If the Coogs are going to be serious about making the conference tourney, they probably need to win one of these.
_SCOUTING THE PIRATES _
* East Carolina is in its first season under Head Coach Jason Hamilton. * The Pirates are 5-3-2 this season and 0-2-0 in conference play, dropping matches to Tulsa (3-1) and Memphis (2-1 OT). * Courtney Cash leads ECU in scoring with 11 points off of five goals and one assist. * Daria Draovitch leads East Carolina in assist with four this season. * Melanie Stiles is the primary goalkeeper for ECU with 39 saves and three shutouts. * ECU leads the all-time series record with Houston 3-11-1, Houston defeated the Pirates last season on senior day in a 4-1 decision.
_SCOUTING THE BEARCATS _
* Cincinnati is in its sixth season under Head Coach Neil Stafford * The Bearcats are 6-4-1 this season and 1-1 in conference play, dropping a match to Memphis (5-0) and defeating Tulsa (2-1) last weekend. * Jill Vetere leads Cincinnati in scoring with nine points this season off of three goals and three assists. * Madison Less and Claudia Eusaquio split time in goal for the Bearcats combining for a 5-4-1 record and 50 saves. * Cincinnati leads the all-time series with Houston 3-7-1 with Houston defeating the then-No. 21 Bearcats last season at the Carl Lewis Complex in a 2-1 decision.
Great win on the road. You have to love the direction the Coach has set from last year to this. Great Job Coach and way to never give up Girls. Good luck against Cincy.
I like the coach but he needs to get the team ready to play from the beginning of the game. I think this is the third time this year that an opponent has scored in the first couple of minutes.
Unfortunately I’m not a Soccer person. I have no Idea how many key players you need much less the positions. I mean yea you have your defenders, is it like Hockey with wings and forwards. I guess I’m saying i hear what you are saying but I don’t live in Houston so I have no Idea what he says to the team before a game. Is it a lack of defensive focus which causes a push at the net, lack of clearing the ball, goalkeeper not stretching properly before game. Is one person constantly getting beat early by the opponent. Or could it just be the nature of the team for some reason to not being fully engaged at the onset of the game. Again since there is very little video for a raw unacknowledged Soccer person to watch. But it seems it doesn’t really matter because it sounds like you have seen them play or using just common athletic sense, the Coach needs a better approach on how to prepare the women’s mind set before games. Yes it took my mind to write all that before if finally was able to write the meat of what I wanted to say or ask. Yes welcome to my world. LOL. Use to be a bad stutterer when a kid with a thick tongue to go with it. Besides hearing a repeating phrase half the time you couldn’t make out what I was trying to say anyway. Of course overcame most of the problems but my thick tongue can still get in the way and my brain can still race along. As I tell everyone that’s just how the Good Lord made me and I will always be thankful for the Lord making me as I am. Unique.
I guess what I like about this Coach it appears to be similar to how Sampson approached BB. Which is Coach your players up who are currently on the team. If you check the 2 years he’s been here the 1st season he increased how many shots on goal we took by quite a bit. I can’t remember exact numbers and it was a goal of his for the team. 2nd year he promoted his Asst. Coach who coached the Goaltender and Defense. Again the team achieved. What’s left is to see if he has the eye for talent to play his type of Soccer. Just as Sampson has slowly brought in guys that play his brand of ball. It first these guys weren’t the highest recruited but they played Sampson ball. That is what is left to see if he recruits the type of player that will play his type of Soccer then the winning will come then the eyes of the higher recruit will start looking. When you look at the History of Women’s Soccer at Houston it has been average at best. Hovering right at or below breaking even except to the 2 years before Coach took over and we were 1-10 for 2 years in a row. Now it seems the mentality of the girls are being set, it’s not over till it is over similar to how the men’s attitude was the year before the men broke out last year… Like all team sports you really don’t know how it will all come together. You focus the team on being the toughest physically mentally of never giving up and knowing your teammates have the same attitude you believe in yourself but most important you believe in your teammates to have your back like you have there’s and it’s no longer 10 individuals but one mass moving as one with one goal - one game at a time. Like all of us who love UH I want our non-revenue sports to be successful and it just seems like Women’s Soccer should be good not average. I believe we have the guy but unlike Sampson who proved from earlier stops his plan works, this is the Soccer Coach’s 1st time to lead a program. We will see.
* The Cougars improve to 6-6-1 this season and 2-1-0 in the American Athletic Conference. * Houston is off to its best start in conference play since joining The American. * Grant now has four goals this season and one golden goal for her career * Brascia netted her first goal of the season. * Lee now has three goals this season and three for her career * Anderson now has two assists for her career * Houston has now played in six overtime matches this season and for the second time this season back-to-back overtime games. * Houston is now 2-3-1 in overtime matches. * This is the Cougars second consecutive win over ECU, and the all-time series with the Pirates is 4-11-1 in favor of ECU. * This is Houston’s first win at ECU since the 2009 season when they defeated the Pirates 2-1 on the road.
* The Cougars improve to 6-6-2 this season and 2-1-1 in the American Athletic Conference. * Brascia now has two goals for the season to go along with her seven assists and six career goals. * Houston has played seven overtime matches this season and three consecutive. Houston is averaging 95.7 minutes per contest. * The Cougars have 25 goals this season, compared to the 29 goals they scored all of last season. * Houston has 16 assists this season, compared to the 23 it had all of last season. * Two of Houston’s last three meetings with Cincinnati have ended in a draw and the all-time series between the programs is now 3-7-2 in favor of the Bearcats. * Houston is now 2-3-2 in overtime matches this season. * Estopare is now third all-time in saves at Houston with 191.
Coogs 7 points currently has them in 2nd in the conference. Still a ways to go, but they’re in good position with the top 6 advancing to the conference tourney:
