Speaker 1: The time for your Columbus State Cougar's preview as we
Speaker 1: are now in the n seed DOUBLEA Tournament Southeast Regional
Speaker 1: first and second rounds are going to be in Columbus
Speaker 1: as the Lady Cougar's nineteen oh one to one earned
Speaker 1: automatic qualification as the Peach Belt Conference tournament champs earned
Speaker 1: the right to host the regional this weekend after being
Speaker 1: ranked number one in the Southeast Region. They are gonna
Speaker 1: match up against eighth seed Francis Marian who earned an
Speaker 1: automatic bid after securing the Conference Carolinas tournament title last
Speaker 1: weekend see Issues one of four Peach Belt Conference teams
Speaker 1: in the fifty six team field, and they are going
Speaker 1: to continue to look for their deep runs and chase
Speaker 1: after championships in Division two. Dominant run in twenty twenty
Speaker 1: four on their way in the tournament at nineteen oh
Speaker 1: one to one, twenty twenty four Peach Belt regular season
Speaker 1: twenty twenty four tournament champs, going twelve to zero against
Speaker 1: conference opponents this season. In the past weekend, they got
Speaker 1: their tenth tournament title with a one nil went over
Speaker 1: flagler as Francis Marion, once again riding high in the
Speaker 1: CC tourney finals their twelve two to four this year
Speaker 1: four match win streak heading into the weekend in at Columbus.
Speaker 1: Friday's meeting to start things off is just the seventh
Speaker 1: between Columbus State and Francis Marion. See issue has a
Speaker 1: five to one record over Francis Marion all time. The
Speaker 1: last time the two teams met was back in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty one. Lady Cougar's won at eight nil. But in Florence,
Speaker 1: South Carolina. First round is Friday, November twenty second second
Speaker 1: round is Sunday, November twenty fourth. We catch up with
Speaker 1: head coach Jay Atlick toward the end of our conversation
Speaker 1: and he has some thoughts on the layout for the
Speaker 1: tournament in and of itself. The two matches in Columbus
Speaker 1: played on Friday afternoon the Walden Soccer Complex noon Eastern
Speaker 1: at three o'clock. Fourth seed Cataba out of North Carolina,
Speaker 1: Fifth seed Flagler familiar foe out of the Peach Belt.
Speaker 1: They're going to be in the noon Eastern time match
Speaker 1: on Friday before the Lady Cougars and the Patriots kickoff
Speaker 1: at three o'clock. The two winners then meet in the
Speaker 1: second round Sunday at three o'clock Renault, Lenora. Ryan is
Speaker 1: the host for the second subregional and they welcome the
Speaker 1: third seed North Georgia, six seed Wingate, and seven seed Lander.
Speaker 1: Each finals from the subregional sites meet in the third
Speaker 1: round Sunday, December first, to determine region champs. After that,
Speaker 1: it's quarterfinal round Saturday, December seven, semifinals in the title
Speaker 1: match December thirteen and fifteen at the sports Plex at
Speaker 1: Matthews in suburban Charlotte, North Carolina. First and second rounds.
Speaker 1: Go to the event website and we'll remind you again
Speaker 1: when we're done. Go to CSU Cougars dot com slash sports.
Speaker 1: You can click on the header in the women's soccer
Speaker 1: section having to do with the women's soccer regionals and
Speaker 1: get all the information that you need when it comes
Speaker 1: to the tournament coming up here in short order, let's
Speaker 1: run through the guests and let you know what to
Speaker 1: expect here in the CSU Cougars Preif you first and foremost,
Speaker 1: we're gonna spend some time between the sticks and catch
Speaker 1: up with defensive Player of the Year Heidi Harris out
Speaker 1: of Swannee, Georgia. Here's our conversation between number one and yours.
Speaker 1: Truly time to drop into Division two as we get
Speaker 1: ready for the postseason and we go down to Columbus
Speaker 1: State and we catch up with folks hanging out with
Speaker 1: the CSU Cougars first and foremost batt and lead off
Speaker 1: for ust keeper Heidi Harris, the Pride of Swanee, Georgia. Heidi,
Speaker 1: thanks for dropping by. Yeah, of course when it comes
Speaker 1: to this season, what has this ride been like for
Speaker 1: all of you as a group come in? I know
Speaker 1: expectations are always high, but what's it been like for
Speaker 1: you guys to get to this point the next stage
Speaker 1: of the season.
Speaker 2: It's been really exciting to see what we're capable of
Speaker 2: going into what we lost. We graduated a lot of
Speaker 2: older experience people who are leaders on our team, and
Speaker 2: just like I know, our back line for examples, came
Speaker 2: in with not much experience. But to see how successful
Speaker 2: we've been and like up top, how successful we've been,
Speaker 2: I've just been exciting and has built so much confidence
Speaker 2: in our team, and I think that's.
