Spring schedule released:
March 21 v DBU @Ellis
March 28 v Texas Tech @ Texas Women's University
April 3 v Lamar @Ellis
April 11 @ Houston
April 17 v Sam Houston @Ellis

Only 32 more years for the next coach search begins

taylorswift13_ said:

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Posted on the Shuttleworth thread, sorry didn't see this! But excited there's some Aggie Soccer less than 5 weeks away

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Now less than a week to go - groovy !!

At Ellis. I hope we can get reports from the match, the first of the new era of Aggie soccer.

BTHO DBU !!!

Healthwise, we had a few players out with more significant injuries at the end of last season:

• Jernigan (ACL)- No spring games, but should be back for entire fall season
• Scranton (ACL) - No spring games, but should be back for entire fall season
• Landherr (Leg) - Won't play this week, but could be back in time for some spring games
• Lavender (Leg) - No longer with the team

I heard that Smith, one of freshmen who enrolled early, is out with an ACL.

Yakel graduating is a loss for us as I thought she was solid last year (recently spent some time in Portland Thorns NWSL camp), but excited to hear if the new freshmen can contribute in spring games, especially offensively. Will need to wait for the fall to see much else as far as personnel changes.

4 girls out of spring isn't bad at all, better they get their rest and recovery now and through the summer!

Seems like there will be a lot of competition at each spot and I'm excited to see how we look this spring and how all these girls are adjusting to this new system and with one another! Let's see which freshman are ready to roll!

MATCH DAY - WHOOP !!!!

I hope someone will provide live updates - if so, thanks in advance !!

Gig 'Em !!!!!

Starting 11:
August
Crooks
Patterson
Hoang
Wilson
Churchill
Buchanan
Diaz
Lacher
Cate
Campbell

0-0 end of first 30 minute period. 12 shots to 0. Dbu has the ball in our box once. Freshmen Churchill and Lacher look solid.

Thanks! Looks like we have three Freshmen playing, thanks for the report on them. Our defenders have a LOT of minutes and I have been wondering who would be playing midfield. We were good last year on defense at times but others not. Love to get some consistency. Thanks again for the report !!

Starters for 2nd 30 minutes:

Fuller
Crooks
Patterson
Hoang
Campbell
James
Ryan
Storer
Hutchins
Noble
Clark

2-0 final. Buchanan and Churchill with the goal. 24 shots to 3, 13 shots on goal to 1. Churchill and Lacher were very good and play well together (they played on same club team). Crooks was only one to play full 90. We had 6 girls out today and seemed to be short on outside backs as he played some girls there who aren't normally defenders. Bobby is intense and loud during the games, but in a good way.

4-4-2 diamond (4-1-2-1-2)
Seemed to stay in this formation entire match.
For opening period:
Churchill. Diaz
Buchanan
Cate Lacher
Campbell
Wilson Patterson Crooks Hoang
August

Very noticeable was the difference in effort and work rate compared to previous season. Even warmups showed an increased intensity.
Bobby is very vocal, constantly coaching up the team. Listened to an interview on 12th man with him. He mentioned that everyone is going to lose the ball. But what are you and your teammates going to do when you lose the ball. That's where the work rate/effort was noticeable.

DBU was not a strong team, significantly lacking in team speed and athleticism. Good to see us dominate, but not.a good measuring stick.

Maybe 250 in attendance, perhaps many looking to see what the new look Aggie soccer and coaching might look like.

Intensity is the right word. I did notice a drop off in the intensity in the second period as we went from completely dominating to letting them get some possession. But Bobby was yelling throughout all three periods. Some lines I heard more than once during the game:

• You must sprint every single time.
• There are no excuses for effort.
• Why weren't you going hard there?
• What is next? (this one was my favorite. heard him call out specific players and ask this one several times as he was trying to have individual players not just think about the current play, but what happens the play after that)
• Do you not remember where you are supposed to be? (ouch)

I wouldn't describe the coaching style as "constantly yelling and screaming". Bobby definitely has a calmness to him despite being very vocal. I've seen plenty of the constant berating as well as the joysticking, and this aint it.

A lot of the coaching was player positioning. With a new coach/style this should be expected.

Go back and watch the natty game from last fall. The main takeaway was FSU's non-stop pressure. I thought how are these girls so well conditioned! It was almost unbelievable. Just non-stop, max effort all over the place. I think that's what Bobby wants for Aggie soccer. The constant pressure and all-out effort. It's going to take a lot more fitness to be able to do it though

I actually appreciated his style at the game and don't think that most of the players were taking it negatively (aside from maybe the "do you not remember where you are supposed to be" comment). And both coaches had plenty of positive comments during the game too, praising certain plays throughout.

Let's not kid ourselves, there are players on nearly every college soccer team who don't seem to give full effort. I agree that if should be be baseline expectations, but we have all seen what appears to be a lack of effort from certain players, including players on this team just last season. Players who take a play off or don't get back defensively when needed. I took his comments as him reiterating that full effort is in fact always the baseline expectation. He expects mids to sprint back on defense, even if they just made a run forward. He expects outside backs to sprint up to support the offense. He isn't giving a pass to anyone if they aren't going all out.

As far as the "what is next" comment, the players are still trying to learn his playing style and it is different than last year. I believe he is just trying to continue to communicate with them and have them thinking about what they have been working on and what he wants the next play to be in this new style. It could be different than their instincts based on last year. Again, I don't think the players took this as negative at all.

I am sure some players don't like the intensity, but that probably means they aren't a fit for his program. Cuts are coming in a few weeks, but maybe some players will leave on their own.