WSU soccer opens season with a draw

Football games are now two weeks away, but futbol games began last night.

Your Cougar soccer team kicked off the fall sports season with a draw against the no. 19 and defending Big 10 champions Minnesota Golden Gophers.

This comes on the heels of a 2-0 exhibition win over Colorado State.

(Football fans may notice the two most recent soccer opponents are against schools that crushed our spirits in two of the past three bowl games. This means absolutely nothing.)

Anyway, the soccer team always signals the start of a new school year. Classes begin on Monday, and what better way to spend one of the last nights of summer then sitting on the hill at the newly renovated Lower Soccer Field, or in the stands.

The soccer team had been one of WSU's most successful teams in recent years before struggling to an 8-9-2 record in 2016.

Soccer takes on Saint Mary's in Pullman next Friday.

Oh, and the football team continued its practices and we're getting closer to game week. The Pac-12 Network was at practice this week, so stay tuned for the yearly feature on the Cougs.

Get pumped.

Links

Football

Ask the experts: A Washington State-flavored Q&A with the analysts at the Pac-12 Networks | The Spokesman-Review
The Pac-12 Network was in Pullman this week and The Spokesman-Reviews asks the TV personalities their thoughts on the Cougs.

He’s passed, he’s caught, he’s punted – Washington State’s Kyle Sweet a jack of all trades | The Spokesman-Review
Kyle Sweet was throwing footballs when he arrived at Santa Margarita High School in 2011. By 2012, he was catching them. Now he’s punting them.

Mike Leach: Washington State football coach covers it all in Q&A
Washington State coach Mike Leach, college football's disruptor, doesn't shy away from any topic -- even those that have nothing to do with his sport

USC Trojans Football Q&A: Washington State Cougars - Conquest Chronicles
Nuss talked to Conquest Chronicles about the upcoming season.

The Coug

The Coug reopened yesterday and has a new outdoor terrace. See you there sometime.

Old YouTube Clip of the Week

• Hello, young Luke Falk.
• This is after a win for Falk's Logan Grizzlies. I have no idea what the score was or who they beat or how. But I do know Luke looks like he's 12.
• Seriously, watching this, you'd never guess he'd be able to grow the kind of beards we've seen on him nowadays.
• "Talk about" questions from media really bug me. It's a sign of laziness. Ask a darn question.
• Luke's answers aren't all that different from what we hear form him nowadays. It's like he was destined to be a Leach-coached quarterback with his "Gotta get better" soundbites.
• On the same night as this interview, your 2012 Washington State Cougars beat UNLV in Las Vegas, 35-27 to improve to 2-1 on the season. I don't need to tell you what happened the rest of the season.
• Or even the following week.