2012 WKU Soccer
Sun Belt Conference Tournament Preview Press Conference
Oct. 29, 2012
Head Coach Jason Neidell
Opening Statement...
"I think from the outside looking in, we are looking pretty good right now. People would have been surprised that we had more than a ten-win season looking into our soccer program at the beginning after some big losses personnel wise from last season. We have proven that we can play with the best and are excited about the prospects of going into the tournament on Wednesday against Arkansas State. "
On Arkansas State...
"The thing that makes them the toughest is two things, first is they are a much improved team. They are having the best season they have had in the history of their program. That brings me to the second thing in that we have to convince our kids to take them seriously because we are 12-0-1 against Arkansas State all-time. It makes it challenging to motivate our kids and make sure our kids know this is a difficult game for us and we will have to come out and play some of our best soccer of the season for us to win.
On having already beaten Arkansas State 2-0 and that giving them a possibly psychological advantage...
"I think it makes it harder, rather than easier. If you look at the course of our season, we beat North Texas 2-0, big rivalry. We went to MTSU and tied MTSU. That's a team that had a chance to win the league (outright), we tied them 1-1. Then you look at the times we stubbed our toe. We went to Louisiana-Lafayette and tied 1-1. We stubbed our toe at home against Troy, 1-1. It is those games that we think we are supposed to win that give us the most difficulty. I would almost have almost rather lost to Arkansas State during the regular season to get our players' attention. I think that is going to be the biggest challenge for us, to make sure we are ready for the opening game on Wednesday."
On the difficult end to the schedule playing North Texas and Middle Tennessee...
"Not only have we played some of the tough teams at the end of the schedule, but we have been fortunate to have one-game weekends. It has allowed players like Amanda Buechel to have some extra recovery time going into the tournament."
On Amanda Buechel...
"We do have our secret weapon here in Amanda Buechel. Every year that she has played, she has been part of some type of championship or championship game. In 2007, we won the regular season championship. In her other two years playing, we reached the (tournament) championship game. She is our good luck charm in some ways."
Senior Amanda Buechel
"I started in Mobile, so to end it in Mobile with a championship would be the best thing. It is going to be a tough journey. It always is. Every time you go into a conference tournament, it doesn't matter who you are playing, everyone is out to get a championship... Everyone shows a different side of themselves in the tournament."
