Marquette University Athletics
Markus Roeders' Coaching Diary
11/2/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Once a week for the remainder of the season, Marquette head women's soccer coach Markus Roeders will share his thoughts on his Golden Eagles squad.
November 2, 1999
Q: Your team finished off on a strong note this past weekend, defeating DePaul (4-0) and Purdue (1-0) at home. That has to give your team a boost heading into the Conference USA Tournament later on this week.
A: I think that we are playing our best soccer right now. If you look back over the last month, we've lost just twice. We've hardly allowed any goals and we have a lot of confidence right now. One of the keys in the conference tournament is that we have to make sure that we are emotionally ready to play -- we have to focus and play sound defensively. Offensively, we have had five or six players who have contributed goals for us. Katherine Ward, Kelly Roethe, Erin Morgan, Lanette Rossini, Kate Gordon and Ashley Spakowitz all have been coming though. We're definitely excited going into the tournament.
Q: Your first-round opponent in the Conference USA Tournament, Alabama-Birmingham, is a team that you defeated earlier this season. What do you expect this time around?
A: UAB is a team we played in the first round of the tournament last year. They beat us in overtime during the regular season and then we beat them in the conference tournament. This season, we defeated them, 1-0, at home. We outshot them by a 16-3 margin and played quite well. They have posted some good scores and I'm sure that they are an improved team from when we played them. It's going to be a tough match. Usually, when the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds play in the first round, it's the marquis game of that round and that's what we're in.
Q: In going back to the DePaul match, you had to be happy for your seniors as three of the four scored goals in their last regular-season home match.
A: That night was a lot of fun. Emotionally we were ready to play. Lanette (Rossini) scoring that great goal in the first half really set the tone. Then Kelly Roethe scored two goals and created a deal of the play. She almost scored another, but had an attempt hit the post. Later on, we had a penalty kick and Kelly usually takes those, but we had taken her out of the game. Katie Loughran had been taking some in practice and been finishing those off well, so we let her step up to the spot and take the kick. She finished it off nicely and scored her first career goal. And then, Erin Morgan was working hard all evening. It seemed fitting and it was a great Senior Night.
Q: Do you find that teams become more defensive-oriented come tournament time?
A: Just speaking for ourselves, I believe that we've always been a good defensive club. Our game is really built around playing good defense, we think that we are always capable of scoring a goal or two. If we don't allow many opportunities, then I believe that we can be successful.
I don't think that we will play any more defensively than we normally would. If we can get up a goal or two, then I think that it would be very difficult for another team to come back against us.
