THE NEXT STEP FORWARD

REACHING THE NCAA TOURNAMENT 10 times in the past 13 years may earn applause for some programs, but for Texas soccer, the fans and university officials expect much more. After losing in the first ….

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round of the tournament – again – Texas made some changes to boast soccer’s level of success. Texas hired Angela Kelly away from Tennessee who immediately took the Longhorns … well, by the horns. Kelly brings a new level of enthusiasm to the 40 Acres, and with her at the helm, Texas expects to take the next step forward this fall. Kelly replaces Chris Petrucelli, who took a new assignment within the department following his 13 years as the Longhorns’ head coach.

“Our goal is to consistently compete on an elite level — meaning conference and national championships,” women’s athletic director Chris Plonsky said as Petrucelli stepped down. “Recently, we haven’t had the consistency and performance in order to achieve that goal.”

For all the promise Petrucelli brought with him into Austin, a national title remained unattainable. The Longhorns haven’t won an NCAA tournament game since 2008 or a major trophy since they won the Big 12 Tournament in 2007. Under Petrucelli, Texas won the conference title once, and never looked like serious College Cup contenders. Over the last 12 years at Rocky Top, Kelly built the Lady Vols into a national contender. “I’m excited to become a part of the winning tradition here at Texas,” Kelly said.

“Our first priority is the investment into every single student-athlete’s development, in the classroom, on the field and most importantly as a young lady.” Plonsky said Kelly possesses a pedigree in women’s soccer that players, coaches and the community respects. “I love Angela’s hunger to win, her presence and energy,” Plonsky said. “She has focus on developing elite female student-athletes into champions, personally and competitively.” The Longhorns went 11-9-1 in 2011 in an injury-filled campaign that saw them post a 1-6-1 record against teams that made it to the NCAA tournament. Kelly’s first team at Texas will be a blend of youth and experience, with each player hungry for more success.

A handful of Texas’ top players — including NSCAA All-Central Region Third Team goalkeeper Alexa Gaul and midfielder Lexi Harris, second team All-Big 12 defender Nina Frausing Pedersen and midfielder Clarissa Wedemeyer — left the team when Kelly replaced Petrucelli. Texas will feel Gaul’s absence the most. The senior played in goal for all but 21 of the 1,968 minutes that the Longhorns played last season. This equates to less than one-fourth of one game. Harris (eight points and four goals) spurred the Texas offense and Pedersen helped the Longhorns defense post a 1.10 goals-against average and six shutouts. Wedemeyer was a key reserve. Only two of their top-five scorers — forward Hannah Higgins and midfielder Kristin Cummins — return for the 2012 season. Higgins was a second-team All Big-12 honoree in 2011 and started all 21 matches for Texas. She’s the Longhorns’ leading returning scorer with 14 points on three goals and eight assists. Cummins recorded five goals and 10 points in 21 games. The returning Longhorns scored just 34.4 percent of the team’s goals in 2011.

In all, five upperclassmen appear on the 2012 roster: Higgins, Cummins, midfielder Kara Hoffmans, as well as forwards Gabby Zarnegar and Brenda Saucedo. Higgins says the seniors will have a big impact on the team’s attitude, especially during the first part of the season. “From day one, our goal as veterans is to get the team on board and bring everyone together as a family,” she added. “This is a close team and I think the cohesion will be evident on the field.” Hoffman lauded the difference in mentality in this year’s team as compared to years past. “Everyone stayed here during the summer and worked hard every day,” Hoffman said. “You can tell how close the team is already, and much of that has to do with the family-oriented style and accountability Coach Kelly brought to Texas.”

Texas also signed seven players in the offseason, including goalkeeper Abby Smith and forward Kelsey Shimmick. The two made the Top Drawer Soccer Top 100 and the ESPNHS Top 150. Smith plays on the U-20 Women’s National Team which won the FIFA 2010 U-20 Women’s World Cup in Japan, Sept. 8. Kelly also reached into Canada to land sisters Chantale and Emilie Campbell. The Campbells served as two key members of the Canadian national team that won the gold medal at the 2010 U-17 CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying Tournament in Costa Rica. Chantale scored the gamewinning goal during a penalty shootout to eliminate the United States and send Canada to the U-17 World Cup. TopDrawerSoccer.com ranked Texas’ sevenmember recruiting class among their top 20.

The Longhorns will employ a philosophy that keeps everyone on the same page. “We know that it’s not easy to win championships,” Kelly said. “We can’t take anything for granted. We need to remember to train as hard as possible — to make yourself and your teammates better.” Kelly wants her players to think of themselves as a single unit, about the team first and about the team before they think of themselves. “It’s about playing as attractive as you can while still putting the ball in the back of the net,” she added. “We’re going to keep the ball and use a lot of movement off the ball. We’re going to attack when it’s on. We’re going to spread the field and switch the point when we need to. We’re going to have numbers and be tenacious on the defense side of the ball. We’re going to outwork our opponent.”

Texas will play 18 matches in the 2012 season, including 11 contests at home. The regular season kicked off at home on Aug. 17, where the Longhorns prevailed over Dayton 3-2 in overtime. The victory marked Kelly’s sixth consecutive win in season-openers. Looking ahead to the rest of the 2012 season, five of Texas’ first six matches are at home and eight of their opponents advanced to the NCAA Tournament last season, including including Big 12 conference foes Oklahoma State, Kansas, Baylor and West Virginia.

To prepare, the team went through a vigorous and focused offseason under Kelly and her new assistant coaches Keeley Dowling, Jaimel Johnson and Robert Boyle. “We needed to build trust within the team and become a team,” Kelly said about the spring workouts. “It was incredibly rewarding when the girls referenced themselves as teammates in a genuine sense. They showed their commitment to working hard and competing as individuals, but yet always moving towards a common goal. It’s becoming real.”

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