helped the ‘Dogs stay in the games with some of these top-tier programs.

The football instinct, along with some smart play, have proven efficient for the defending Western Athletic Conference champions, who start conference play on the road this week at San Jose State and Hawaii, respectively.

Knowing that any team in the conference can potentially upset any other team is a big factor in how Zwaschka prepares his team going into WAC play.

“We certainly can’t relax and we know that,” Zwaschka said.

The Bulldogs are doing anything but relaxing.

With a 7-3-3 overall record, the Bulldogs’ defensive style of play is what has allowed them to remain unbeaten in their past six games. The Bulldogs also remain unbeaten at home (3-0-1) with their only tie coming to the then No. 8 Pepperdine Waves on Sept. 25 at Bulldog Stadium. Zwaschka recognizes the team has won games with defense, but they have to be good on offense as well.

“What we try and teach is that we need to be good at both. We can’t be a good attacking team if we don’t have the ball. But we’ll never win games if we only concentrate on defending. It’s taken us time to create that mentality with the players, but this is definitely a group that gets that and wants to play that way.”

Among those is freshman goalkeeper Katie DeVault, who is in the midst of a good season in her first year wearing Bulldog red. The freshman from Santa Ana, Calif. has recorded four shutouts in 12 starts on the season and is the 17th-ranked goalkeeper in the nation in saves with 75.

“We’re thrilled our goalkeeping has been very solid because that is the last line of defense,” Zwaschka said. “They are certainly times where you can’t stop everything and we need that last line to be picking up the pieces for us sometimes.”

But even DeVault knows it takes the whole team to prevent the opponents from stopping the ball from reaching the back of her net, especially since the ‘Dogs have shutout six of their 13 opponents so far this season. It starts with the forwards on the top of the pitch, to the midfielders and defenders

“It’s everyone defending together to get the ball back,” DeVault said.

Sophomore defender Kayla Kret has played every minute of every game so far this season and agrees that the team needs to work together in order to win.

“It’s definitely the whole team working together,” Kret said. “Even when you’re coming off the bench, it’s 100 percent the whole entire game and not letting anyone down. If you lose the ball, you’re working hard to get it back. And if someone wins it you’re working hard to get open so they have an option for you. It’s a lot of teamwork.”

And that teamwork will be needed as the Bulldogs look to have a repeat of last year’s WAC Tournament championship and a trip to the NCAA Tournament.

“We need to be able to roll up our sleeves and fight when we need to,” Zwaschka said. “But play with a smart effort to keep the ball and just the commitment to attack.”