The 2010-11 athletics year for Houston was the year of "not quite yet". The football team suffered major injuries at the quarterback position, setting them back for a reloading year in 2011. The men's basketball team was in the first year under a new coach, and struggled, with fans looking forward to a stacked recruiting class hitting campus for the 2011-12 season. The baseball team outperformed expectations under exciting new head coach Todd Whitting, but still failed to reach the NCAA postseason with a young team.
Even women's soccer and volleyball showed potential with a young team and a first year head coach, respectively, both finishing in the top half of Conference USA, but failing to reach the NCAAs.
Will the 2011-12 season be a year of meeting expectations on Cullen Boulevard? We'll get our first idea on Monday night, when Cougar soccer hosts Texas-Austin at 7:00 at Robertson Stadium, the first sporting event of the new year.
The Longhorns dropped their season opener on Friday at home against Loyola Marymount, 3-1, but they did defeat TCU in an exhibition. When the Cougars scrimmaged the Horned Frogs, they only managed a 2-2 tie.
The Cougars are led by a trio of sophomores in forward Sami Sackos (5 goals, 3 assists in 2010), midfielder Kylie Cook (3 goals, 3 assists) and goalie Cami Koski (9 shutouts in 19 starts).
Head coach Susan Bush has put together a brutal non-conference schedule that features the Longhorns, road games at Duke and North Carolina, and a home match against LSU.