Ladyjacks Set To Open 2010
8/19/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Aug. 19, 2010
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NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjack soccer team will kick off a new season and a new era Friday night when SFA hosts Louisiana Tech in the 2010 season opener. The game against the Lady Techsters is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start from the SFA Soccer Complex.
In addition to being the first game of the season for SFA, the contest will mark the Ladyjacks' first contest under new head coach Tony Amato. Amato was hired in March after a seven-year run as head coach at Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla.
With 15 letterwinners and 10 starters returning from the 2009 squad, Amato inherited a veteran team with good cohesion. But, even though his players may be familiar with one another, the first-year coach knows they still must get to know him.
"The tough thing for the girls is the transition from how things have been done to what we want done," Amato said. "There are new expectations, new parameters and new philosophies they have to learn. With the girls that usually creates a lot of question marks. `Am I still a starter?' `How should I contribute?' `What is my role going to be?'"
As coaches, Amato and his staff have their own questions that need answering.
"The hardest thing for us is that we don't know our competition," he said. "When you're familiar with the teams you play, you can know going in what they do in certain situations. But we're starting from scratch as far as scouting reports are concerned, and that makes things more difficult."
Friday's opponent, Louisiana Tech, is coming off a 12-7 record in 2009 that stands as the best in program history. The Lady Techsters are a young program in their seventh year of soccer.
For its part, SFA posted a 10-8-2 record last season and finished third in the Southland Conference. Of the Ladyjacks' 15 returning letterwinners, five were named to the Preseason All-Southland Conference Teams. Seniors Kim Kimmel and Kelli Barnes, along with sophomore Kylie Louw, were first-team selections, while junior Jordan King and sophomore Laura Sadler were named to the second team.
Amato says his returning talent, combined with the way the team has handled the initial transition into his system, is cause for optimism.
"The response has been tremendous," he said. "We started two weeks ago and saw where we were. From there, we put our plan in place and let the girls know what we expected of them, and they've responded. They've done everything we've asked them to do. We couldn't have asked for a better response."
That just leaves one more big question looming for Amato and his troops.
"The only thing is we haven't played anybody yet," he said. "We haven't seen how they'll respond in a game with the new things we're implementing. We've seen it in training, but I'm looking forward to seeing it in competition."
NOTES: No first-year head coach in SFA Soccer history has won in his or her debut ... The Ladyjacks are 7-7-1 all-time in season openers and have begun three of their last four seasons with wins ... SFA is 3-2-1 all-time when opening the season at home ... Senior defender Kelli Barnes begins the 2010 season with an impressive streak of 38 consecutive starting appearances that includes every Ladyjack game over the last two seasons ... SFA is 2-2-0 all-time against Louisiana Tech with each team having won twice on its home field. Tech won the last meeting, a 2-0 verdict in Ruston, La., in 2008.
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