Frogs Shutout Iowa State In Spring Opener 3-0

What a great night for a game, with clear skies and the tempature around 70, we couldn't have asked for a more perfect night to kick-off our spring season. It certainly helped how well the girls came out of the gates tonight as well! After a 1-0 score at half on a goal by Lizzy Karoly, we opened the game up in the second half by another Lizzy Karoly goal, and then the insurance finish by Jackie Torda for the third. The pace of our strikers definitely opened the game up and gave our midfield time to be creative.

I was extremely pleased with how well our 3 players who played in the attacking midfield - Chelsea Cody, Kaylie Garcia and Lizzy Batten - all did. They definately controlled the tempo of the match and did a great job finding the strikers and outside mids. Over the next couple of weeks we'll work on they're ability to change the tempo of the game and vary service, play a bit quicker, as well as try to get them more dangerous in goal scoring situations. Where I thought they did a great job was on the other side of the ball. Defensively they were positioned so well it made the game a lot simpler.

The other great part of the game was our back line - Sara Schneider, Katie Taylor, Julia Slater, Cheryl Martin, Niki Wilbur and goalkeeper, Kelsey Walters. We're asking them to play a little different so it's going to take some time for the girls to get the shifting and stepping, but as the game went on they did a great job of getting it and showed we're going to be difficult to score on.

Overall, we played with crispness and bite that shows the teams been working hard. Only bad thing is now we've got to wait until after spring break for the next match!

Game Preparation - Scouting Iowa State

Our thursday training served as preparation for our first spring match tomorrow night versus Iowa State. After a spirited group of small sided games, we went on to cover set pieces. We've got some options for players that can serve a great ball. Three players will allow us to give different looks and keep the other teams on their toes with balls that can be driven or bent with the left and right foot. We've also got 4 or 5 targets on set pieces, with players that can really go find the ball and be a pest in the air. One of our goals this spring is to really turn up our intensity on set pieces and make it a major dangourous aspect of our game.

In regards to Iowa State, we don't know much about them at all. Traditionally they've been a very solid Big 12 team so we expect a very good match. With a new coach just in place we'll have no idea of their style of play, but I am sure they will bring a lot of energy trying to impress the new gaffer!

It's A Beautiful Day!

Alright, so outside of U2 being my favorite band and the reference in my blog today, Mondays, are my absolute favorite day! Today was no exception. You see Monday mornings are my days where I take half a day during the week to spend with my 21-month-old son, Zak (yes it's spelled that way and is a whole different topic for another day).

We start the morning off with a good breakfast - usually oatmeal, because it's the messiest. Then it's off to the park for a good 30-40 minute session of swings and slides - this little man has no fear at all! That's where the day gets unique, see we come into the office at 10:00 where we meet up with one of our goalkeepers here at TCU, Kelsey Walters. Kelsey is a freshman who started for us this past year and had a good solid season for her first year. But she wants to do better so we're working on her fitness. So Zak jumps into his Jeep jogger and we go for a run with Kelsey every Monday. I'm giving Zak all of the credit as he has helped push Kelsey to a different level real quick and she's doing a great job!

Then it's off to the zoo for lunch. Yep, the Ft. Worth Zoo! Its only 2 minutes from campus. Our Zoo is ranked as one of the best in the country. Zak and I like to sit on a rock outside the Gorilla Habitat and just hang out. We'll usually try and catch a couple of other animals - today was the elephants, meerkats and rhinos. After that my wife picks up the little guy and it's off to the office for me.

That's where today gets even better - first it's 75 degrees outside and sunny blue sky! Second, the team is busting their tails in training which makes for a great training day - it's not a perfect practice, but they are trying to do things at a faster, crisper pace, which I absolutely love. So that's it a pretty beautiful day in my eyes!

TCU Soccer Takes A Break On Wednesdays!

Light day today for our team from the athletic side, as we give the team Wednesdays off to focus on studies. Our normal training schedule of Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, allows for one day where the team can take lab courses in the afternoon without having to worry about missing practice. With TCU being a school of around 6,000 undergraduate students and a student/faculty ratio of 14:1, a personal hand's on education is what you get!

