UP SPORTS INFORMATION 

Great Falls, Mont., August 29, 2022 – If there is one thing University of Providence first year Men's soccer coach Will Hander is hoping for the first match of the season, is that the Argos have more luck on the field than coach did finding a house in Great Falls. Twice this summer, Hander has had to cancel a potential sale due to unforeseen issues. Now, with his family settling in to a third home, his focus is shifting to changing the culture and outcome of the program. Hander will guide his team into play Tuesday at Carroll College.  

Hander takes over a team that finished 4-10-1 a year ago, with four of those losses coming thanks to Covid forfeits. The Argos ended the season with a 17-16 advantage in scoring against opponents including an 8-0 win in the finale against Walla Walla. Hander knows the team having coached at Bushnell the last three seasons and is ready to take over with his brand of play, "I'm a coach that likes to create as many goal-scoring opportunities as possible," Hander said in his hiring announcement in March. "We're going to attempt to play quick, clean, possession-based soccer. We want to play quick in transition and hopefully it's exciting soccer that's fun to watch." 

Providence will see the return of its top goal scorer in Junior Jack Rimstad, who also led the team in overall points. The Marysville, Wash. product tallied three goals in 2021 and added an assist. Over 90 percent of the roster is back, and Hander says he is expecting big play from those veterans, "I'm expecting big things out of Tomeu (Nebot Schmalfled), Mika (Lukas Lankhof), Vincent (Stoppel), Dante (Montgomery), Jack and Kolby (Hayes). These guys did the work over the summer, and they are hungry to get to the conference tournament." 

In addition to the veterans, a solid group of newcomers will be expected to make impacts as well, "I'm excited to see all of our new guys to get some minutes and gain some experience in this tough conference" Hander adds. The Argos coaching staff, which also includes Victor Zuniga, will get the first look at a team that has lofty goals Tuesday at Helena. When asked about first match expectations, Hander says, "I'm looking to see if the guys are able to implement our style. We came in late, so we haven't had a lot of training sessions so really this is a test to see where we are at this point and what to build on." 

Providence will play Carroll College at 6:30 pm Tuesday at Nelson Stadium. Follow all the action at www.upargos.com.