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Texas A&M Soccer

Aggie Soccer coach G Guerrieri talks DePaul win, impact of the 12th Man

September 7, 2017
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On the change in attitude from the first half of the DePaul game to the second half…
"Well, obviously we feel great. We’re undefeated. We’re coming off a really good 45 minutes where I think our players made a statement to themselves but also made a statement to anyone who comes in. If you’re coming in trying to frustrate us, you’re going to leave frustrated yourself. The way that we came out in the second half proved a lot of stuff to us. Number one, it showed the heart that our players have, that they’re not going to let a team lull us to sleep, but it also showed us how fit we are. We play a team that is bigger and more physical than we are on Friday night, and we go into overtime and we came out of that game feeling like we lost even though it was a 2-2 draw. I'm sure Oklahoma State comes out feeling like they got a win out of that one. Nonetheless we’re drained.

"It was a very hot day, no breeze on Sunday and DePaul did a good job of kind of putting us to sleep in the first half. So for our players to come out and, number one, show that they have the capacity to pick it up and put it into another gear and then another gear beyond that is special, but also the fitness of the team is pretty extraordinary. We’ve been much more fit than every team we’ve played this year. I think Tom Milroy, who’s our strength and conditioning coach has done so much performance training with the players – you’re seeing the fruits of all those labors that he’s put in and all the players have put in really when nobody is watching. So you’re seeing when we do have a full house – and we’re expecting a really big crowd on Friday night again – they’ll see just how fit this team is and just how extraordinary they are and just the way that they can go after people."

On the plan to create more shots on goal… 
"A lot of it comes down to pure hard work. I mean hard, smart work. You’ve got to understand that teams are not going to allow you easy chances, so you’ve got to be able to work hard enough to get it, but you’ve also got to be able to recognize opportunities, recognize what they’re trying to do so you can counter that. And we’ll be doing a lot of that. We’ll be putting a lot of shots into the back of the net this week in training, but also to be able to play with patience. Patience and college-age players, those two don’t always go together. Patience and myself don’t go together. That’s one of the things – patience comes with confidence and knowing that we can keep knocking on the door until we kick it in, but we’ve also got to find ways to go under the door, around the door and over the doors. So those are all the things that we have the capacity to do this year that I don’t think we really had the capacity to do last year.

"So those are some of the things that are so exciting, but that said, the game on Friday night against Butler is a team that has already tied Notre Dame on the road. They’ve already beat Michigan State on the road, so they’re a team that’s gonna come in with a lot of confidence. They’re looking for a big pelt like us to take home, so we’re going to have to be really smart in the way that we play against them and really opportunistic in the way that we play against them.

"Then we go on the road on Saturday to play against Kansas, who’s coming off of a win against the defending national champion, so it's a challenging week. I'm excited that we’re home on Friday night for the opening football game because we look at this – I know Coach Corbelli looks at it the same way – we want to try and work together in the way we schedule volleyball and soccer, but we also want to make sure that football weekends start with women's sports over on the other side of campus – whether its at Reed Arena with volleyball or especially at Ellis with our game against Butler at 7 o’clock on Friday night.

"You add onto that the fact that this is our game where we’re trying to fight against juvenile cancer a little bit different this year. Usually the money that’s raised goes toward research for juvenile cancer, but this year because of the devastation of Harvey on the coast and what a lot of families are having to go through – slightly different – the money raised this particular game will still go toward kids at Texas Children's Hospital who are going through cancer. But it will also be for people who are affected doubly by the hurricane. So we hope that people come out, buy a t-shirt and be a part of what we’re doing but also really understand that we’re trying to serve a bigger purpose and help families that are going through the fight of their kids' lives. "

On the impact a full stadium and the 12th Man have on the team…
"You bet. It’s funny because over the years a lot of times our young players – the first time they come in, they are almost intimidated by our own crowd where they feel like they have to do extra stuff. We really have to remind them that they’re here to support you. They’re here to take your cues and make it even louder and more exciting, so I think that this is a team that understands that, and they really responded well to the crowd. And the crowd did a great job of helping us take control and come from behind and take the lead on Friday night, and I know they’ll help us big time this week. We really need them because Butler, even though a lot of people might not know where Butler is from, they’re a really good team and they are a team that could really help us in the discussion for NCAA tournament this season."
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Aggie Soccer coach G Guerrieri talks DePaul win, impact of the 12th Man

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