Guerrieri recaps UConn win in front of second-largest crowd in history

On Saturday night, Texas A&M soccer took care of business, beating UConn in front of the second-largest crowd in Ellis Field history. Head coach G Guerrieri joined TexAgs Live to share his thoughts on the showing and outline his expectations, facing Denver on Thursday.

Key notes from G Guerrieri interview

• It's good to be back. I sent the rest of my staff the last few weeks, but that was important because we have so much new in our program right now. That has been good, and you're seeing the fruits of it right now because we're undefeated through four games. The assistants all said coming over to TexAgs was legit because it's like a SportsCenter-type set. It has been fun for them.
   
• I think a lot of people have been enthusiastic about the way we've been defending, which was a concerted effort for us to change. The culture of the team is strong, and Tim Strader has done a great job with that. All three of the assistants have been key in our recalibration. We've been the most successful program in Texas, but we had taken a dip. All of a sudden, people were out with shovels to bury us, but this group of players has stepped up and been resilient. We're not giving stuff away like we have in the past.
   
• We're more fit. The foundation of our game is: Can you run? Can you stick with people? Last year against Denver, that was an "uh oh" moment because they ran us into the ground, and we lost 3-2. Our new strength and conditioning coach has had a lot put on him, but we want to be able to run opponents to death.
   
• Strader has added a maniacal defending to what we do.
   
• Saturday night was the second biggest crowd in Texas A&M soccer history, and we had over 7,000 people at Ellis Field, and we only seat 2,400 comfortably. It was rowdy and raucous.
   
• Our passing vs. UConn was super. We had an unfortunate goal against us, but we didn't sink. We refocused. We took it to a good UConn team that beat us 6-0 last year. It adds to the belief that the players have in themselves.
   
• Can we use our humidity to our benefit? Things like that can be a dagger to teams coming in here. With classes starting yesterday, today will be the first time we'll train in the middle of the afternoon. We had been training in the morning and later afternoon. This is the next step of ramping up our heat acclimation. We have been playing 7:30 p.m. kick-offs, and that's to cool it off for the fans. Once the sun hits the horizon, it's pleasant and a great setting at Ellis Field.
   
• Taylor Jernigan is a wonderful person from a great family. She is a great example of putting in the work and getting the output you want. She was the best player in San Antonio, and sometimes, when you're the best in your environment, you don't know how good you can be. She's a great leader, and she has taken a lot of intangibles into account. This weekend was her best performance, and it's tied to the fitness and mentality of pounding her opponents. Hats off to her.
   
• Kaylee Noble had probably her best performance on Saturday night, and that's part of understanding the environment you're in and taking off any shackles you might have in order to be at your best.
   
• Strader deserves a lot of credit for our defense. It's not just our back four. It's the whole team because we defend from the front. It's us being more physical and touch-tight. If you're not making a threat to the person on the ball, then there is no pressure on them. We want physical and psychological pressure on every person we play. If there is a mistake, we want to capitalize on it.
   
• Denver was a game where we thought we were in trouble last year because we weren't fit enough. You can't get fit in two weeks. You have to put a lot of time and focus into everything. DU is well-coached. Their coach, Julianne Sitch, won a national championship as a Division III men's coach, and you don't often see women getting to be the head coach of a men's team, let alone win national championships. Denver has always been at the top of the Summit League, but now they're in a special championship mode. They are no pushover, and they're undefeated. This will be their home opener, and it's a doubleheader with their men's team, which is ranked No. 4 in the country. It's a potential snake pit for us, and these are the challenges that we need. Part of the belief we need our players to have in themselves is knowing they can overcome difficult circumstances. They've done it so far.