Speaker 3: Part of our success.
Speaker 1: Has there been one thing that has surprised you about
Speaker 1: this season more than anything else? Or is it pretty
Speaker 1: much just business as usual down there for you guys,
Speaker 1: a little bit of both.
Speaker 2: It's exciting to see how many people we get on
Speaker 2: like the so soresheet each game. And I think the
Speaker 2: freshman that came in and also raised the level and
Speaker 2: brought new things to the team and that helped as well.
Speaker 1: How have you improved as a junior? How has your
Speaker 1: game evolved this season specifically?
Speaker 2: Well, I've never really played out of a three back
Speaker 2: like in club. It was always four back, and so
Speaker 2: that was a challenge having to learn how to coach
Speaker 2: that during the game, and it took a while. It
Speaker 2: wasn't easy at first, but it's now that I feel
Speaker 2: like I've gone the hang of it. I just feel
Speaker 2: like I understand the game a lot better and I've
Speaker 2: just like seen like a whole different like way of
Speaker 2: playing that I just didn't even like get experienced with before.
Speaker 1: What was the biggest adjustment for you? Just being vocal
Speaker 1: and understanding that there's going to be three in front
Speaker 1: of you instead of four. What's the dynamic there and
Speaker 1: what did you have to learn?
Speaker 2: It's just understanding like if the opponent plays with like
Speaker 2: a two front, then sometimes you have to think a
Speaker 2: little bit more defensive, and just with building out the back,
Speaker 2: like you're obviously there's one less person back there as
Speaker 2: an option, So just having to recognize that you might
Speaker 2: need to go longer and trying to find maybe your
Speaker 2: attacking mids, which is something that I feel like I
Speaker 2: could still improve on, but it's just understanding like when
Speaker 2: you need to pull people back and like who needs
Speaker 2: to come back?
Speaker 1: How would you describe your style between this sticks? How
Speaker 1: vocal are you are? You are?
Speaker 3: You?
Speaker 1: Are you literally at the top of your lungs? Are
Speaker 1: your pointing or you do it? How would you describe
Speaker 1: how you are stylistically back there?
Speaker 2: I like to think that I'm pretty like vocal and
Speaker 2: loud on the field, and I think that's surprises people
Speaker 2: because I wouldn't necessarily say I'm like that off the field.
Speaker 2: But I also think I like to play very aggressive
Speaker 2: when it terms of like coming off my line. That's
Speaker 2: always been something I've enjoyed. I enjoy like the bigger
Speaker 2: diving saves, like in the air, and so I think
Speaker 2: that's just always like influenced my decision making. I'm not
Speaker 2: like I feel like a lot of goalkeepers like corner
Speaker 2: kicks aren't the most fun thing to deal with. There's
Speaker 2: a lot of people in the box, a lot of bodies,
Speaker 2: but I've always found those to be exciting, So I
Speaker 2: feel like that's also helped with just dealing with.
Speaker 1: That when it comes on your wall, who are the
Speaker 1: we all have posters growing up. Who were the posters
Speaker 1: on your wall when it came to the sport, and
Speaker 1: who you kind of had as if you want to say,
Speaker 1: role models or folks that you might have modeled aspects
Speaker 1: of your game after Who was on your wall that
Speaker 1: you paid attention to a lot.
Speaker 2: I loved Hope Solo growing up. I love the way
Speaker 2: she played. She was so unapologetic. She sometimes walked the
Speaker 2: line between controversial and maybe made decisions that some people
Speaker 2: didn't agree with, but on the field, like she was
Speaker 2: just like insane to watch sometimes I'll still like go
Speaker 2: back and watch her highlights. I also loved Dea. I
Speaker 2: thought he was always interesting to watch because he wasn't
Speaker 2: always perfect, and that was something I noticed even as
Speaker 2: a pro, even being one of the best, He's still
Speaker 2: made mistakes and that was something that I liked to
Speaker 2: look at because it kind of helped me. Really is
Speaker 2: like Goalkeeppingk's never going to be perfect and you're never
Speaker 2: gonna make all the saves, and like, even like someone
Speaker 2: as great as him, he made mistakes and so just
Speaker 2: accepting that and learning to move on.
Speaker 1: What does it mean to you personally to have a
Speaker 1: clean sheet at the end of ninety minutes?
Speaker 2: It's huge, Coach Lewis says, if you can't they can't score, like,
Speaker 2: they can't win, and so that's always like it always
Speaker 2: makes you feel good, like you know, you didn't give
Speaker 2: up any goals, you organized your defense. Well, it's not
Speaker 2: always possible, and so sometimes you just got to realize
Speaker 2: like okay, just gotta move on. But when you do
Speaker 2: get a clean sheet, it's like reassuring like okay, you
Speaker 2: did you did things right, you had stuff organized, and
Speaker 2: it's just it's a good reassurance.
