G Guerrieri assesses the Aggies hitting the stretch run

Due to technical difficulties this week's interview with Texas A&M soccer coach G Guerrieri is text-only. We apologize for the inconvenience.

On the foul against Karlie Mueller…

"Well, as much as I’d like to comment on that, I am not allowed to. The SEC won’t allow us to and for right reasons. You know, coaches can’t be bashes referees or even really praising referees for anything. It’s just an across the board rule. I think Commissioner Sankey would not appreciate me any comments on that and the big thing for us is we just have to move on.

"Sometimes things happen that we don’t like in a game, players get injured, things happen to players that are out of the plan and obviously our best wishes and our hope is that Karlie will be able to go before too long and back in our lineup."
 

On what was missing Sunday in the loss to Auburn…

"Well, I think the last pass wasn’t really good enough for us. We were a little impatient. It was a big field, a little bigger than we were used to and a lot of physicality obviously by Auburn that caused us to be a little bit impatient even though we had the ball most of the time, had more chances, took more shots, we just weren’t dangerous enough. You know, they took two shots that were pretty amazing. The first one it was like, ‘You got to be kidding me,’ it was the first time they even looked at goal and they scored, or one of the first times.

"So, we just have to move on. It’s a crazy year in the SEC right now. So, even as much as that one hurt on Sunday, you know we’re still in this thing. So, we’ve got to quickly refocus ourselves, we lost our last three away games in the league and we go to a pretty tough place in Kentucky this Friday night to put the boots back on and go at it again."
 

On the severity of Mueller’s head injury…

"Well, that it’s a head injury and with head injuries, they are always kind of up to the individual as far as how severe it’s going to be and how many they have had in the past. It’s not a one size fits all type of thing. So, our team of doctors is outstanding and is on it and obviously we aren’t going to put her in harm's way. We want to make sure that she’s fully fit and fully recovered.

"I mean, anytime you look at a brain injury, you’re talking about something that is life, and that’s something that as much as we put importance on athletics and college, there’s a lot more to it for the rest of her life and we want to make sure that she’s okay."
 

On Emily Bates and her comeback…

"She’s recovered well. You know, poor kid, as far as bad luck. She had an infection on the back of her knee that came from her brace that she was having to wear, rubbing on that. So, that actually has been more of a detriment to her. At least on Sunday she wasn’t quite up to where she was on Friday. Granted, fitness having missed as many games as she has, we kept a pretty tight look on her minutes that she was able to go.

"I think Andi Tate has done a really nice job, as has Tom Milroy to get her to the point where she is right now and like any great player you want her to be in the line up as much as possible. So, we’ll continue to monitor her and see how she’s doing this week. I’m really proud of her for being able to come back from such a tough injury, sitting and waiting and then coming right back in and making such a huge impact on the game on Friday night against Alabama. We’re just really, really happy to have her back."
 

On the match this Friday against Kentucky…

"I think, from Kentucky, they are athletic. You know, this is a rematch of last year’s championship game. They have some good athletes all around. Their outside backs try to come forwards, so we will have to be aware of the movement that they have off the ball. Klump up front is a big, strong target player. Swift, as her name would be, is very dangerous on the run and then Raetzman, who is No. 2 in the middle of their attack, is a little playmaker and does a good job of fetching and carrying the ball from side to side. She’s very good at that last pass.

"So, playing at their place, they don’t lose very often at home — so it will be a real challenge for us."