STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI/MSU Athletics) -- Mississippi State laces up the boots and hits the pitch Wednesday to begin preparations for the 2012 soccer season that kicks off Aug. 17.

The Bulldogs open preseason camp at 7 p.m. at the MSU Soccer Field. Head coach Neil Macdonald's squad plans to focus on various drills before capping the evening with an intrasquad scrimmage.

"We are going to evaluate where we are as a team and build from there," State's ninth-year head coach said. "We will do some directional possession and work on speed of play before scrimmaging to finish things up. Hopefully we start to see the strengths of our players so we know how to progress."

The Bulldogs return 14 letterwinners, 10 starters, from last year's squad that claimed the most SEC wins and goals since 2004.

"We are very excited to get going. We have a good returning group that has experience playing in the SEC," Macdonald said. "Our senior class is very strong, and we are excited to see the newcomers. Hopefully they will give us more depth and help further enhance our technical ability."