Speaker 1: Yeah, when you look at this weekend and you've had
Speaker 1: to study I'm sure bits and pieces of three teams,
Speaker 1: even though you've played one of them already fairly short
Speaker 1: notice last weekend, what study hall been like getting ready
Speaker 1: for this weekend?
Speaker 2: For me, it's kind of just like looking back at
Speaker 2: the games we played and when we played them and
Speaker 2: like realizing like what did I realize about the game,
Speaker 2: what did I recognize, what did I think I struggled with,
Speaker 2: or what caught me off guard? And then coming into
Speaker 2: the game ready for that so that I'm not like
Speaker 2: as surprised by it or I'm expecting it, And it
Speaker 2: makes it a little bit easier when you can kind
Speaker 2: of come in with a little bit more confidence and
Speaker 2: like you I wouldn't say like, I don't want to
Speaker 2: say like you know what to expect, because you never
Speaker 2: really know what to expect, but just being like able
Speaker 2: to have some knowledge and going in and be like, Okay,
Speaker 2: I'm going to improve on what maybe I I didn't
Speaker 2: do as good when we first played.
Speaker 1: Interesting that Heidi had Hope Solo and David de Haeat
Speaker 1: as those that she models her game after and had
Speaker 1: the posters on the wall. Very very cool conversation there
Speaker 1: with the junior from Swannee. Next up all turning team
Speaker 1: Sage Smith and Sage Smith. For those of you that
Speaker 1: have your programs all laid out, Sage Smith once again
Speaker 1: had as a great story, whereas number twenty four in
Speaker 1: the midfield, the senior from South forsythe High School and
Speaker 1: coming Georgia great story of perseverance to get to this
Speaker 1: particular point. Here's our conversation twenty four and yours truly. So, Sage,
Speaker 1: let me ask you this, as the pride of South
Speaker 1: Foresyth High School and being down there in Columbus, what's
Speaker 1: it been like for you this season with that with
Speaker 1: that zero in the middle column and the one in
Speaker 1: the last column where nineteen of twenty came out the
Speaker 1: way you wanted.
Speaker 3: It to, It's been great. It's been a great season
Speaker 3: so far.
Speaker 4: Obviously, getting that one tie was super hard. I consider
Speaker 4: that a loss in my mind because I just I'm
Speaker 4: very competitive as a person, so when it's not winning,
Speaker 4: it upsets me. But the season has been great and
Speaker 4: I'm so glad it's my senior year and I'm able
Speaker 4: to end with that.
Speaker 1: When it comes to your senior season, obviously, I know
Speaker 1: what the team expectation was from your perspective, but what
Speaker 1: about you and your game there at the back? What
Speaker 1: were your what was on your checklist to improve upon
Speaker 1: this season?
Speaker 4: So coming into the season, I actually had hip surgery
Speaker 4: less than a year ago, So coming into the season
Speaker 4: was super difficult because I was trying to recover and
Speaker 4: get back for the team, and so something on my
Speaker 4: checklist was to get my body right and healthy for
Speaker 4: the season.
Speaker 3: And I just really wanted to work.
Speaker 4: On connecting more passes and being better with one v
Speaker 4: one defending and getting the ball out of back distributing
Speaker 4: it well. But those were kind of my goals for
Speaker 4: this season.
Speaker 1: So how'd you do?
Speaker 4: I mean, it's been working so far. You know, I
Speaker 4: always think someone can improve on their game, but honestly,
Speaker 4: I've been pleased with my performance so far, but I
Speaker 4: always have room for improvement.
Speaker 1: Twenty matches, twenty starts. How difficult was it for you
Speaker 1: coming off of surgery, rehabbing and being active in every
Speaker 1: game this year? How difficult a process was that for you?
Speaker 4: It was extremely difficult. This past summer was really hard
Speaker 4: for me. You know, it was a lot of overcoming pain.
Speaker 4: But I was able to get myself right and mentally,
Speaker 4: I came in with a good mindset, which I think
Speaker 4: is a huge part of playing good. So that just
Speaker 4: kind of helped me gain my confidence back to where
Speaker 4: I could provide for the team.
Speaker 1: When you are being the traffic cop back there, what's
Speaker 1: it like to have that responsibility for you where you
Speaker 1: get to You're sitting there and making sure that everything
Speaker 1: defensively is the way that it's supposed to be, and
Speaker 1: that everyone's lined up the way that you want them
Speaker 1: to be. Being that quarterback back there, what's it like
Speaker 1: having that responsibility?
Speaker 4: It honestly becomes super natural to me. I think I've
Speaker 4: definitely improved on it over the years. I was really
Speaker 4: quiet my freshman and sophomore year, but honestly, it just.
