BATON ROUGE ? LSU soccer head coach and members of his team met with the media at Walk-On’s Bistreaux on Wednesday to discuss the opening of fall camp and what they expect to accomplish in the 2007 season.
Comments from head coach Brian Lee from LSU Soccer Media Day
Opening Statement…
“The soccer team arrived last night. We came off our first practice this morning, and we looked fit. Coming off of last season, we feel like we’ve pushed the kids. As a group of players and coaches, we were a little disappointed with the final results of last season. We set 10-month plan for us to be ready and be fitter, faster, stronger and smarter coming into 2007. We feel like the kids have embraced it. We did some fitness standards this morning, and this is the fittest team I’ve coached in my 13 or 14 years of leading a college program. We feel like they’re ready. We have two weeks of preseason and six two-a-days in the next eight days to get our legs under us in terms of becoming soccer fit. Then we’ll kick off against Southern Miss at the end of the month.”
On the non-conference schedule for the 2007 season…
“We’ve put together a non-conference schedule that we feel serves dual purposes ? No. 1 prepares us for the rigors of SEC play and No. 2 provides us the opportunity to get an NCAA at-large bid if we can back it up with a good SEC season as well. When we hit the ground running with the regular season, we’ve got our LSU Classic when we’ll play Southern Miss and Louisiana Tech. Probably the highlight non-conference game is Texas on the road. We played them here last year and they ended up being a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. It was 2-2 with about 12 minutes to go, and we just missed out on that result. That’s probably the highlight game for us this year.”
On the team’s three seniors…
“In terms of the roster, we feel like we’re talented and we feel like we’re fit. If we get great leadership with our young team, we feel like the sky is the limit. Our seniors are Valerie Vogler, who is our starting goalkeeper. She stepped in midway through last season and really solidified the position for us. We think she’s got a chance to be an All-SEC type goalkeeper and have a big last season with us. Sara Pollock is a senior from right here in Baton Rouge. Leadership is huge in our program, and Sara is one of the best leaders, especially from a non-starting position, that I’ve ever been around. She’ll be an integral part of our success this fall. Then there’s Caroline Vanderpool, who’s been with LSU for four seasons and has been in and out of school with the Canadian Youth National Teams. She played in the U-20 World Cup last year. She’s versatile and can play in the midfield or in the back. She’s just an impact player whenever she steps on the field.”
On the goalkeepers…
“Our goalkeeper situation, we have five goalkeepers and 20 field players. Val is pretty clearly established as the starter. Jackie Moseley is the No. 2, who’s got loads of experience and puts us in a good position there. We’ve got three young kids vying to be the No. 3. Hopefully, one of them emerges in preseason as the clear No. 3 and can begin to push Jackie as the No. 2 as Jackie pushes Val for the No. 1 spot to create competition on a daily basis.”
On the back line…
“Across the back line, we return four starters. Caroline Vanderpool can slip back there and play as a world-class player. Chelsea Potts was a Freshman All-American last fall, and we feel like she is one of the elite defenders in the country and will continue to get better and better during her time with us. Nikki Bush started every game as a freshman last fall out of Mississippi. Then there’s Casey Crawford, who brings really what I feel like is the total package. She’s a great leader and has great intensity. We love it when a Louisiana kid comes into the program and really establishes herself. She’s done that for us as well, so we’re comfortable back there.”
On the midfield position…
“In the midfield, we feel like we have one of the best midfields in the country. We’re deep, talented with a host of prep All-American type players, state Players of the Year and that kind of thing. So, we’re deep and we can rotate kids in those positions. The newcomers to the group, Taryne Boudreau is another Canadian youth international who’ll probably step in as a defensive midfielder in the playing rotation, and she gives us another world-class player for that spot. Veronica Godbolt redshirted last fall with an injury. She’s a big part of our team and is very athletic as a defensive midfielder. We call her ?The Predator’ because of the way she runs and that she can run down anything in there. Nazily Alcoser is a new kid also from Louisiana who’s got a chance to dip into some playing time.
“We also return a slew of sophomores. Amanda Carreno came to us from Oklahoma as one of the most skillful and talented kids in the country. Melissa Clarke returns from a redshirt year as well. As a freshman, she was All-SEC and missed last season with a medical redshirt. We’re pleased to have her back probably on one of the wings. On the other wing, we’re looking at Malorie Rutledge, who might blow up this fall. We’ve got a talented roster, and she’s improved as much as anybody on our team and maybe anybody in the country. She’s a great 1 v 1 artist. If you enjoy watching soccer, when she gets the ball out wide she brings you to the edge of your seat because you know you’re going to see something exciting.”
“With our attacking midfield roles, Michelle Makasini was another Freshman All-American last fall for us out of Dallas, Texas. She led the team in scoring with 11 goals, and we expect a similar type of output from her. She’s worked very hard in our offseason program and is probably as fit as she’s ever been in her life. Next to her is Katherine Lagow, another sophomore from Dallas, Texas. Last fall once Godbolt and Clarke went out, she had to drop back into a more defensive role. But our fans will see a much more creative and attacking player. She’s a six-foot attacking midfielder and plays soccer like a point guard with great vision and great passing ability. We’ve also got a transfer from Arizona named Lindsay Lum, who comes into our sophomore class. Lindsay was a prep All-American from Houston, Texas, who should immediately slip into the playing rotation as well.”
On the playing rotation at the forward position…
“Up front, we’re very pleased with Rachel Yepez and Roslyn Jones as our returning starters. Both kill themselves in the weight room. They’re everything you want in a college student-athlete. They give their all on the field, in the classroom and in everything they do. They’ve really seen positive benefits during their time at LSU. Physically, they are faster, stronger and more ready to go than they’ve ever been in their lives. We’re excited about those two. One of our big goals of preseason is finding a third and fourth forward who fit into the playing rotation. Sara, one of our returning seniors, is there. There’s also Kat Walsh in that sophomore class, a two-time Alabama Player of the Year and one of the fastest players in the country. She’s probably the out-and-out fastest kid on our team who just has loads of untapped potential. We’ll see if that can start to emerge this fall from her as well.”
On the start of fall camp and this year’s expectations…
“We’ve spent 10 months waiting for this morning. This morning the girls came out to do some fitness and have our first practice, and they looked great. They’re ready to roll. Two weeks from now, we’ll kick off the season and we’ve got big big expectations. We feel like we’ve got a group that’s talented enough to win the SEC and compete to reach Final Fours and compete nationally. They’re fit enough. They’ve put in the work over the last 10 months to be ready. Now it’s just if we can find that delicate chemistry issue over the next two weeks. Will the team gel correctly? Does the ball bounce our way? With soccer, you can kill someone and outshoot a team 20-5 and still end up on the losing end 1-0. It’s how you react to that the next game. Does it carry over and do you have that special something when it’s 1-1 with 10 minutes left to get yourself on the positive side of that in a real quality game.”
On last season…
Last fall, I really feel like we saw a glimpse of the talent level on the team. We were up on Texas late, we were up on Florida late and we were up on Tennessee. That’s three of the 10 or so premier programs in college soccer. We were that close. Now that it’s 2007, can we take the next step. As coaches, we feel great about that happening with our kids. We’ve got a lot of trust and a lot of belief in our team. With our team, we talk about deserving to win a lot on a daily basis. Do you deserve to win because you work harder than everyone else? Do you deserve to win because what you do on and off the field is better than everyone else? I think we’ve got a group of kids who truly over the last year believe they deserve to win. So, we look forward to the season getting kicked off to see if that happens.”