BRAD MOSHER/The Observer EOU MID FIELDER MAURIANA GONZALEZ battles against Bianca Flores of Yakima Valley in the Mounties 2-1 scrimmage loss Saturday.

For one team, it was the start of a new direction.

For the other, it was a chance to for a new coach and team to evaluate themselves and see what they have to work on.

On the scoreboard, Yakima Valley Community College walked away from a physical-style game with Eastern Oregon University with a 2-1 victory that won’t be counted in the standings.

But, according to the Yaks head coach, it was a game that was bright with promise for a team that finished the 2009 season with an 0-15-1 record.

Jake Sagare is entering his second season with the team but his first with a chance to recruit players. “I got a team of new girls and about 90 percent of the team last year had not played high school soccer. This year, that is totally different,” Sagare said, pointing out there are only three sophomores on the entire squad.

“We have got girls that want to play. We have a lot of girls who went under the radar and had not got much attention.”

One of those under-the-radar girls made a big impact in Saturday’s game. “Bianca Flores – she sure is a game changer with her speed and athletic ability,” Sagare added.

The Mountaineers found out just how big an impact Flores could make with repeated steals and challenges against the much larger EOU players.

But the scoreboard wasn’t what new EOU coach Keith Scarlett was most concerned about.

It was the team’s inconsistency.

The Mountaineers opened the scoring in the first half, but were unable to hold off the visiting Yak attack in the second half.

“We have got to make better choices andhellip;.. better quality choices,” Scarlett said after the contest finished. “It went about the way I envisioned it.”

The team showed that they knew what they needed to do, but that they were just inconsistent throughout the game. “We have so many new things going on and we just got stuck in the moment.

“There was a level of youthfulness in our play,” he added. “We were sporadic and charismatic.”

The team needs to settle down and find itself, Scarlett said. “It is just a matter of finding the right rhythm. We played well in spurts and allowed them to gain control of the pace of the game.”

The Mountaineers tried to mount a furious attack in the final minutes to tie the score, but shots went wide of the mark and allowed the Yaks to see something the program hadn’t witnessed in more than a year – a score with the Yakima team on top at the end of the game.

Scarlett didn’t want to single out any players from the game, noting the entire team has to improve and he hopes that Saturday’s experience will help that process. “It’s about experience and how we respond,” he added.

The Mountaineers will be traveling to Washington Saturday for a road game with Walla Walla Community College. It is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. The following day, they have a 2 p.m. game in Cour d’Alene against the North Idaho College Cardinals.

The next home game for EOU will be against Whitman College of Walla Walla on Sept. 4 at 1 p.m.