G Guerrieri met with the press inside the Kyle Field Media Center Monday morning after spending the week in Big Ten country.
Head Coach G Guerrieri met with the press inside the Kyle Field Media Center Monday morning after spending the week in Big Ten country, picking up a win over Illinois and a draw with Ohio State while posting clean sheets in both matches.
Guerrieri praised the defensive execution on the road, recognized Katie Smith's SEC Defensive Player of the Week award, and previewed the home matchups with No. 6 TCU and South Alabama.
Some takeaways from the media session and full video are available below.
Coach G opened with a summary of the shutouts last week on the road, recognizing both team and individual performances. Against Illinois, the Aggies played smothering defense, especially in the first half when they held the Illini without a shot. Then, the Maroon & White posted their fifth shutout in the first six matches and held Ohio State to four shots-on-goal for the match on Sunday.
“We've only given up one goal in our six games, which is what we're hanging our hat on right now with our defense. Katie Smith, who's one of our captains, is going to be named the the SEC defender of the week, which is high praise because there's currently six undefeated teams in the SEC."
Guerrieri looked forward to the week ahead, previewing the TCU and South Alabama matches at Ellis Field.
“They [TCU] are back-to-back champions in the Big 12, a very, very good program. They've done a really good job. Their coaches work very hard. We have a lot of respect for them…on Sunday, we play another undefeated team in South Alabama when they come to town and they are, again, a perennial power. They've won many, many Sunbelt conference championships."
To conclude, Coach G discussed the opportunity for another big match at home in front of the 12th Man and how pleased he's been with the progress and execution from our backline, specifically Katie Smith and Karlina Sample.
“…the idea of 90 minutes of hell that we want to give our our opponents. That starts with the communication coming from the people behind you, giving you the confidence that you can go and put pressure on it if you're a midfielder or forward. That's because Karlina and Katie are the ones that are kind of running the show back there…"
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