The biggest change in the St. Louis University soccer team under new coach Mike McGinty happened while the coach wasn't even around.

In the past, offseason conditioning for the soccer players had been a suggestion. Under McGinty, that suggestion got a bit stronger. During the summer, the coach can't have contact with the team, but SLU players got together every morning to work out, sometimes going for long runs, sometimes doing combinations of sprinting and jogging.

The hope is that a better foundation of fitness will cut down on the team's injuries during the season, a problem that has helped shorten some of the team's past few seasons. You can have a talented team, but that won't matter if the talent is watching from the bench.

"We've been here for months running, getting our fitness level up," said midfielder Nick Maglasang, "When we actually started working with the coaches, our fitness was good so we could focus on ball work. I think everyone's happy with our fitness level and that carries into October, November and December when we're pushing for a title. Hopefully, that's when the fitness kicks in."

"Their fitness has been fantastic," McGinty said Thursday. "They came in so fit, we haven't addressed it much."

McGinty and his players debut together today for the team's exhibition opener against Evansville at Hermann Stadium at 7:30 p.m. The Billikens will play two more exhibitions, including one against Southern Illinois Edwardsville on Aug. 27, before opening the season on Sept. 1 at New Mexico.

The home opener is Sept. 4 against 16th-ranked South Florida.

McGinty takes over for Dan Donigan, who left to coach at Rutgers. He inherits a team that has reached the NCAA tournament the past four seasons but hasn't gotten past the second round in any of them. Seven starters are back from a team that went 15-7 last season.

Among those returning are junior forward-midfielder Mike Roach, who had 11 goals and two assists and was named to the preseason watch list for the Hermann Trophy. (Roach will miss the Evansville game with a leg injury suffered in a summer game.) Roach and sophomore midfielder-forward Alex Sweetin were named to the Atlantic 10's preseason all-conference team.

Although SLU is unranked in the preseason coaches poll, Billikens teams seem to rise to the occasion under new coaches. McGinty is just the sixth soccer coach for SLU, but the first five all reached at least the NCAA quarterfinals in their first season.

Sweetin described McGinty's early practices as "tough," and Maglasang described them as "real intense." McGinty says he's trying to teach his players a lot in a little amount of time.

"All different kinds of things," McGinty said, "different tactical ideas, different mentality ideas, different combination ideas. ... We've thrown a lot at them and they've been very quick studies."

"Everyone is keeping their ears open," Maglasang said.

McGinty has been using video of the World Cup tournament to show how teams such as Spain, Argentina and Germany stayed organized on defense, then he takes his team out to the field to try putting those examples into practice.

"It's cool to relate to that," Maglasang said.

One thing McGinty has preached has been organization, with the team keeping its shape on the field and with players filling in for others if one makes an attacking run.

"You have to know the next guy is going to have your back," Maglasang said. "You've just got to love the guy next to you and always look to help him out."