Chris Vianest has learned a few things since becoming the Ida Baker girls soccer coach two seasons ago. Perhaps the most important detail, he says, is an area that takes place before the season begins. Scheduling. “When I first got here two years ago, the stress was, ‘I don't care who we're playing. We go out there and we do our thing,’” he said. “And the first year, we didn’t schedule well but we went 25-0-2, and we lost in the first round of the playoffs. It got us nowhere.” In year two, however, Vianest changed course. “Last year I put more onus on scheduling harder games,” Vianest said. “Because we’re not getting better if we don’t play better talent. Last year our record was ugly. But we went all the way to the region championship game. I consider that more of a success because we went further.” While the Bulldogs reached the Region 3A-3 finals, they did so having won just 14 games, the lowest team win total in six years. But to Vianest, wins weren’t as critical as losses to American Heritage, Lakewood Ranch and Venice. “As long as we’re getting better and hitting the ground running at the right time, that’s what matters,” he said. Moving up in classification (4A) won’t make the road any easier in 2015. The Bulldogs, who won a Class 3A title in 2012 under former coach Dave Trepkowski, move into a district (12) that also includes Fort Myers, Estero and Riverdale. Only two teams earn automatic bids to the postseason. But competition breeds experience, Vianest says, and that’s something senior defender Syniah Clark, who was a News-Press All-Area finalist a season ago, values as well. “Coming together as a team and playing as one, that’s what we’re focused on,” Clark said. “I think we could really get far this year.” One of the best defenders in Southwest Florida who’s attracted interest from the likes of FGCU, Clark will helm a defense that could yield little to opposing clubs. But beyond there, Vianest sees balance in the midfield and at forward as well. “We have anchors at all the different phases,” he said. Seniors Roxie Fraser and Marcela Montoya, a Georgia Southern commit, combined for 32 goals a season ago and will try to make up for the graduation of five seniors, including Gabi Morales and her team-leading 27 goals. Montoya, however, will be out of action for about a month while she’s competing for the Colombia under-20 national women’s soccer team. The senior was chosen as a member of the team as it heads into the FIFA U-20 World Cup qualifier tournament on Nov. 16 through Dec. 3 in Santos, Brazil. So like a year ago, the Bulldogs will be a work in progress. “Trying to get eight different philosophies to match will be difficult,” Vianest said of his team, which has members from eight different soccer clubs. He adds: “But you’re always learning. This is a game you can never say I know it all. It’s always changing.” Sophomores Acelya Adogmous (GK), Paxton Guerin (MF) and Haley Rounsifer (FW) are expected to make big impacts for the Bulldogs, who could start a mixture of veterans and underclassmen on any given game night. But even in losses, Vianest says he will take lessons away. “There’s a large learning curve,” Vianest says. “But as long as they believe in the system and trust in the process around them, it’ll work itself out.”