Speaker 3: It became a point.
Speaker 4: To where it's like, I want to win and I
Speaker 4: want to help my teammates be as successful as they
Speaker 4: can be.
Speaker 3: So I'm going to talk to them.
Speaker 4: I'm going to make sure they know what's going on
Speaker 4: around them so we can win as a team.
Speaker 1: So, yeah, how difficult was it this season knowing everyone's
Speaker 1: gunning for you as much as they are. How would
Speaker 1: you break down how difficult this season was?
Speaker 3: It was?
Speaker 4: It was difficult, but it was you know, no, it
Speaker 4: was definitely a difficult season. I think we do a
Speaker 4: great job at just being the best versions of ourselves
Speaker 4: and respecting other teams, and we're just able to go
Speaker 4: out there play the way we play and we just
Speaker 4: we beat teams by just you know, respecting them and
Speaker 4: going out and trying our artists. But it was definitely
Speaker 4: a difficult season, but very rewarding.
Speaker 1: For someone who's never seen you play as a group
Speaker 1: this season. Someone's walking in the door for the first
Speaker 1: time this weekend down there at Columbus State. When things
Speaker 1: are going as well as you want them to go
Speaker 1: offensively and defensively. How would you describe what CSU soccer is.
Speaker 4: It's definitely a high press soccer. I think we're all
Speaker 4: very disciplined, very determined, high energy. Every single one of
Speaker 4: us works extremely hard on the field and we work
Speaker 4: really well together. We have a lot of chemistry on
Speaker 4: this team. We've all played with each other for a
Speaker 4: while and we just really work very.
Speaker 3: Well off each other.
Speaker 1: So batting third, it is Sarah Hungerford. Sarah Hungerford. Obviously,
Speaker 1: when it comes to any kind of a scouting or
Speaker 1: port involving Columbus State University, you're drawn to the junior
Speaker 1: from the Hill Richmond Hill High School and making her
Speaker 1: way from the coast to the other coast, goes west
Speaker 1: all the way and goes east. The five to one
Speaker 1: forward double digits and goals scored this season for Columbus
Speaker 1: State and head coach Jantly, and she has been hot
Speaker 1: as of late. Here's our conversation with number two Sarah
Speaker 1: Hungerford at Columbus State. Nineteen wins out of twenty. I
Speaker 1: know that you guys as a group wanted twenty wins
Speaker 1: out of twenty, But when you look back at the
Speaker 1: season to date, what has it been like to get
Speaker 1: to this point to get ready for season three the postseason?
Speaker 5: I think a lot of it has to do with
Speaker 5: the mentality and the discipline that our coaches, like from
Speaker 5: the tops of bottom day instill in us that, like
Speaker 5: previously mentioned, all of us are so disciplined, all of
Speaker 5: us are so determined, and we know that when it
Speaker 5: puts us on the field, like you have a job
Speaker 5: to do, and we all joke around that. He always says,
Speaker 5: like you're fresh. You're fresh because you step on the
Speaker 5: field like you were just standing, like you have the
Speaker 5: time to run now. And I think a lot of
Speaker 5: it getting those nineteen wins and has a lot to
Speaker 5: do with having the confidence to know that you know
Speaker 5: what you're going to do and how you're going to
Speaker 5: contribute to the team, and then the team as a
Speaker 5: whole knowing that we need to win and we're not
Speaker 5: going to let anybody else stop us from winning.
Speaker 1: But at the same time, you know everyone's gunning for you.
Speaker 1: What's it like having to balance the responsibility of knowing
Speaker 1: what you want to do versus what everyone wants to
Speaker 1: do to you.
Speaker 5: I think a lot of that has to do. I
Speaker 5: would say the same with the mentality that if you
Speaker 5: go in with a fear that like what they're going
Speaker 5: to do to me, I know personally it really affects
Speaker 5: how I play. So I just need to go in into
Speaker 5: every game understanding that this is a new game, and
Speaker 5: while I want to win, I'm going to have to
Speaker 5: manage my teammates on the field. We're gonna have to
Speaker 5: communicate with each other. And then you can't go into
Speaker 5: a game. You can't go in expecting to win because
Speaker 5: then like you're gonna play maybe not as great as
Speaker 5: you could have been. But every game's a new game
Speaker 5: and you need to go in with the tenacity to
Speaker 5: win that game. And so I think just having that
Speaker 5: mentality that, like I said, to win, but to sorry
Speaker 5: looking for the word there, you can't be afraid of
Speaker 5: who you're playing against, because if you do, you're gonna
Speaker 5: play afraid, and then when you play afraid, you open
Speaker 5: yourself up to danger of like, well, if I'm not
Speaker 5: gonna like take this good pass, or like I'm not
Speaker 5: going to take a good touch, then I might as
Speaker 5: well not take it at all. You kind of like
Speaker 5: cancel yourself out of the game, and you can't do that.
