BRIGHTON, Mich. — Back in early December, the Lansing Ignite had an entire roster to fill.
Less than three months later, they ran one last practice before preseason play begins in the USL League One.
"It's not a results match, it's a match that will test us, and really put into practice a lot of the things we've been training, and we'll see if we can pull some of those things off," said Head Coach Nate Miller.
They've only had seven or eight training sessions, but Miller feels they're ready to compete.
His players are eager to kick off the season.
"It’s a great young group of guys, great young group of talent, I think we've been beating each other up over the last week, so we're really eager to get out there and kind of pick on someone else."
Having coached professional soccer in Lansing before, Miller is the perfect fit for his team.
"He’s a passionate guy, very genuine. For us as players, that's all you can ask for. We know what he wants out of us, and the standard we have to keep, it’s up to us to be accountable...but it's been seamless for him, he's been brilliant."
"He’s done a great job so far, and he's just as excited to get the season going as I am."
And even though they've only been together a few months, expectations are high for Lansing ignite.
"We live in a hardworking state and we want to reflect that with how we play. Lansing wants a winner, and that's what we're building every day is that mentality and training to every day improve so that over days of process you become a winning team."
"That’s what this area, region, city will relate to is the hard work, especially when we don't have the ball."
The Ignite have four preseason games before regular season play begins at the end of March.
