Notes
San Marcos, Texas - The Texas State Soccer team faces a familiar foe in its 2012 regular season opener. The Bobcats face Sam Houston State, the team it met in the semifinals of the 2011 Southland Conference Tournament.
In that game, the Bobcats and Bearkats went to penalty kicks to determine a winner after a 1-1 tie. The Bobcats won the shootout 3-1, with then-goalkeeper, now-assistant coach Lauren Frazier stopping three of four shots.
Texas State owns a 12-1-1 all-time advantage in the series history, and has not lost to Sam Houston since 2006.
The Bobcats are coming off a 14-6-1 season that saw them win their final Southland Conference Tournament and advance to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in their 13 year history. Texas State returns 18 players from the 2011 squad.
Another exciting thing for the Bobcats' season is the switch to a new conference, the Western Athletic Conference. Texas State will be in the WAC for the 2012 season before moving to the Sun Belt for the 2013 season and beyond. The Bobcats had previously spent all 13 years of their history in the Southland.
Pregame Quotes
Texas State Head Coach Kat Conner
On opening with former conference opponent Sam Houston State
“First of all, we know they'll be ready for us. They have a game on Friday, so they'll get to iron out the kinks. Then on Sunday, we know we tied them in double OT last year in the Southland Tournament and beat them in PK's, and as a soccer player you never like to lose on PK's, so I'm sure they'll be fired up to show us they should have won that game.
We definitely need to be ready and be on our “A” game, since I know they'll be trying to avenge their loss on PK's.
On if it's harder or easier to open with an opponent with such familiarity
“That's easy. It's definitely harder. With them being an in state rival, that will make it really tough.”
On what the team has worked on in practice
“A little bit of everything. We've worked on our defending, especially as a unit. Against Texas, it wasn't where we need it to be. We definitely needed to pick up our transition from defense into offense a lot more. There's always that big thing you're trying to do which is finish on goal. We'll be doing a lot of that in the next couple days.”
On goalkeeping battle between Natalie Gardini and Caitlynn Rinehart
“It's been back and forth. Caitlynn has had a good day, Natalie's had a good day, so it's still up in the air. We're still a couple days out before that game against Sam, so we'll have to see. I don't know yet. Somebody will get the start, and if they're doing well they'll stay in. We're not going to split time just to do it. If they're doing well, they'll be in and gaining confidence.
Forward Serena Hines
On facing Sam Houston State
“I feel pretty good about it. It's going to be a tough game, so we just got to bring our “A” game.”
On what the team has worked on in practice
“Attacking mostly, and transitioning from offense into defense and back into offense.”
On expectations for Sam Houston
“I'm expecting everyone to bring their best and give it their all. It'll be interesting to see what the outcome is.”
Defender Michelle Bucy
On what the team has done in practice
“We've been moving the ball faster, bringing the level up for our new competition and transitioning from offense to defense at a higher pace.”
On what she remembers from Sam Houston State last year
“They have great attacking players. I remember as a defender they have really fast forwards. We have to be aware and move as a unit and communicate on how to best handle each situation.”
On the key to victory
“We need to keep our heads held high. We played well against Texas, but we can do better and win.”
