Although the Vals lost five of their starting 11 to graduation in May, since practice began on Aug. 10, the team has gained five new players with potential.

Head coach Charlie Appleby said he had many of the returners from last season go to soccer camps over the summer before practices began and he sees a marked improvement in their playing.

“A lot of the girls are stepping it up,” Appleby said. “We’re going to be a tough team.”

Appleby said he doesn’t know how many wins the Vals will be able to secure, but they’re going to be a hard team to beat this year. His expectations for this year’s record is that it should be better than last year’s season of no wins. He’s running with five in the back this year, a slight change from the usual four. By stacking his defense he’s hoping to yield less goals against.

“I’m trying to protect our defense a little bit, especially in the beginning,” Appleby said.

The Vals hit up their first game on Tuesday afternoon against Polson. Look for results in next weeks Eagle. Thursday they head to Loyola in Missoula for a non-conference game and then back in Bigfork for a game against Libby at 2 p.m. on Saturday.