The Pioneers will look to press the reset button after a discouraging 2011–12 season.
A year of high expectations spiraled into a 5–11–3 disappointment that included losses in five of the Pioneers’ final six games. DU scored only 26 goals all season, and head coach Bobby Muuss has spent much of the offseason attempting to reshape the mindset of his players.
Muuss and his coaching staff also are instilling a more attack-oriented strategy in hopes of igniting a fire in DU’s stagnant offense.
“Throughout the winter and spring, everything we did was about being more competitive,” Muuss says. “We’re changing our system of play a bit. In the past, we’ve been more of an absorbing team, and then we’d transition out of that. We’re looking at a more attacking setup.”
The Pioneers will have the luxury of taking more chances offensively with the presence of sophomore goalie Oliver Brown, whom Muuss puts into the same category as former DU netminder and current D.C. United standout Joe Willis.
Muuss hopes the addition of two transfers, Ryan Dodson and Reid Hukari, helps jump-start the Pioneers’ offense. Dodson arrives from the vaunted program at North Carolina, which won the 2011 NCAA title. Hukari, a 6-foot-7 Colorado native, played in 11 games at UCLA in 2010.
“They’re coming here from other schools where it didn’t work out, and they have things they want to prove,” Muuss says. “Our freshman class is also very, very good. By far the best we’ve had on paper. If we believe in what we’re doing, I think it can be an exciting year.”