Speaker 1: There was a stretch where you put the ball in
Speaker 1: the back of the net a lot. When you look
Speaker 1: at your film of you doing that, that's wretch of
Speaker 1: Land or UCSB Monavalo or it was six and three.
Speaker 1: When you look back at that stretch of play with
Speaker 1: you in those three matches, what are some of the
Speaker 1: takeaways that you have about yourself in those games where
Speaker 1: you end up having you know, pretty much half of
Speaker 1: your your goal total in those three matches.
Speaker 5: I think when I look back at games previously, like
Speaker 5: I mentioned before, I think I was playing a little
Speaker 5: bit scared, like more conservative, that I wasn't the one
Speaker 5: who wanted to maybe get the job done. I wanted
Speaker 5: to pass it off to someone I thought could do
Speaker 5: better than me. And then during Lander, when the I
Speaker 5: started to really like tap into like how I can
Speaker 5: dribble knowing how I can play. I kind of prove
Speaker 5: to myself that I know that I'm the one who
Speaker 5: can make those like game winning goals, and I know
Speaker 5: that I kind of gave myself the confidence to go
Speaker 5: out and just keep playing like that because I know
Speaker 5: that if I can score under immense pressure like Inlander
Speaker 5: or in games like West Florid in my freshman year,
Speaker 5: I know that that shouldn't change depending on who I play,
Speaker 5: because those are two extremely tough opponents, and if I'm
Speaker 5: able to show up in those games, I should be
Speaker 5: able to show up in every game. And I think
Speaker 5: just knowing and having the confidence in myself really allowed
Speaker 5: me to start.
Speaker 3: To play like that.
Speaker 1: What's it like to look in the mirror and to
Speaker 1: be able to talk to yourself however you want to
Speaker 1: talk to yourself and go, Sarah, you know, abcde, What's
Speaker 1: it like to stare in the mirror and know that
Speaker 1: that's there within you, that you finally have tapped into it,
Speaker 1: You found it, and you've sprinted the other direction.
Speaker 2: It's funny that.
Speaker 5: You mentioned the mirror because at the beginning of the season,
Speaker 5: I wrote a list down on a whiteboard and it
Speaker 5: said that, like my goals for this season, and like,
Speaker 5: I want to be an All American, I want to
Speaker 5: score more than eight goals because I've never passed eight goals,
Speaker 5: and i just want to play the best I can.
Speaker 5: And I've feel like I've done a really good job
Speaker 5: of meeting those goals and meeting my expectations, and hopefully
Speaker 5: I can continue to do that. But another thing I
Speaker 5: did was I wrote on my mirror that I look
Speaker 5: at every day. I am not a quitter. And looking
Speaker 5: at that every day when I wake up and before
Speaker 5: I leave the house, I'm kind of reminded of what
Speaker 5: my goals are. And it doesn't just end there, like
Speaker 5: I'm not a quitter and I'm going to keep going
Speaker 5: until I can anymore.
Speaker 3: I'm not going to stop.
Speaker 1: Have you dragged other folks into that room to show
Speaker 1: them that mirror to reinforce that to them as well?
Speaker 1: Is it is it something that others get to look
Speaker 1: at too? Or is that just my mirror and I'm
Speaker 1: going to look at it myself and reinforce my own behavior.
Speaker 5: It's a it's a joke between my roommates and I
Speaker 5: because we previously had written like motivating quotes on our
Speaker 5: like shared bathroom mirror and so that we can all
Speaker 5: like look at it and you know, when you're having
Speaker 5: a hard day, seeing that, like, I'm not a quitter,
Speaker 5: it just gives you that little extra push. So it's
Speaker 5: definite not just a me thing. It's something that I
Speaker 5: want my roommates, my friends, and of course all my
Speaker 5: teammates to also like have an understanding of we are
Speaker 5: not quitters and we're going to keep pushing till the end.
Speaker 1: You know, you could take that mirror out of your
Speaker 1: you know, out of your room and you could bring
Speaker 1: it to the locker room maybe and have it hang
Speaker 1: up in the locker room or something like that.
Speaker 5: I'll take the XO marker and ride it in our
Speaker 5: locker room.
Speaker 1: There you go. What's study hall been like? Getting ready
Speaker 1: for this weekend? Three teams that are coming to town,
Speaker 1: but one you know, intimately what study hall been like?
Speaker 5: I think a lot of the study has been more
Speaker 5: personal because I have a confidence in my team that
Speaker 5: we're going to go together and no matter what opponent
Speaker 5: opponents in front in front of us, Like I said,
Speaker 5: it's going to be a new game, and teams have
Speaker 5: a tendency in the postseason to really show up because
Speaker 5: at this point, we're all like fighting for our lives.
