GREAT FALLS, Mont. – The University of Providence men's soccer team will kick off their season Friday afternoon, with a home match against Embry-Riddle at 3 p.m. at Argo Field.

The game will mark the first under new interim head coach Michael Rahn, who was officially announced as the head coach last week, after former head coach Danny Burstein accepted a job as the assistant women's soccer coach at North Dakota.

"It's been a whirlwind," Rahn said. "I think the team is bonding really well. It's been fun getting to know the players and the team and understanding who they are as people."

Rahn has leaned on his senior captains, goalie Evan Scholes, and defensemen Joel Samayoa and Matthew Wilkinson, to help ease the transition and bridge the learning curve as the team prepares for the season. 

"Our captains, they've been great leaders and solid players," Rahn said. "They've been extremely helpful getting adjusted and doing whatever they can to ease this coaching transition. On the field, they're going to be a tremendous piece to what we're doing. They are going to really anchor our defense. Our goal is to have a stout backline with that setup."

The Argos will also look to have a strong attack, as they return two of their leading scorers from last year in George Almeida and Kevin Vasquez-Hernandez. Almedia led the team in points (12), goals (five) and assists (two), while Vasquez-Hernandez added two goals and an assist last year.

The squad will also welcome back several international players who couldn't compete for the team last season, due to border closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The team, which competed in the spring, finished 3-3-2, good for third in the Cascade Collegiate Conference East Division. Only the top team from each division competed in the postseason. This year, the league went back to the normal round-robin scheduling, with the top eight teams qualified to make the CCC Tournament. 

"We have a goal of postseason play, so we want to put ourselves in the best position to get there," Rahn said. "We are a team that's committed to the same goals and want to work together and enjoy each other in the process."

That process begins on Friday, when the Argos host the Eagles (2-0). The Eagles have started the season with two wins over The Masters and the University of Southwest, and are currently eighth in the nation in assists and ninth in the nation in goals scored.

"They have a much larger roster than ours so I think they're going to be very competitive, very deep," Rahn said. "They're going to be aggressive in playing for the win. They've played more preseason games than us and have played some pretty good teams. It's going to be fun to play on a Friday afternoon environment. It's going to be a high-intensity, amped-up competition. I can't wait."