COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Maryland head coach Jonathan Morgan recently talked with umterps.com to discuss the 2015 women's soccer season. The Terps begin play on Friday, Aug. 21 against Kent State. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Ludwig Field.
Q: What are the benefits of having a team filled with seniors?
JM: I think there are a lot of positives to having a senior laden squad. They have the game experience, they've been in the trenches and have been in a lot of tight competitive matches. They understand the training. The familiarity that they have lends itself to confidence. It brings an added level of your leadership to your team as well. I think having all of them back gives us a lot of confidence.
Q: How important is the return of last year's backline?
JM: It's great. Typically defenders and goalkeepers tend to get better with age and to have a group that's really been playing together since their freshman year, it's an added level of security and confidence for the team. They take pride in their team defending. They have set some new goals for themselves this year. The experience is valuable. You can't put a price on it. The backline is going to be the backbone of our team.
Q: Who do you expect to lead your frontline this season?
JM: I'm putting a lot of the onus on Alex Anthony, Gabby Galanti and Natasha Ntone-Kouo. Those three kids can produce goals and create opportunities. All of them are excited about that challenge. Alex is hungry. She's worked extremely hard this summer. Her finishing in front of net with her club team this summer was pretty fantastic. Her confidence is sky high. She thrives off of the expectation.
Q: You have a lot of experience in the midfield, what are the expectations for that unit?
JM: This is the group that is probably the most important because they help get the ball out of the backline and then advance the ball to the forwards. I think from a defensive and fitness standpoint, all of the kids we have there are going to be fantastic, but now it's which players can find us that final pass. We've got seniors in Sarah Molina, Riley Barger, Sarah Fichtner, Maisie McCune, Erika Joab; a whole group there that we expect to help us create opportunities to score.
Q: What kind of impact can the freshman class make?
JM: I think all of them have the opportunity to get on the field and give us minutes this fall. Kady Badham has lightning speed. She's ridiculous. The kids have been commenting on how fast she is and I think she has to help us upfront. She scored goals with her club team and scored goals in high school. In midfield, Cassie Phillips, Olivia Mills and Darby Moore are all going to compete. I think Cassie is one that we're expecting to make some contributions sooner rather than later. She's got great vision. She's a tough kid. Olivia and Darby are very different players. Olivia is more of a connect-the-dots and keep the ball moving kind of midfielder where Darby is more of an attacking personality. She likes to get herself to the goal a little more often. We'll find out about them when we start playing some games.
Q: What are your thoughts on the Big Ten going into year two?
JM: It's a great league it really is. Unfortunately it has had a reputation of being kind of a direct soccer playing league and in our sports that is frowned upon sometimes. It is actually a really good tactical league. We've had to adjust to opponents being a little bit different every time that we've played them.
Q: What can Maryland fans expect from the team this season?
JM: If you're a soccer purest, you are going to enjoy watching us play. We are not going to leave our roots. We always defend really well. Team defending is very important to us. That's who we are and that's who we have been the last eight years. I think we are a possession team. We build up from the back. This year we'll be a little more creative in the attacking third than in years past with the personnel we have. Ultimately we are a possession oriented team, but our creativity in the final third is going to be much more attractive. We've got exciting players. Natasha is extremely fast. Gabby is a great 1-v-1 player. Those are going to be exciting players for our fans to see. It's going to be a fun group to see play.
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