The TCU women's soccer program will open its 2009 regular season slate on Friday at Texas.The match against the Longhorns, which will mark the second time in three years the Horned Frogs have traveled to Austin to begin a season, is set for 7 p.m. at Mike A. Myers Stadium.
Follow The Horned Frogs
Fans not able to attend Friday's away match against Texas can follow the game live by logging onto www.gofrogs.com. There you can find a link to gametracker, which is located on the schedule page.
All regular season home contests will be broadcast live via webstreaming on gofrogs.com.
Scouting Texas
The Longhorns come into the season-opener ranked No. 15 in the NSCAA National Rankings. UT, who was recently picked to finish fifth overall in the preseason Big 12 Conference rankings, returns plenty of talent off a 2008 squad that closed the season in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. They come into Friday's contest holding a 26-game unbeaten streak at Mike A. Myers Stadium.
Overall, Texas returns seven starters, including preseason all-conference selection Erica Campanelli and 2008 Freshman All-America honoree Kylie Doniak. Finally, UT closed out its exhibition slate, dropping a 2-1 decision at LSU.
Scouting TCU
The pieces are in place in 2009 for the Horned Frog women's soccer program to make a serious run at a conference title and NCAA Tournament berth. With 10 of 11 starters returning, including its top-four goal strikers and entire defensive backline, TCU has the potential to be one of the top teams not only in the Mountain West Conference, but also the country in 2009.
The Horned Frogs will enter 2009 looking to improve upon a program best 14-4-2 record overall and 4-2-1 mark in conference action.
The Horned Frogs will enter 2009 looking to improve upon a program best 14-4-2 record overall and 4-2-1 mark in conference action.
TCU's last line of defense this fall will consist of fwo-year starter Cheryl Martin, sophomore Katie Taylor, who earned all-conference honors in 2008, Alex Mechalske and Lindsay Holmes. The quartet started nearly every contest last fall and will once again play a key role in TCU's success in 2009. Sophomore Chelsey Wilgenburg will also probably start after showing some dominating stretches during last fall. Between the posts, Kelsey Walters once again returns following a season in which she recorded the lowest goals-against-average in program history.
The midfield position could be one of the most dangerous positions this fall for TCU as the Horned Frogs return junior's Chelsea Cody, 2008 MWC All-Tournament selection Jackie Torda and Nikki Wilbur. Both Michelle Nguyen and Kaylie Garcia will push for starting spots in 2009 as well after netting multiple goals during the 2008 campaign. Look for sophomore transfer Kristen Halverson to also play into the midfield mix after starting for TCU during its exhibition contest against North Texas.
Up front, TCU possess one of the most dangerous attackers in the country in sophomore Jordan Calhoun. Calhoun is coming off a freshman campaign in which she earned Freshman All-America status by Soccer Buzz, while netting a program-best 15 goals. Along side Calhoun will be senior Lizzy Karoly, a two-time all-conference selection. Karoly recorded 11 goals in 2008 and should see her goal production increase during her final season.
Last Time Out
Junior Nikki Wilbur netted a goal in the 72nd minute to give TCU a 1-0 exhibition victory over North Texas last Saturday night. Wilbur, a defender from California, scored the lone goal of the match late in the second half off a corner kick by Michelle Nguyen. On the play, Nguyen blasted the ball into the middle of the box, finding Wilbur who headed the ball into the back of the net to give TCU the 1-0 advantage.
"From a training standpoint, I was happy with how we progressed as the game went on against a quality opponent," said head coach Dan Abdalla. "I thought we just got a little bit more comfortable throughout the night and increased our pressure on the ball. We now just have to get a little bit more organized and bite in our play. We also have to work on our transition game. Overall, it was a good building step for us from our last game to this one, now we just have to move forward."
Preseason Rankings
Coming off its best season in program history, the TCU women's soccer program was recently selected to finish second in the Mountain West Conference this fall. The second-place selection is the highest preseason ranking ever for the Horned Frogs. The poll was selected by a vote by the league's coaches.
TCU, who received one first-place vote, is predicted to finish behind BYU, who received 49 points and seven of the eight first-place votes. Utah tied TCU for second-place points with 39 in the poll.
San Diego State and UNLV were predicted to finish in fourth and fifth-place with 30 and 28 points, respectively, while New Mexico was ranked sixth with 18 points. Wyoming and Air Force round out the top eight selections with a total of 14 and seven points, respectively.
The All-Time Series
Texas comes into Friday's contest holding a 6-5-0 advantage in the all-time series record. The No. 7 Longhorns upended TCU, 2-1, in double overtime last fall in Fort Worth. In that contest, Jordan Calhoun netted a second half goal, but UT found the back of the net late in the second overtime period to record the victory in front of 2,161 spectators at Garvey-Rosenthal Soccer Stadium.
Going For Two
TCU will be going for its second-straight season-opening victory on Friday night. In 2008, the Horned Frogs blanked 2007 NCAA Qualifier Stephen F. Austin, 5-0. Jordan Calhoun and Lizzy Karoly each netted two goals apiece in the contest to give the Horned Frogs a 1-0-0 start to the 2008 season. Overall, the Purple and White are 2-2-0 in season-openers under head coach Dan Abdalla.
The Mexican National Team
Following its season-opener against Texas, TCU will come home to Garvey-Rosenthal Soccer Stadium to play an exhibition contest against the Mexican National Team on Tuesday, August 25. The 7 p.m. match against the National Team will mark the first time in TCU history that one of the premier national teams in the world will make its way to Fort Worth. Horned Frog sophomore Kaylie Garcia, who netted two goals and dished out four assists in 2008, played for Mexico this summer and could possibly play for both TCU and the National Team in the exhibition.
Roster Breakdown
Roster Breakdown
With 10 of 11 starters returning this fall, TCU returns plenty of experience in 2009. Of the 33 players that dot the Frog roster, there are three seniors, six juniors, 16 sophomores and eight freshman. In the Purple and White's exhibition match against North Texas, TCU started one senior, three juniors and seven sophomores.
Up Next
The Horned Frogs will open their home portion of their schedule against the Mexican National Team on Tuesday, August 25. Start time is set for 7 p.m. at Garvey-Rosenthal Soccer Stadium.
