Suffice it to say that the 2010 season did not go as planned for Ian Collins and Kentucky’s men’s soccer team. Four Wildcats went down with season-ending injuries. Another four missed significant time due to injury. Two sat out all of 2010 due to NCAA transfer rules.As a result, UK did not field the team it expected to have once all last year. The Wildcats had no choice but to turn to unproven talent to shoulder the load.Last season may have been trying for Collins and his team, but it also reason for optimism in 2011. The Wildcats return most of their contributors from last season and add a handful of players recovering from injury and a group of newcomers laden with potential heading into a season-opening matchup against Dayton at 7:30 p.m. on Friday at the UK Soccer Complex. “We had a difficult year last year to begin with injuries and things, so we had a lot of guys get a lot of experience,” Collins, who will be going for his 200th career victory on Friday, said. “We’ve pretty much got all of our players back and those guys are another year older, another year wiser.”Fifteen of the 33 players on last year’s roster were freshmen and the majority of them saw significant playing time. In other seasons, freshmen like forward Tyler Riggs, goalkeeper Tyler Beadle, defender Dylan Asher and forward Brendan Murphy would have had to wait to see the field, but they were forced into action last year. The situation may not have been ideal at the time, but there is no substitute for the experience those young players earned on the field.”Everything you do, whether it’s a job or a sport, you can talk about it and prepare people as best you can, but really the only way to get it done is to go through it,” Collins said. “These guys have now been through it. They understand that it’s a real marathon, not a sprint; that you’ve got to stay healthy all year; and that you have to take care of yourself.” Incoming freshmen inevitably hear about the challenge of transitioning into the college game, but there is no way to fully grasp that until they actually hit the field. Having already gone through that, they won’t face any surprises in their second go-round.”They understand the level of competition, the physicality and so a lot of those guys, their eyes are wide open,” Collins said. “They’re better adjusted to exactly what’s going to happen to us.”Riggs, a product of St. Xavier High School in Louisville, Ky., stepped in to lead the Wildcats with five goals last season. He is thankful that he was able to play, but remains motivated to work hard because he knows how much talent the Wildcats added this year in the form of players recovering from injury and transfers.”It’s always a constant battle, but it was nice coming in and getting some action right away,” Riggs said. “I knew I had to keep working because there are plenty of people right behind me that are willing to step right in.”Collins said that Riggs and the other young players were effective in their unexpected roles, but he agreed that they will be pushed and that’s a positive for the team.”I thought they did a great job, but now nobody cares how young they are or what they did,” Collins said. “They have to prove it. I will say this: the internal battle within our own team is phenomenal. Last year we were so banged up and had so many guys missing that basically if you were healthy you got to play. Now, it’s really hard to get on the field.”One position where that competition is most intense is at goalkeeper. Beadle started all 19 games last year a redshirt freshman, but Jack Van Arsdale is now eligible to play. He transferred from Virginia Commonwealth after playing as a freshman, but sat out last year. Beadle knows he will rely heavily on the starting experience he gained last year. “As a goalkeeper, experience is huge because it builds confidence,” Beadle said. “My first year as a freshman coming in goal, I was real nervous, especially the first couple weeks, because the tempo of the games is so much faster. Having a year of experience will help me a lot coming into this year and hopefully I’ll get better every year. This year I’m looking to do really well because it should be a really good year for us.”Beadle sustained an injury this summer in a car accident and was limited in practice until he was fully cleared to play on Monday. He acknowledged some rust, but said that he hopes to be ready to go later this week when UK opens the season.Collins reports that Van Arsdale has done good work while he has recovered, but Beadle’s performance last season is proof that he is capable of getting the job done on this level.”Jack’s done a great job but I like both the guys,” Collins said. “I think they can both keep goal. Tyler demonstrated at times last year a superior level of play. He was fantastic and now he’s got to understand that he has to put that out there every day and he can’t afford a couple of the mistakes that we had at the end of the year. I think he’s grown up from that and I think he understands that.”Although he was not a freshman last year, junior midfielder Matt Lodge is the player perhaps most emblematic of the 2010 season. He played in all 19 games last year, but struggled through early season injuries. Like the team, his form suffered and he found himself on the bench. His reemergence in the second half of the season coincided with the team’s strong play conference play, where the Wildcats lost just two of their final eight games.Lodge credited his turnaround to both Collins’ patience and the motivation of losing his starting job.”I’m fortunate that (coach) was patient with me,” Lodge said. “I think halfway through the season I finally got into a rhythm. I started off on the bench and it kind of motivated me to get my spot back. I worked hard and it made me feel good that I could bounce back from something like that.”Both Riggs and Beadle pointed to Lodge as a team leader and Collins said the kind of example of toughness he set in rebounding from a lackluster start is a major reason why. “He’s a tough kid, he’s a really tough kid,” Collins said. “Not just soccer-wise, but in his life. He handles himself well, he does the work correctly and he’s one of a number of guys that are going to be very interesting for our fans to see.”Lodge said he believes in himself as a leader, but was quick to point out that he is not the only player on this team who will lead.”I feel confident,” Lodge said. “We’re got some great lads in here. Good freshman, good transfers and the returners are all good. They’re all sound lads and everybody gets (along), but I think everybody bring their own thing to the team. I’m looking forward to helping this team progress.”Whether it’s Lodge, Beadle, Riggs, a transfer like midfielder Josh Mulvany or a veteran returning from injury like midfielder C.J. Tappel, Collins believes that they work the team has undertook this offseason will make them unrecognizable.”When people come out Friday, I don’t think they are going to recognize half our players,” Collins said. “If they saw them last year, they’re not going to recognize them because their bodies have changed. It’s going to be interesting. I’ll never predict how we’ll do or how we’ll finish up, but I know we’ve got good players. We’ve got good, fit, strong, mentally tough kids that are ready to play.”