G Guerrieri breaks down opening-round NCAA win, facing UNC

Texas A&M Soccer Coach G Guerrieri

On their win over Washington in the first round of the NCAA tourney…

“Well, I thought it was really strong. Again, a lot of players making their first NCAA appearance; 10 of our 21 players had never played in the NCAA tournament and now they have. We didn’t get an easy draw. Having University of Washington come down, a Power 5 team coming in the first round instead of us playing a mid major or something like that at Ellis Field, was a challenge. They had beat some really good teams, some of the teams that are seeded in this tournament. So, getting off to a 2-0 lead on some really good goals — and really, I thought our defense did a really good job of just kind of clamping it down at the end and taking care of business.”
 

On any updates regarding injuries on the team…

“We shut down Janae Cousineau last weekend. I don’t know how she’s going to be going into this week, there a still question marks on that. A lot of the rest of them are getting better. Karlie Mueller is getting better; Grace Wright is running again, so she is a possibility. McKayla Paulson was able to train yesterday. So that’s three defenders who have been hobbled and are doing pretty good right now, and you look at some other players where we have just been in maintenance mode for a while just because of the grueling nature of the end of the season.”
 

On the maturity of this team in front of goal…

“Well, I think a lot of it has to do with their intelligence and their ability to be coached. It’s one thing to throw information out, but if people aren’t going to take it in. Kate Hajdu is a highly intelligent young lady and, you know, she’s majoring in engineering and minoring in Chinese, so she’s no dummy. It’s great to see that she’s gotten better and better and better with the things that we have brought to her.

"Freshman year can be a real whirlwind for a lot of people and Emily Bates has had a great year, Ally Watt obviously has had a great year with a lot of things, but to see the growth for, say, Haley Pounds from a year ago to this year has been really, really special. She’s done outstanding. She scored a great goal in the game against Washington and she set up the other one.

"So, really pleased with them. We’re going to need all that maturity and all that confidence as we go and play a 21-time national champion on Friday.”
 

On what to expect against the Tar Heels…

“A lot of the same old, same old. A roster that is absolutely loaded with talent and a coaching staff that is second to none. Anson Dorrence is just a legend. He’s a remarkable person and leader. The many times that we’ve played them, we have had a lot of different types of games. They’ve all been barn-burners when we get into the NCAA Tournament, so I’m hoping that we can go out and do it.

"No one on this team has played against them, maybe a couple of them have when they were really young and we went and played them in the Sweet 16 a couple years ago, but for the most part it will be another new experience for this young team. It’s the kind of game that when you get in the NCAA Tournament, that’s who you hope to play. You want to play the Tar Heels."