I'm working on my second degree from Texas A&M, and I wondered if any Aggie fans were around. Anybody?
LOL, I would imagine not -- esp. if you're following baseball right now. I have to admit the Texas soccer team is getting better.
Yes Im also working on my second degree at A&M and I covered the soccer team as well last season. They look good this coming year, with only 4 players leaving to graduation. Unfortunately, Linsey Woodard and Martha Moore both quit the team. Emma Smith will be this year's leader up front, it'll be hard without Woodard.
How come they quit? I don't know woodard, but is moore the real small girl who played with the mexican national team?
Yes, that's Moore. I heard she wasn't coming back for some personal reasons. But Guerreri seems to have a lot of players leave early. He's still able to attract talent. They're gonna miss Woodard, too. I love watching Emma and Amanda Burke play. They are both tough competitors. Add Kati Jo Spisak to that list, too. She had a great year in goal.
Spisak Spisak is going to be a stud. Watching her develop into a much more aggressive keeper last year was outstanding with her 6'1" frame. G was always working with her for an hour or so before practice. Moore's reasons were definitely personal mixed in with wanting to play with the Mexican team more often. Woodard's were a little of the married life plus some other stuff. Heather Williams also quit.
It's too bad about Woodard. Wasn't she only going to be a junior? I assume Krambeer will move right in next to Smith. That will be quite a fast and athletic pair up front. It will be interesting to see what G does with the back line, without Jessica Martin, Moore, and Williams. There will definitely be some new faces in the starting XI. Maybe I'll see y'all in Austin on Halloween night! It's shaping up to be an intriguing year for our clubs.
Yes Yes, Woodard would have only been a junior. Also, Williams really didn't play too much. Losing Martin and Moore hurts on the backline, but Labhart is back along with Emily DeWoody who didnt see too much time last year as a freshman, but she has been good in the spring games.
GoatBoy, Texas is putting together a great team, too. Did you make it to College Station last year for the A&M-UT match? It was awesome. I think G. has enough defensive talent to fill in the gaps. But filling gaps is starting to become a trend.
Yes I was there. Even worse I went to College Station to see us get beat by SMU. Again. Hopefully the tournament selection committee will give us a break and I won't have to make that trek this year. Texas also has some gaps to fill, especially in the back with 2/3 of last years' defenders gone. With a tremendous group of freshmen coming in, I think we'll see as many as 5 or 6 new starters. Lack of talent won't be a problem. The question will be whether the team gels as a unit, and gets some strong on-the-field leadership.
With Texas, A&M and SMU all having quality teams, it's getting harder to prove you should host a regional. But it makes a lot of difference.
Hopefully this year we'll have two groups. Putting the three best teams in Texas into one group is a little ridiculous.
NCAA's The Big 12 got robbed last year. The selection committee sees Texas and A&M and then nothing so the Big 12 doesnt get the respect it deserves despite having Texas and A&M in the top 10, or top 5, all season. Especially with Nebraska winning the tourney, the Big 12 should get more respect. That being said, women's soccer is a non-revenue sport, so teams can't travel to far for early round games. That's going to make it hard for the NCAA to award Texas and A&M host sites for the 1st and 2nd round games even though both deserve it. Texas got screwed last year, but I dont see that changing. The winner of Texas-A&M will most likely host the other when it comes to NCAA's again this season. I have spoken with G. about this and he sees it as a problem too, but the Big 12 wont get respect until one of them wins it all. I wrote an article about it also. SMU had a down year last year too so they deserved what they got.
I understand the need to limit travel, but the committee should first try to do what is fair and what is best for creating an exciting tournament, especially the College Cup. I think there are enough tournament-quality teams in Texas and the surrounding states to support two groups without excessive travel. What I hate is the idea that Texas and A&M will never both advance into the tournament if the status quo is maintained. Are there other areas in the country where two perennial Top 10 teams are doomed to always be put in the same group? SMU may have had a down year last year, but they very nearly advanced out of the group but for Spisak's PK saves. It has become so crucial to win the Big 12 tournament and get the automatic bid. Winning the Big 12 is no easy task, and will continue getting harder as the middle-tier teams improve. Maybe one of our teams will struggle this year and make it an easy decision for the committee. But I'd like to see UT and A&M finish strong and force the committee's hand. We shall see.
Southwest Texas is putting together a tough team, as well. Southwest (or Texas State U. -- San Marcos) would get more respect if they were in a better conference. Goatboy is right, they need to separate Texas and A&M for as long as possible.
I cant believe I missed this thread. Huge Aggie fan here. I have no worries about our ladies, I know they've been working the butts off this summer, and they're only gonna get stronger. My girl Emma is gonna score 450948590475 goals this year .
I always thought of Emma as a speedster, but she looked good handling the ball last year. I'm hoping she really turns it on this season.
Emma As far as Emma goes: 1. she's gonna have to take up the slack in goal production that will be left from Woodard quitting. Etchavarry will most likely get a lot more minutes and be a threat offensively as well. 2. she's really hot, so Im happy if she's on the field
Emma TexanSoccer06- Am I wrong???? Anyways, Emma, Amanda, the list goes on, tere are plenty of lookers on that team. I never complained too much covering them...but I love soccer too.
Re: Emma No, but as a friend of Emma and Burke, I dont think its apropriate to be discussing their looks on the internet. Besides there's a hell of alot to those two (and the rest of the girls for that matter) than just their looks.