By Omar Villafranca staff reporter Two yellow cards couldn't keep the TCU women's soccer team from sending the University of Houston Lady Cougars home green with envy from a 1-0 loss on Friday. A crowd of over 300 fans watched a physical game between the two teams. The physical play resulted in yellow cards for freshman defender Alecia Grieshaber and sophomore midfielder Jeanine Rogers. The issuing of the cautions was unlike last year's match between the squads. TCU managed a 1-0 victory last season as well, but this year, Houston got the first legitimate scoring chance of the match. The Cougars almost notched a goal in the 34th minute of the game on a direct kick. A deflection in front of the goal sent the ball careening towards the net, but sophomore goalkeeper Keith-Ann Wagner made a diving save to keep the game tied. The only goal of the game came in the 69th minute when senior midfielder Allison Calleri, the only returning All-Western Athletic Conference player on the Frogs, scored off of a left corner kick by sophomore midfielder Tiffany Goetz, who was credited with the assist. Junior defender Jackie Rodriguez and Calleri led the speedy TCU defense that thwarted the Houston attack. Houston forward Lindsay Beiriger made several charges at the goal but was stalled by the TCU defense. Wagner stopped eight Cougar shots on goal and recorded the second solo shutout of her career. Wagner said she liked the way the team looked and credited the Lady Frog defense for their performance. "We were a lot more organized and under control for our first game," Wagner said. "The defense played very well today." While the defense excelled, the Lady Frogs offense looked rusty at times, managing 13 shots, only five of which were on goal. The Cougar defense managed to frustrate the TCU offense by pulling them offsides 10 times using a defensive trap. Midway through the second half, the Lady Frog offense showed signs of life. The Lady Frogs only mustered four shots in the second half, but other components started coming together. Passes started connecting and good anticipation led to several offensive spurts and the corner kick that produced the game's only goal. Calleri said she noticed the young TCU team coming together as the game progressed. "We made good connections for our first game although we should have had more goals," she said. "It was an overall good start but we've got a long way to go." The Lady Frogs consider the future of the team has an upside. They lost two lettermen but are returning 18 letter winners. Ten of the returning letter winners are starters. Horned Frog alumnus David Rubinson has returned for his fourteenth year as the women's head coach. The Lady Frogs finished last year with 9-11-0 record and fourth place in the WAC with a 2-4 mark. The Lady Frogs' next opponent is the Lady Bobcats of Southwest Texas State University. Southwest's women's soccer program is just beginning, but the Lady Frogs said they are not underestimating them. "They're a new program, but we have got to treat all the teams the same and go in with the same mindset as all the other games," Wagner said. The Lady Frogs take their flawless record to the playing field at 6 p.m. Wednesday against Southwest Texas State. Kickoff at the TCU Soccer Complex.
Tie teaches men's team lessons By James Zwilling Skiff staff The TCU men's soccer team's opening game Sunday against the University of the Incarnate Word ended in a 2-2 tie. Despite the final outcome head coach David Rubinson said he considered the game a success because the entire team demonstrated depth. "We found that we can move around as a team and remain pretty consistent in our play," Rubinson said.
Junior midfielder Charlie Schulz said that Groves' goal was significant in the overall stability of the new squad. "The main objective of the first game was to win, but also important was to gain experience as a team," Schulz said. Later in the same period with 16 minutes left to play, a corner kick allowed for the second score of the game. The period ended 2-0. Rubinson said the coaching staff was pleased with the first period of play, and they wanted to use the match as an opportunity to see the strengths and weaknesses of the team. "We have more depth on our team than ever before and we wanted to let them get their feet wet," Rubinson said. "There is not anyone on this team that we don't feel confident about their abilities." The Crusaders came out attacking in the second period and were in control of the ball for nearly the entire 35 minute period. But the Horned Frogs' defense managed to hold them to only one goal. "Defensively, we came out very organized," Rubinson said. The Horned Frog defense held off the Crusaders for more than 60 minutes of play until UIW midfielder Greg Hunter scored their only goal of the period. They headed into the final period leading 2-1, but beginning to show signs of fatigue in the near 100-degree day. The Crusaders carried their momentum into the third period. Three minutes into play, the Crusaders' midfielder Doug Cantey scored to tie the match at two. The Horned Frog's defense held the Crusaders to those two goals, but the offense failed to convert as well, ending the game tied at two. The coaches said although they were impressed with their players first game, they understand that there is room for improvement. "We need to speed up our play and look for the consistent goal scorers," Rubinson said.The coaches said the team is progressing very well. "We are much further ahead with this team than we were last year at this time," Rubinson said. Although players were content with the way the team played together, they also noticed areas that the team can improve on throughout the season. "As a team, one of our goals is to improve our fitness," Schulz said. "We thought that our fitness level was good, but by the end of the game we were tired and allowed two goals." The Horned Frogs also look forward to the debut of sophomore Naval Academy transfer Doak VanEnk as a midfielder. VanEnk is currently ineligible to play, but could be available next weekend pending final transfer records from the Naval Academy. The Horned Frogs head to Wisconsin Friday to compete in the Rocky Rococco University of Wisconsin Soccer Classic. "Hopefully we'll come out of (the Wisconsin tournament) with two victories," Schulz said.
