The soccer field at Moffat County High School is looking a little more complete these days.

Between more personnel on the sidelines, more players on the bench and more technology on display, the Bulldogs are looking to shake things up this fall.

MCHS has already entered its schedule, with more games coming up fast this week as they prepare to face Delta on Thursday and Caprock Academy this weekend, both road games.

The Dogs will accumulate a lot of travel miles before they have a match on their own sod, with the first home game scheduled for Sept. 11 against Middle Park.

The kickoff to the season was on Saturday, as MoCo players faced Vail Mountain in an 11-0 loss.

Still, head coach Diego Quezada was glad to have a challenge right away against the perennial powerhouse Gore Rangers, a team they won’t face again this fall.

“We got them out of the way, just one and done,” he said.

Though they only finished third in the 2A/3A Western Slope League last year, Vail Mountain went on to capture the 2A state title. The conference as a whole was competitive as ever with six of the nine teams gaining playoff berths, including semifinalists Coal Ridge and quarterfinalists Roaring Fork.

Though the Bulldogs finished last year at the bottom of the league rankings with a 1-13-1 tally, Quezada is ready to put that behind him in his fourth year coaching.

Most of the team’s roster is players who are either in their first year of high school ball or their final year with 13 freshmen and seven seniors.

Quezada noted that besides the boost from his older athletes in their first game, freshman Jesse Terry showed himself to be a dynamo.

And, he expects the rest of the younger bunch to stay in step in the coming weeks.

What helps is Quezada has been able to garner more support for soccer this season. A new scoreboard donated by Vallarta’s adds to the field’s aesthetic, but having a fellow adult helping him run things is also important.

“A big key we have this year is I finally have an assistant coach,” Quezada said.

Lupe Rodriguez, a 2012 MCHS graduate who played for Bulldog soccer while a student, has been aiding Quezada in getting the bunch in shape.

“I’m trying to support him in any way I can and try to further the soccer program,” he said. “These players we’ve got, all the freshmen have a lot of potential, and they’re all doing really good. This is our third week practicing and I’ve seen tremendous improvement from all of them.”

Among the seniors suiting up this season are Cris Calderon, Brayan Tarango, Lugo Perez and Rodolfo Marino-Peralta, as well as Jerman Aguilar, who was the starting goalie for most of last season.

With an additional keeper available, Aguilar expects to be able to do more on offense this year as one of the team’s forwards, likely the right wing.

“This year maybe we can make it to the playoffs,” Aguilar said.

Ty Huff is another upperclassman who will be utilized going both directions.

“I’ll be playing kind of in the middle, but a little more forward,” Huff said.

After sticking with the team through some trying times, Huff added that he thinks this year will be different in terms of mentality.

“I think we’ll have more leadership than we have in previous years,” Huff said. “We’re having better teamwork for sure. Making better passes and supporting each other more. How it’s been before has been to rely on yourself, and now we’re focusing more on helping teammates. With all these new players, we can set up more of a new philosophy because we’re starting to get more serious about things like showing up to practice on time.”

Quezada is by no means demanding a league championship or postseason qualification this fall, though he ultimately wants players — and especially seniors — to be able to improve from where they’ve been.

“I expect a learning season, a good season and a positive one from our past seasons with a better outcome at the end,” Quezada said.