Congrats to recruits Amy Berend and Ashlee Pistorius for being named in today's Parade.

Great!

Both of those girls will be awesome and come in and play right away. We're set for years at forward with Pistorious and Krambeer. I saw flashes of brilliance with Kat and I think she will really come into her own next season and I think Pistorious, with her size and skill, will come in and dominate right away. I think both of them will be starting by the end of next season. Strutz will be hard to replace, but we're set everywhere else.
Next year's team will be as talented as any we've ever had -- let's see what G can do with them.

[This message has been edited by jkb (edited 5/10/2004 6:26p).]

They've got a great environment to improve their status. Good luck ladies.

Don't forget Melissa Garey!

Will Ashlee Pistorious start over Emma Smith? Whatever happened to Linsey Johnson/Woodard? It sure would be nice to have her back.

Woodard is probably gone forever. She left the team for personal reasons, I think because she was getting married and wanted to be w/ her family and such. But I think we'll be alright and best of luck to her in the future.

Let's not give the National Championship to our team as of yet. Many high school All Americans have failed at the collegiate level. Will Ashlee start over Emma +/or Kat? She better, the team has to have more production from their forwards than they did a year ago.

If Ashlee is all that she is built up to be, she will start from day 1. Remember that Kat came in very highly touted but took a while to adjust to the college game. She played well in spurts and definitely showed that she has a ton of potential. As far as Emma goes, she is a pretty one-dimensional player. Earlier in her career, she was able to simply outrun opponents, but she has lost a step. This is fairly normal for a female college athlete (to gain weight and lose quickness as their bodies mature and as they lift heavy weights for the first time), but it affects her even more, since speed was 95% of her game. Most athletes compensate for the natural deterioration of their physical abilities by becoming smarter, savvier players. Emma has not really improved that rough first touch she has and still relies on being able to simply outrun her opponents to the goal or depends on good balls from the midfield. The problem with this is that when you play top defenses, they are going to have defenders just as fast as Emma is. Kat has shown that she has the ability to create her own shot, which is important at time like last year when our midfield play was very inconsistent in stretches and had a hard time giving the strikers good feeds. The coaches seem to have tried to work really hard with Emma and have kept her on the field to make her a better all-around player because her physical gifts (size and speed) are so great that she has what appears to be a lot of untapped potential. Sometimes because of other factors, whether it be lack of dedication or simply the inability to really grasp the mental and strategic part of the game, those gifts are enough to make a player good but not great (remember Toya Jones on the football team in the late '90s?). Had Linsey Woodard remained on the team, I imagine Emma would have shared time with the other forwards in more of a support role. Now that we once again have other viable options at forward, I'm curious to see how it plays out.

With that having been said, I think that Emma will make an excellent sub (much like she did her freshman year) and come in and provide a burst of energy and offense when we are bogged down and need to change the pace up. I hope she proves me wrong and shows up as a more complete player next season. I guess we'll see in the Fall.

Harry,

You analysis is very good. I agree.

Your right. Emma and a lot of untapped potential. Problem is she's a senior who will probably finish her eligibity with a lot of untapped potential. I've seen enough of her - time to move on.

I totally agree -- Emma's one "move" is a sprint to the corner and then a sharp cut back in towards the goal once she has beat the defender. Now that she has gained weight and slowed down, defenses know that she has no "one-on-one" moves to speak of, they just play off of her and force her to the outside. I don't know how many times she tried to make a run, was forced to the corner, and either made a bad pass or gave the ball up.

Lets see what some of these freshman have got.

She's still frickin' hot.

I tried to put a photo in but I can't get it right

[This message has been edited by LadyAg05 (edited 5/26/2004 8:52p).]

this one

???

[Disrespectful remark edited out. -- Staff]

What a joke -- I'm not allowed to have an opinion?

[This message has been edited by jkb (edited 5/27/2004 5:26p).]

dude, you're an *******.

Lindsey Johnson/Woodard

Does anyone know where she is? Is she still at Aggieland? Did she transfer or drop out of college completely? Is she playing soccer anywhere - college or otherwise?

She was an awesome player. One of the best we ever had.

And what happened to DB Martha Moore of the Mexican national team? She quit early (before her senior year) also.

Linsey didn't see eye to eye with the coaching staff and subsequently decided to give all of her time to her husband and school. She was the missing ingredient to last years team. Suspect had she been playing that the Ags would have won their 5th Big 12 Championship. Woodard was an incredible competitor, superb athlete, and a gamer.

See could score goals!!!

Yes, we would have been much better off with her last year.

As far as I can remember, she was not that highly recruited but became a dominant force early in her career.

I wish her the best. She gave A&M a lot of effort that proved very successful to our soccer program. She is a WINNER!

Winners don't quit. So, in that category, she falls way short. She left her team hanging and that overshadows everything else.

With the firepower coming into Aggieland, it would be great if those great scorers of the past were just fond memories.

In 2004 and Beyond:
Garey = Goals
Pistorius = Goals
Carmichael & Burke = Goals on corner kicks
Kat & Emma = Speed
Kati Jo = Shutouts!

I wouldn't be so fast to question Emma's work ethic or understanding of the game. She is a pretty good friend of mine and I can tell you she has one of the best work ethics I have ever seen. Yes, she relies primarily on her speed, which may not be enough for her anymore, but I know she is working hard to improve her game going into the last season of her career. With the recruiting class that is coming in she may see less playing time, but that doesn't mean she won't be working hard every day to improve. Forgive me for being one-sided, I just needed to stand up for a friend.

I'm looking forward to Emma's mentoring the younger girls, on and off the field. She's a smart girl and a fierce competitor whose savvy analysis and game experience can help the new fish escape newbie mistakes.

You're right. Emma can be a great mentor for the young players.

Personally I hope she breaks through and scores on more of the chances she creates in 2004.

I realize that the new players are very talented, but doubt if any are faster than Emma.

Having options like Emma, Kat, Pistorious, and Echavarry on the forward line is good news for the Ags.

I think Emma has a much greater impact than most believe.

I have no idea about playing time for this coming season. She will definitely provide a strong foundation for the younger players to follow.

Outside of the team. Emma is very popular with the younger kids (future aggie soccer players). My daugter wears here number. I suspect she provides a similar role model to quite a few younger players. The positive role model she provides for the younger kids is far more important than any goal she would score.

He's to a breakout year for Emma and the Aggies!

Coop, You are right. Her speed takes away the defense's top defender.