Q & A With Women's Soccer Head Coach Patrick O'Driscoll
1.
WHAT IS YOUR GENERAL THOUGHT ON HOW THE SEASON HAS STARTED AND WHERE YOUR
TEAM STANDS RIGHT NOW?
I am satisfied with our start to the
season. We play a tough non-conference schedule and we got some great wins
against Westminster and Case Western earlier in the year. Even in the games
we lost, we had chances to win and were very competitive in these matches.
2. WHO IS PERFORMING WELL FOR THE TEAM?
I think the defense is performing
very well for us. We have had 7 shutouts in 11 games which speaks volumes
for our organization at the back. Since we have started AMCC play I feel our
offense is clicking into place as well. Nikki Frisbee and Kara Struski have
been dangerous attacking players for us with their speed and dribbling
ability and are difficult players for other teams to handle.
3. AS OF NOW, WHAT DO YOU EXPECT TO HAPPEN THIS WEEKEND IN CONFERENCE PLAY?
We play Greensburg this weekend which
is always a difficult game. I am glad we are playing them at home where we
can exploit our wide field. We tied with them last year. I am sure the
players have not forgotten this and will be pumped up for Saturday's game.
4. HAS ANYBODY REALLY SURPRISED YOU WITH WHAT THEY BROUGHT BACK FROM THE
OFFSEASON/PRESEASON?
I have been pleasantly surprised by
the play of our freshman. I know we had a lot of talented players in this
class but I have been pleased that many of them have made an immediate
contribution to the team and have adjusted well to the faster pace of
college soccer. Whitney Putnam has been playing very well in our last few
games and getting on the scoresheet quite regularly. Danielle DeMay came
into the season with a great hunger to succeed. Her level of play has been
high.
5. WHAT IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE HEADING INTO THE REMAINING PART OF THE
SEASON?
To remain focused on our goal of
winning the AMCC Championship and advancing to the NCAA Tournament. We are
traditionally one of the stronger teams in our conference and the opposition
always seem to raise their game to play us. Our level of intensity at
practice needs to remain high and we need to fine tune some parts of our
play.
6. WHAT IS YOUR EXPECTATION FOR THE
END OF THE SEASON AND POSTSEASON?
We want to be a better team at the
beginning of November than we are now. The players understand the importance
of dedicating themselves to this goal and understand we need to have an
attitude of constant improvement on daily basis.
Back to Women's Soccer
News Index