By Paul Freelend Skiff staff After weeks of practice, training and mental preparation, the Volley Frogs are ready to start the new season against the University of North Texas on Wednesday. "We have focused on a lot of offense this week," junior outside hitter Bethany Toce said. "We've been working on stuff to use against the bigger opponents. We've also been practicing pressure situations and putting some competition into our drills and practices." The Volley Frogs split into two squads for extra practice. "Overall, I think we controlled the ball better," Troudt said. "The pace of the match was better, our middles attacked better and the communication was better all around." The Volley Frogs split played four competition-length sets and a series of brief, rally-scoring sets. As the first set began, play was plagued by errors on both sides of the net. The score was 3-1 with purple in the lead before the two squads settled into exchanging sideouts. The purple squad then pushed out to a 6-3 lead on the strength of freshman outside hitter Jennifer Cuca's service ace and two mental errors by the white squad. "One of our big standouts today was Jen Cuca," head coach Sandy Troudt said. "She really passed the ball well and was hitting a lot of shots throughout the scrimmage." Play remained close until purple forged ahead seven points with kills by Toce and Kovacs. White rallied to within two points, but junior defensive specialist Chrissy Grimm squelched the comeback with a service ace, ending the first set at 15-12. "We really weren't focused at the start of the match," Toce said. "We're still learning and getting settled into the game plan." Toce and sophomore outside hitter Marci King traded sides and the squads continued play. The second and third games proved to be shorter than the first with a reduction in service and mental errors on both sides. The defensive effort picked up as their blocking and digging prowess came to the forefront. White took early leads in both the second and third sets and their steady play proved to be the difference as they took the two sets 15-11 and 15-9. Freshmen outside hitter Stephanie Watson and sophomore middle blocker Allison Lynch made their presences known with their serving and net play. In the fourth game, which was played in a rally-scoring format, the white squad once again leapt out to an early 7-2 lead before the purple team took a timeout. The break in the action slowed white's momentum, but they continued to a 10-4 lead before purple took a second timeout. Purple mounted one last comeback, but not through their usual channels. Sophomore middle blocker Jennifer Sebastian and sophomore setter Rachel Shirley teamed up on blocks and kills to pull their team within one before a hitting error. A final kill by Toce closed out the fourth game at 15-12 with the white squad emerging victorious. Senior defensive specialist and co-captain Stacy Olson said she was not impressed with the team's efforts in the scrimmage. "I don't think the scrimmage really met up with anyone's expectations," Olson said. "We tried really hard today, but I think we were just mentally flat." Troudt found both positives and negatives in the Volley Frogs' play. "I'm really frustrated at our preparation," Troudt said. "We really need to be sharper mentally. We know that they're ready to mix it up." Despite the teams disappointing scrimmage, coaches remain optimistic. "On the positive side, I was really pleased with Stacy (Olson) and Bethany (Toce)," Troudt said. |
Junior midfielder Matt Groves scored the first goal of the
season in the first period after the Horned Frogs gained control of the
ball early in the game. Groves transferred this semester from Coastal Carolina
University.| The TCU Daily Skiff © 1998, 1999 Credits |