Despite losing to Division II defending champion Fort Lewis last weekend, the men’s soccer team (5-10-4 in 2009) has played well in its spring schedule.

The Pioneers posted a 3-2 victory over the U.S. U-17 Men’s National Team and then beat South Florida 1-0 on March 18 and 20, respetively.

The early spring success has given the team enough confidence that they were able finish with a respecatble 3-2 loss against the reserve team of the Colorado Rapids on April 6.

These three games  have shown what the Pioneers could not during their fall season, where they finishing with a record that nobody was proud of.

“What can’t we improve on?” asked head coach Bobby Muuss. “I think coming off a season, we need to stay healthy. We got hit by the injury bug last year. I think that we have some depth with the new guys coming in and have competition at each position.”

Muuss prasied Carson Porter, an assistant coach, who joined the staff at the start of the season. Porter comes from the successful program at Wake Forest,where he used to coached with Muuss. Porter won the NSCAA National Assistant Coach of the Year award in 2008.

“I think Carson is going to have a lot in recruiting, coming from one of the best programs in the country,” said Muuss. “I think the most exciting thing is that we are both on the same page. We have kept close contact since I left, and even the guys are excited to have him here as well.”

With the addition to Porter, the Pioneers now have three former Wake Forest coaches, Muuss, Porter and [assistant coach] Ryan Pflugrad.

“We’re excited,” said Muuss. “We don’t necessarily have holes. We are adding depth and I think the young guys will be able to step in right away and help us in at least some capacity.

The Pioneers replace five senior next season.

“We are excited about the young kids coming in. We are adding more to the requirement class too,” said Muus.

Next year’s team captain is Michael Perry, a strong defender who will be a senior in the fall. And Muuss said he is optimistic about next season.

“I think we are starting to gel a little bit,” he said. “I think the group is tighter then in the past, we are getting a really good core together. I think we have more of a group of family then we’ve had in the past and hopefully that results in some wins.”

The Pioneers wrap up their spring schedule against the DU Alumni team this Saturday afternoon at CIBER, Inc. Field.