Texas A&M soccer travels to No. 5 Tennessee for Friday match

Key notes from G Guerrieri interview

• We’re outplaying good teams in key elements. We outshot Arkansas, 10-4. We hold them to one shot in the second half. The bottom line is we’re not capitalizing on our chances. They blocked six of our shots.
   
• We have 11 new starters this year, and things can’t happen that fast enough sometimes, but you see the development going from game to game in the things we’re able to do. Our defense has been rock solid.
   
• In the game on Thursday, Maysen Veronda had a great game. It wasn’t like that she was swinging from the crossbar. She was making all the right decisions that she needed to make, keeping us absolutely in the game. We had chances late that we didn’t slip someone through. It’s the last little ball that comes through. It’s happening so quickly that you have enough reps with your teammates. It’s just the way that it is.
   
• Two of our big-time attacking pieces got here in the summer. They’re getting on the same page. It was the same way at the start of the spring with all these new players, and by the end of the spring, we were clicking, so that’s positive in where we are going. We’re playing against top 10 teams week after week. It raises our level. We’re able to play nose-to-nose with these teams. If things go against you, they’ll turn around if you keep working and keep plugging.
   
• This is not a team of quitters, but a team of high-character individuals who work hard to get it done. We have to keep plugging away, make some little adjustments to the way that we balance and technically go through things. Those balls will go through the net.
   
• We’re used to being at the top of the heap in the SEC. We’re not used to being in the bottom of the half, but that said, with one win, we jump eight teams in the standings, and we put ourselves back in the mix. We need a top 50 win for our NCAA resume. Well, that’s what this game in Knoxville has. It’s a skin that we can go out and try to get.
   
• That’s why we’re at Texas A&M. That’s why we have won 18 conference championships, because that is our expectation. I am enthused by the effort and the intensity.
   
• Tennessee was No. 1 in the nation until the lost to Mississippi State. Their top scorers are down due to injuries. They’re a little bit susceptible. They had a big 2-1 win against LSU on Sunday, but LSU created chances, and I think we can do the same and maybe get something out of it.