By Marielle Winuk
After a historic season, Cal Poly Humboldt women’s soccer is looking to continue its success this season,which will also mark the final year with head coach Grant Landy.
Landy took over the program in 2019 and has spent the last 30 years coaching soccer. After all those years, Landy has decided to move back home to Oregon with his family.
The Lumberjacks hosted the Humboldt Kickoff Classic tournament from Aug. 27-29. The Jacks won their first game of the tournament against Central Washington on Aug. 27 and lost their second game against Concordia University Irvine on Aug. 29.
The tournament gave the Lumberjacks an early opportunity to test themselves against different opponents before beginning their California Collegiate Athletics Association (CCAA) play. The CCAA conference is made of 14 teams in division two. The team has four more preseason games before they start CCAA play.
“We talked about the non-conference [games] just being a time to learn about ourselves,” Landy said.
Preseason games will be less about the results and more about figuring out what the team needs to improve.
“You just gotta manage the end of the game,” Landy said. “We went up twice against a really good team on our home field, and we got to see those games out.”
Against Concordia Irvine, the Lumberjacks took the lead twice but were unable to close out the game. The Lumberjacks were ranked second in the CCAA coaches’ preseason poll, putting high expectations on the team as it looks to build on last season’s success.
Marielle is the layout editor and can be reached at mmw146@humboldt.edu.