TCU soccer remains in ‘attack mode’ after winning its first conference title
The TCU women’s soccer program is coming off a historic season in 2020, winning the school’s first conference championship in the sport and advancing to the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament.
But the Frogs aren’t entering this season with a “defending” mindset.
“We’re not defending anything. We’re attacking a new season,” coach Eric Bell said. “Do we have a target on our back? Probably, but our mentality is we’re not defending anything. We’re moving forward, and we’re going to attack it and take it one game at a time. Others may see it differently, but our mindset is a little bit different.”
So far, so good for the No. 8-ranked Frogs. They opened the season by rolling to a 7-0 victory over Stephen F. Austin on Thursday night in Nacogdoches.
Next up is the home opener and a marquee matchup against No. 9 Texas A&M on Sunday. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Garvey-Rosenthal Soccer Stadium. Tickets are $10.
Bell talked about the outlook for the 2021 season and more during an interview with the Star-Telegram this week.
On facing Texas A&M, one of only two teams that defeated TCU last season: “We came here with the ambition of competing for national championships. In 2012 that might have seemed like a bit of a long shot, but now it’s come to fruition. We are a top team in the country, and we want to measure ourselves against other top teams. Texas A&M has done a good job of competing for championships over the course of time. This game will be a good measuring stick to see where we’re at. I’m happy it’s at home in the friendly confines, and hopefully a lot of people will come out and support us.”
On starting the season with a win over SFA: “It was great. It’s been a really good preseason for us, but you never know how good you are until you play a real game under real circumstances. I’m pleased with how we approached the game, pleased with how we handled the game. We saw a lot of good things from the defending and attacking perspective. It was a good start.”
On replacing Emily Alvarado, who was a first-team All-American goalkeeper: ”Obviously we lost a lot with Emily graduating, and it’s really hard to replace that type of talent. But we have two goalkeepers in Lauren Kellett and Kinsey Ehmann that have both earned playing time. There isn’t separation between the two right now, but hopefully we’ll see it over the course of time. For now, we have two competent goalkeepers competing and we’ll see who is going to be the No. 1.”
On the offensive firepower with returners such as Grace Collins and Messiah Bright: “We do have a lot of firepower that returns, but scoring goals is hard. It’s really hard. While I think we have a good attacking core, it’ll be a game in, game out basis as far as what teams are trying to take away from us and how we deal with that.”
On what fans can expect when they attend a game: “We believe that we have a really nice product to come and watch with our style of play. This is a team that’s really competitive, a team that is stylistically appealing to the eye and also a team that is looking to win. Hopefully a lot of fans come out and see a worthy product, especially against a team like A&M. This is a good measuring stick for the both of us. I’m looking forward to it. I can’t wait for 7 p.m. Sunday.”
