Michigan Tech forward Julia Pietila battles for a ball with a Saginaw Valley State defender during a game on Friday, Oct. 29, 2023, at Kearly Stadium in Houghton. (David Archambeau/For the Gazette)

ST. CLOUD, Minn. — After tough weeks of practice, the Michigan Tech Huskies soccer team hits the road this week to face a pair of non-conference opponents to open the 2024 season. New coach Melissa Kuhar is still getting to know her girls, but she knows what she wants from them, and so far, they seem eager to work together to make the team better than the group that made the NCAA Tournament last season.

“I think, overall, (we) have really created a connection and bond so far, which is exciting,” she said. “It’s only been two weeks, so I just (am) still trying to learn them all. There’s 27 of them, so it’s just trying to connect with them, figure out what kind of coaching they need, just kind of figure out what makes them click, but so far so good.”

What excites Kuhar most is how players who perhaps did not see a lot of playing a year ago are working hard to prove themselves so far this season.

“We’ve had some players that maybe, in the past, haven’t got a lot of time, that are really taking this opportunity to kind of step up and show me what they got,” she said. “It’s been fun. Still a lot of work to do, but we’re getting there.”

In the first week, as she was busy just trying to see what she had on the field, Kuhar and the Huskies played a pair of scrimmages against Lewis and Wisconsin-Stevens Point. The two scrimmages looked like polar opposites, with the Huskies’ offense clicking on all cylinders against the Flyers, and the defense holding stout against the Pointers in a tight game. Both were valuable for the Huskies, according to Kuhar.

“The tale of the two ends, right? One where we dominated the game, and we kind of had our way with what we wanted to do, and then the other where we struggled a bit and had to kind of figure out how to figure out the adversity of the game,” she said. “So it definitely exposed kind of the goods and bads, and what we needed to work on. So, they were super helpful. They gave me the opportunity to see where our weaknesses are as a unit, and then also our strengths.

“Now I can kind of figure out exactly what we need to do heading into this upcoming weekend. We worked on a lot of things that got exposed, and then we kind of know what our strengths are.”

Kuhar felt that the pressure the Pointers brought made life difficult for the Huskies.

“They kind of high pressed us, forced us to maybe play a little quicker out of the back, whereas in our Lewis game, they let us kind of have our way, and we got to kind of dictate the tempo of the game,” she said. “Stevens Point was very, very much kind of making us play a certain way. So, that kind of exposed just what we need to do in terms of building out the back in possession, which is what we are really focused on this year.

“Stevens Point is a good team. They’ll go far this year.”

While the scrimmages went the way, in the end, that the Huskies wanted, they also gave junior keeper Bri Barrows a chance to showcase why she was brought in to play for the Huskies. At this point, she is set to be the starting keeper for the Huskies, as junior Ludesha Reynolds recovers from an early-season injury, but Kuhar said that the competition between the two is not settled yet.

“So Bri will be our starter (Thursday), and that’s solely because our Ludesha is hurt, currently kind of dealing with a lower leg injury,” Kuhar said. “So, that battle is still there and I’ve communicated that to them.

“I mean, every position is still a battle, but especially that one. Bri, obviously, just being healthy, is kind of the one to step up. Hopefully we get Lu back and healthy here soon, and kind of create a more competitive connection between the two of them. I want our best goalkeeper to be out there. I right now, (we) don’t really know who that is, just because of the injuries.”

SCOUTING THE OTHER HUSKIES

Thursday night, Michigan Tech opens the season by battling St. Cloud State on the road. St. Cloud defeated the Huskies 1-0 to open the season last year, and went on to finish the season 14-5-2.

St. Cloud was led last season by then-freshman forward Linsey Trapino, who scored seven goals coming into games off the bench. She also tied for the team lead in shots with 23.

A lot of those goals were set up either by then-sophomore forward Ellie Primerano or then-sophomore midfielder Brooke Quam, who finished with eight and nine assists, respectively. Primerano also tied for second on the team in goals with four.

All three were All-Region last season.

In goal, then-freshman Jaylee Strickland earned the starting job, going 13-5-2 overall and only giving up 16 goals in 20 contests.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS

On Saturday, the Huskies will battle the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs, who went 6-7-6 last season after tying the Huskies, 1-1, in their second game of the season.

The Bulldogs are led by senior forward Anna Tobias, who scored five goals last season and fired off a team-high 26 shots. She set an NCAA DII record last season with three goals in 68 seconds.

Junior midfielder Miriam Marsen is also back after scoring four goals on 18 shots last season.

In goal, the Bulldogs are untested with junior transfer Kaycee Chavez and freshman Jordan Rosenfeld battling for the starting role.

GAME TIMES

Michigan Tech and St. Cloud State are set to do battle Thursday night at 8 p.m. in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Saturday, the Huskies and the Bulldogs will face off at 2 p.m. in Duluth, Minnesota.