Speaker 5: So they're not going to necessarily play the same as
Speaker 5: they did in the regular season. So even though we
Speaker 5: just played Flagler last weekend or in the beginning of
Speaker 5: the season, they could they probably will show up and
Speaker 5: play with like a new new found life in them.
Speaker 5: And so I think a lot of what my study
Speaker 5: has been is to really focus on what I can
Speaker 5: do personally and how I can contribute to the rest
Speaker 5: of my team, and kind of, just like I said earlier,
Speaker 5: focusing on ourselves a little bit, because if you start
Speaker 5: to focus too much on what the opponent's going to do,
Speaker 5: you're gonna just you might crumble a little bit because
Speaker 5: you're not prepared on what you need to do.
Speaker 1: Very very interesting and very very cool about the whiteboard
Speaker 1: and the mirror, by the way, very cool, so of
Speaker 1: course now one, two, three, number four head coach Jay Enlick,
Speaker 1: and it is a well rounded and deep conversation about
Speaker 1: everything about the difficulties of knowing that everybody is going
Speaker 1: to give you their best through the first twenty matches
Speaker 1: of the year, what it's like to have this kind
Speaker 1: of a standard continue, and as we mentioned before, the schedule.
Speaker 1: So here's our conversation with head coach of Columbus State.
Speaker 1: So what has study Hall been getting been like getting
Speaker 1: ready for this group coming to town?
Speaker 6: Oh gosh, Frans Marin is a darn good team. Sam
Speaker 6: Holmes is a terrific coach. I mean for a guy
Speaker 6: to take over a team that I think only won
Speaker 6: maybe two or.
Speaker 3: Three games two years ago, he does incredible things.
Speaker 6: He was a head coach at Limestone Guys Team nca
Speaker 6: tournament several times, and for him to go into Francis
Speaker 6: Marion within two years and get himself an NCAA bid.
Speaker 6: So I know they're going to be well prepared, well coached,
Speaker 6: and it's going to be a challenge. I tell people, Johnny,
Speaker 6: eight teams in our region all have the ability to
Speaker 6: win the region championship this year.
Speaker 1: Seventeenth n CUAA tournament appearance for the program. What makes
Speaker 1: this one different than the others?
Speaker 6: You know, I think everything is different because it's a
Speaker 6: new group, and I think it's an awesome experience for
Speaker 6: some of our younger players that haven't been there, or
Speaker 6: it's a different experience for maybe.
Speaker 3: Players that last year.
Speaker 6: I don't want to be rude, but they watched from
Speaker 6: the bench and maybe didn't get the opportunity to get
Speaker 6: the minutes that they felt like they deserved.
Speaker 3: And so I think the coolest.
Speaker 6: Thing this year is we have so many new players
Speaker 6: that have different roles. You can start in the back
Speaker 6: with a goalkeeper who wasn't heavily involved last year in
Speaker 6: our run to the NCAA tournament, and now she's been
Speaker 6: a starter defensive Player of the Year in a conference.
Speaker 3: It's awesome. You've got a left back.
Speaker 6: That didn't play a single minute in our first two
Speaker 6: years at left back, was used promptly as like a
Speaker 6: left winger, and here she is now playing almost ninety
Speaker 6: minutes a game. You got a right back that is
Speaker 6: coming off of three back to back to back acls
Speaker 6: and she has been arguably our best overall most complete
Speaker 6: player from start to finish this year.
Speaker 3: So those are some of the cool stories we have.
Speaker 6: And I love the fact you got a kid in
Speaker 6: Vanessa Vilas who played for US for a year and
Speaker 6: a half, followed her family out to California, decided not
Speaker 6: to play, and then all of a sudden goes, I
Speaker 6: want to come back to Columbus State. Okay, doors always
Speaker 6: open comes back, kids score with the winning penalty kick
Speaker 6: in the tournament championship game the other day and against
Speaker 6: tournament MVP on hers So there's so many different storylines
Speaker 6: this year.
Speaker 3: John, I think that's really the coolest thing.
Speaker 1: With this group assembling to where they are position wise,
Speaker 1: response ability wise, did you and the staff have an
Speaker 1: aha moment of Okay, yeah, this group is going to
Speaker 1: be We're going to be fine. Or was it something
Speaker 1: that developed over time and then it was like, Okay,
Speaker 1: we've hit a marker. We know we'll be okay. Was
Speaker 1: there an AHA moment or was it gradual?
Speaker 3: Uh?
