A familiar face and a new face made the most of their first run out in 2016.
Second-round draft pick Timo Pitter scored both goals in his first professional match while Ryan Hollingshead, tied for the most appearances in 2015, added both assists in the 2-1 win over New England in a 60-minute match.
"Obviously it was great to start preseason with a win," said Pitter via phone after the match. "We didn’t really know what to expect. We didn’t know a lot about our opponents, but I think we did a great job and obviously I’m really happy to have scored two goals."
Pitter is no stranger to finding the back of the net having scored 30 times in his career at Creighton and both goals were trademark strikes for a player who loves to play on the right wing and cut in with his favored left foot.
"Both goals were similar, we had it on the left side, switched it to the right and I made my runs between the defenders and he played me in perfectly. They were first time finishes with my left foot," said the 23-year-old German. "[Ryan and I] had never played before, so I was happy that we connected well and his passes were perfectly timed which made it easy to finish."
For Hollingshead, who tied for fourth on the team is assists last year with three, the run-out was a great chance to break the normal schedule of fitness and small-sided drills with a full-field match.
"Colin Bonner was playing lone striker and took off on a run to the left which opened up space on the right for Timo to run into and literally both goals were the exact same play," said Hollingshead. "Two good goals, a lot of good movement which doesn’t get credited too often, but good movement out of Colin opening up space for Timo and good movement out of our midfield."