Day 1 was a beast.

Fitness testing and a training session on Tuesday at Hillside Stadium in temperatures hovering around 35 C had the TRU WolfPack women's soccer team gassed, with players grasping at water bottles while first-year head coach Mark Pennington wrapped practice with a few words of encouragement.

It won't always be that gruelling, but this tryout will last all season.

Pennington is inheriting a squad that consists mostly of players he did not recruit. Much of the Durham City, England, product's time since being hired in February has been spent on the crop of 2020, his first true recruiting class.

"When the players come in, one of the first questions is, 'How was your summer?' I haven't had one," said Pennington, who has been scouring for talent at events in Ontario, Shawnigan Lake and on the Lower Mainland, among other places, during the last six months.

"I'm trying to turn over every stone and look at as many players as possible and find the types of players that fit in with what we're trying to create from an on-field perspective, but also their mentality and also their character off the field is really big for me."

Some of those players are already here, holdovers from the Kelly Shantz era who will earn the trust of their new bench boss. Some of the players here now will be gone next season.

Chantal Gammie, a second-year forward from Smithers, seems among the safe bets to make a smooth transition, having led TRU with seven goals last season, five more than second-top scorer Marisa Mendonca of Penticton.

"I really like his coaching style," Gammie said of Pennington, who was vocal during mini-scrimmages and easily heard at Hillside on Tuesday. "He's really positive and seems to know his stuff. Everyone really likes him. There is lots of new talent, which is great, and the whole team is just a little bit older, a little bit more comfortable."

Mendonca, Taylor Miller of Kamloops and Natalie Verdiel of Powell River are playing out their final year of U Sports soccer eligibility, a veteran trio that will mentor younger players and help establish culture.

"There are a lot of new faces, for sure," said Miller, a fifth-year forward who last played for the WolfPack in 2015, when Tom McManus was head coach. "We have a few goals in mind. This is the start."

The Pack have a minus-122 goal differential since joining U Sports in 2014. When Pennington got wind of offensively-adept Miller's return to TRU, he was quick to begin dialogue.

"I'm still in shape, still active, so I might as well play it out. Not knowing many girls is nice," said Miller, a Westsyde secondary graduate who is pursuing a degree in education. "I like coming back to a whole fresh team, a fresh start and a new coach. It's definitely a lot more intense than I'm used to. I can tell all the girls are really putting it all out there for him, so that's really good."

Pennington was asked if anyone in particular made a strong first impression on Tuesday. He mentioned Miller, goalkeeper Mae Hobenshield (who made a series of formidable diving stops during scrimmages) of Port Coquitlam, forward Solaine Sasakamoose of Burnaby, midfielder Daniella Falsetta of Kamloops and midfielder Rylee Mugridge of Maple Ridge.

"But, honestly, every single recruit stepped in today and did a really good job," Pennington said. "We've got some targets we've set out. We'll keep most of them in-house, but to say the playoffs are out of the question, I don't think that's the case. Year 1 might be a touch too early. I didn't really get a recruiting class of my own, but the recruits coming in are decent, so it's not out of the question."

The team's lack of punch up front in 2018 (an average of one goal per game) was a problem. Defensive structure, with 32 goals allowed in 14 contests, wasn't much better.

TRU has a record of 13-47-7 since joining U Sports and has only once qualified for the post-season, in 2015, when it was thumped 6-1 by UBC in Round 1.

Athletic director Curtis Atkinson and those he reports to are not expecting Pennington to transform a team that was 3-9-2 last year into a 2019 championship contender, but they will want to see progress, as will any player thinking about signing with the WolfPack.

Pennington wants his team to surrender fewer goals and corners. Players have to be tough, physical. Hard work is mandatory. Practices are going to be intense.

If improvements lead to a playoff berth, great, but missing the post-season won't be the end of the world, at least not this year.

"I think he just has the right mindset — to work on individual people and see how they fit in with what we want to do, to combine all the pieces we have," Verdiel said.

More pieces are coming. Cogs wishing to remain have a long tryout ahead.