I've never been at a school with a more supportive faculty for athletics; but I think that's also because the student-athletes here understand they are students first. I love taking people through our athletics heritage center and seeing the big picture of NFL MVP Ladanian Tomlinson, otherwise known as LT. I love it because here is the epitomy of a guy who, in his sophmore year at TCU, knew he was going to be making millions in the NFL, but what's great to be able to tell people is that he has his degree from TCU. He finished school - that gains a lot of credibility with both faculty and the role education plays in athletics at TCU!

I think the faculty also understands how we, within our soccer program, view the role of their athletic involvement in the education of our student-athletes - the discipline, team work, performing under pressure, overcoming challenges, time management - are all skills that translate from the field to life.

So in a nutshell, that's why we take Wednesdays off!

Spring Schedule includes NCAA Tournament, Big 12 & SEC Soccer Teams

Just released our spring schedule and it should be great. I always like to challenge the team in the spring and play great competition, as that's the only way to improve. I also always try to do something unique from an experience standpoint. In the past my teams have played WUSA teams, the Mexican National Team, the Mexican U-20 national team, the Chinese National Team, FFC Frankurt and this year will bring the opportunity to play in one of the best soccer facilities in the country, Pizza Hut Park, in a match vs Texas Tech.

We open up with a match at home vs Big XII opponent Iowa State on February 29. Then we host NCAA participant Stephen F. Austin on March 29. We follow that up with matches every Saturday in April - April 5th vs Texas Tech at Pizza Hut Park, April 12th at Baylor for a tournament, April 19th at SEC Opponent Arkansas and then we finish up April 26th with our annual Alumni Game - which the Alumni won last year!

Every coach has a different philisophy on scheduling, but I've always said I'd much rather go 12-6 and be in a position to a win a national championship, rather than go 18-0 and get knocked out in the first round.

Spirited Intrasquad Match Ends 1st Week Of Spring Camp

Was a great finish yesterday to our first week of spring practices with a 5-4 intrasquad match. We had a blast as the teams were drafted, making it exceptionally spirited. I think we're going to put together a highlight reel of the goals, as a couple were world class - we had 40 yard crackers - Michelle Nguyen, 2 of them; dribbling the keepers - Chelsea Cody and Kaylie Garcia looked like they had just watched a highlight video of Ronaldinho; as well as Lizzy Karoly and Jenna Hayes, just going, going, going. And in all fairness to the goalkeepers - it could have been a 10-11 game, but they came up with some big time saves...

Friday also, brought our second annual Fantasy Champions League Draft. Each one of our players and coaches gets to draft 5 players - 1 striker, 1 mid, 1 back, 1 goalkeeper and 1 wild card - from the remaining teams in the Champions League. We'll watch highlights or a game a week and keep track of who has the most points by wins, shutouts, goals, assists. Got pretty heated in the draft, with some of our players - Cheryl Martin - going on line during the draft to see current up to date stats and rosters. Lizzy Karoly won the inagural Fantasy Leauge last year, but didn't have as good a draft position this year - will be fun and interesting and I'll keep you posted on the updates...

I'm excited as today my wife, Jen, and 21-month old son Zak, come back from a week out west. One of my former players and her fiance had an engagement party last Saturday that Jen and Zak went to, and then Jen's dad had a couple of day's off where they got to catch up. So, it was a good week for them - but I've definitely missed them a ton...

Here We Go

We would like to welcome you to our blog. We hope to give you an inside look into the daily happenings of TCU Soccer both on and off the field…from meeting and getting to know our players, coaches and staff to seeing what its like to be a member of our family. There is always something new going on and we will let you know all about it. We will also fill you in on what is going on at TCU as well as in Ft Worth. There is always something great happening and campus is growing every day….but those things are for another time. You will also be able to keep up with soccer happenings around the world. We hope you enjoy what you read, see and discover here! GO FROGS!