Game Notes
San Marcos, Texas – The Texas State soccer team will start of the 2013 season with a pair of matches against old Southland Conference foes in Northwestern State and Stephen F. Austin.
The Bobcats have gone unbeaten versus Northwestern State in each of the last seven meetings, going 6-0-1 in that time. During that stretch, the team has gone 2-0-1 in Natchitoches, including a 2-0 win in 2011.
Texas State has a history of winning in Natchitoches on a neutral site, capturing the 2011 Southland Conference Tournament Championship, defeating Sam Houston State and Stephen F. Austin during the tournament.
Northwestern State is coming off a 6-11-1 season in head coach George Van Linder's first season. The Demons return 10 starters from last year's team and 20 of 23 letterwinners.
Sunday's game will see a rematch of the 2011 Southland Conference Tournament Championship, which Texas State won. The Bobcats and Lady Jacks split each of their last six matches with each being decided by a score of 1-0.
The Bobcats have not played in Nacogdoches since 2010. Last year, the Lady Jacks beat Texas State on a penalty kick in the closing minutes of regulation.
SFA was picked by the Southland Conference coaches to win the league for the third straight year. However, the Lady Jacks have a new coach in Wally Crittenden, who leads a team that returns 16 of 23 players from the 2012 NCAA Tournament team.
Pregame Quotes
Junior Forward Tori Hale
What are your expectations for the 2013 season?
"I'm really excited and I think it's going to be tough weekend, but I think we're going to be able to show our stuff and show how good we've gotten so far."
How is the team feeding off of the 3-2 comeback victory in the exhibition game against Houston Baptist?
"I think that is really great for the start of our season. It really got our momentum going in the right direction and it definitely got the freshman on the right track. We could see how everyone was going to work together this season and it was just a good exhibition."
Head Coach Kat Conner
Can you talk about the rivalry between Texas State and SFA this upcoming weekend?
"SFA and Texas State have always had a long time rivalry in almost every sport, so you know going over there, they are always going to bring out their best. We are going to try and be at our best. Last time we met they beat us on our home field so of course we want to go over there and repay our respects. It's going to be a tough match; there is no doubt about it. It'll be tough, but it'll also be a good growing game for us."
Can you explain how it feels competing against two of the former Southland Conference opponents?
"I'd say its familiar, but they both have new coaches and new players. So in a way, it is familiar towns, but it's not familiar of the coaches. It's going to be interesting and it's going to be new, but the town will be the same."
What are your expectations for the opening weekend?
"Well, it goes more to us. I'm still looking at our starting lineup. We're still messing around with a couple of things. We're trying to look at different ways, still having the same idea, same formation we had with HBU just with different players in different key areas. We're still trying to find that perfect fit for everybody."
Can you explain how the team is feeding off of the exhibition victory this past week?
"We know it was a great win for us and it sets the tone for what we always want to be, which is never give up and fight constantly like Bobcats do. But, we also know that we need to shore up (some mistakes) that we made in the first half. In the second half, we got better and in overtime we got better. We just want to keep feeding on that. I think the players are just excited that it was the first win on their home field."