Speaker 6: You know, I think it really started last spring when
Speaker 6: we started to realize some of the kids that maybe
Speaker 6: weren't getting the minutes that they desired their first couple
Speaker 6: of years in the program and as sophomores in their
Speaker 6: spring season going down the University of Florida and tying
Speaker 6: University of Florida zero and zero, going up to Division
Speaker 6: one Georgia State in Atlanta and tying one one, going
Speaker 6: you know, to Troy University and tying beating Kennesaw State
Speaker 6: four to one, And so I think it really all
Speaker 6: started in the spring to go okay, Yeah, every year
Speaker 6: colleges graduate out players.
Speaker 3: They do. But it's our job and our responsibility.
Speaker 6: Is as educators, mentors and coaches to build up kids
Speaker 6: and develop them into roles that as soon as there's graduation,
Speaker 6: there's no looking back and they just jump on the
Speaker 6: pitch and they're equally, if not better than some of
Speaker 6: the kids that were here last year. And that's been
Speaker 6: an awesome experience for us.
Speaker 1: This may sound like a very very basic question. How
Speaker 1: difficult is it to win nineteen out of twenty and
Speaker 1: not lose in that whole stretch this season? How hard
Speaker 1: is that to accomplish?
Speaker 6: Well, it's really funny you say that, John's I just
Speaker 6: got off the phone with our tennis coach, Evan Isaacs,
Speaker 6: who year in and year out, the guy wins, and
Speaker 6: I think people take it for granted. I think people
Speaker 6: look at it and go, ah, winning's easy, John, winning
Speaker 6: is so hard, and people don't realize, like, as I
Speaker 6: was talking to Evan earlier, like you can outshoot a
Speaker 6: team thirty five to one like we did in twenty
Speaker 6: eighteen and lose one nothing. And so I think a
Speaker 6: lot of things have to fall into place. I think
Speaker 6: things have to go your way. I truly don't believe
Speaker 6: in luck. I think you create your own luck, but
Speaker 6: I do look at things and go you know, we
Speaker 6: have had a successful campaign and I'm super proud of
Speaker 6: these young ladies. And I tell people every day, I've
Speaker 6: never scored a goal for Columbus State. I've never had
Speaker 6: an assist for Columbus State. I've never blocked the shop.
Speaker 6: And so all the credit goes to the players because
Speaker 6: they're the ones that are.
Speaker 3: Getting it done. And so super proud of this group.
Speaker 6: They believe in each other, They truly are boughting bought
Speaker 6: into the team first mentality, and heck.
Speaker 3: I'm just super proud to be a part of this organization.
Speaker 3: It's been awesome.
Speaker 1: What did you learn about yourself as a coach this year?
Speaker 1: Knowing everything that you've accomplished, knowing you're not done obviously,
Speaker 1: but going to this particular or point, what did you
Speaker 1: learn about yourself as a coach?
Speaker 6: You know, I think the biggest thing is just greatness
Speaker 6: is achieved through humility and serving. And I truly feel
Speaker 6: that we as coaches need to remember to be humble.
Speaker 3: We need to remember that we're here to serve and
Speaker 3: we're here.
Speaker 6: To be mentors, be role models, be educators and teach
Speaker 6: and find solutions. And so I tell people all the time,
Speaker 6: you know, as coaches, it's our job to.
Speaker 3: Eat problems for breakfast and poop out answers for lunch.
Speaker 6: Say it over and over. Everything in life, John is
Speaker 6: solution based. And we got to stop pointing fingers. We've
Speaker 6: got to stop making excuses. And honestly, John, we got
Speaker 6: to We've got to start to find solutions and make
Speaker 6: sure that our players are put in positions to be
Speaker 6: successful and give them the processes and processes to to
Speaker 6: get the job done.
Speaker 1: So then when it comes to having breakfast and you
Speaker 1: have to have three separate meals, not knowing what your
Speaker 1: next meal is going to be like if you advance
Speaker 1: past the first meal, what's it like having three separate meals,
Speaker 1: getting ready for a weekend, not knowing what the table
Speaker 1: setting is going to look like after your first match.
Speaker 3: It is one of the hardest things, you know.
Speaker 6: I look at you know, men's college basketball and how
Speaker 6: they do their regionals and they do their NCAA, and
Speaker 6: you know, it's so tricky because you don't have time
Speaker 6: to really really prep for the next opponent, unlike some
Speaker 6: other sports, like a football, you know, the football wouldn't
Speaker 6: dare play a Friday Sunday schedule, you know, And so
Speaker 6: I think sometimes soccer gets it wrong when it comes
Speaker 6: to setting up these regionals where you have to play
Speaker 6: a back to back less than forty eight hours.
Speaker 3: And I hope at some point soccer.
Speaker 6: Will get it right, and they're starting now in some
Speaker 6: of the Division one weekends, some of the Division two
Speaker 6: weekends where it's just a one game weekend. So again,
Speaker 6: if we could be successful on Friday, yes, we have
Speaker 6: to turn around and compete on Sunday less.
Speaker 3: Than forty eight hours later. That's going to be tricky.
Speaker 3: That is super, super tough.
Speaker 6: However, then it's a one game on December first, so
Speaker 6: you have a full week to prep. And then it's
Speaker 6: a one game the Elite eight on December seventh, So
Speaker 6: that's reasonable. Giving a team a full week to prep,
Speaker 6: I think is reasonable. But then you go back to
Speaker 6: the Final four and go, okay, let's play two games
Speaker 6: within forty eight hours and not give proper rest to
Speaker 6: the student athletes and not give proper prep time.
Speaker 3: To the coaches.
Speaker 6: And that's where I think the NCAA is going to
Speaker 6: take a much harder look at how soccer is set
Speaker 6: up and honestly, how basketball is set up. I think
Speaker 6: they're doing basketball and justice as well.
Speaker 1: Last question for you, because I know you're kind of
Speaker 1: busy when it comes to these teams in this particular
Speaker 1: preparation that you're you're getting ready for. For someone who
Speaker 1: is walking in the door for the first time, they
Speaker 1: haven't seen you play this year. They haven't seen the
Speaker 1: other teams come into town this weekend to play. What
Speaker 1: should folks expect walking in the door When I mentioned
Speaker 1: CSU soccer, what should folks anticipate walking into the door.
Speaker 3: You know, I think they're going to see us compete.
Speaker 6: I think they're going to see us, you know, go
Speaker 6: to the bench and use multiple players and multiple situations.
Speaker 6: I like to tell people we want to score goals,
Speaker 6: we want to go forward. We almost every session we
Speaker 6: do as an attacking minded session, and you know, I
Speaker 6: think we lead the country and I think we scored
Speaker 6: over ninety goals less than twenty games. And we want
Speaker 6: to score goals. We want to go forward, we want
Speaker 6: to put points on the board, and you know, we
Speaker 6: love to attack. We love to get corners, we we
Speaker 6: thrive on balls in the box. And uh, you know,
Speaker 6: ultimately I love coaching attacking soccer. I think that's what
Speaker 6: drives me. I love trying to finallys to score goals.
Speaker 6: And I'm not the guy that's going to play prevent defense.
Speaker 6: I'm not the guy that's going to bunker, encounter park
Speaker 6: the bus that's just not in my DNA and so
Speaker 6: and sometimes do a fault. You know, I've been known
Speaker 6: to lose games because I don't play too defensive, but
Speaker 6: I think that's it. Come watch us play, Come watch
Speaker 6: us go forward, Watch let's let's attack, watch us combine,
Speaker 6: watch us urble, penetrate, and hopefully watch us score goals.
Speaker 6: I say that, I mean we only score one goal
Speaker 6: on Someday. Credit to Flagler because they defended their tail.
Speaker 1: As promised once again. Go to CSU cougars dot com
Speaker 1: get all the information that you need when it comes
Speaker 1: to the matches on the weekend. Starting Friday at noon,
Speaker 1: go into the women's soccer section. Click on the tab
Speaker 1: that says twenty twenty four Women's Soccer Regional. That will
Speaker 1: give you all the information that you need with Columbus State,
Speaker 1: Kataba Flagler and Francis Marion the one, the four, the five,
Speaker 1: and the eight noon on Friday, Kataba and Flagler three
Speaker 1: o'clock on Friday, Columbus State hosting Francis Marion the Winners
Speaker 1: three o'clock Sunday afternoon. To determine who moves on in
Speaker 1: the NCAA Division two tournament for twenty twenty four interactive brackets.
Speaker 1: All of that information you go to c ISSU Cougars
Speaker 1: dot com. You can also go to NCAA Sports dot com.
Speaker 1: Everything at the Walden Soccer Complex in Columbus, Georgia. The
Speaker 1: Southeast Regional Number two is hosted by Lenore Ryne up
Speaker 1: in Hickory, North Carolina. You have to purchase your tickets online.
Speaker 1: Park is available the Walden Soccer Complex. Lot three on
Speaker 1: the CSU campus is serving as overflow parking once again.
Speaker 1: CSU Cougars dot com. Go on the Women's soccer section,
Speaker 1: click on the tab twenty twenty four Women's Soccer Regional
Speaker 1: That gives you all the information that you need when
Speaker 1: it comes to activity this weekend on the CSU campus.
Speaker 1: Thanks to everybody there at CSU and Columbus State for
Speaker 1: letting us kind of sit down and have some really
Speaker 1: cool conversations as they get ready to make another deep
Speaker 1: run in the postseason. So for everybody here at SDH,
Speaker 1: I'm John Nelson, Thanks for dropping by. That is your
Speaker 1: pre tournament look at the CSU Cougars as they chase
Speaker 1: after a title in women's soccer and Division two. Play safe, everybody,
Speaker 1: enjoy the games.