Thursday, September 27, 2001

Soccer team faces top-ranked SMU
Mustangs likely to take advantage of mistakes, coach says
By Brandon Ortiz
Sports Editor

After 67 scoreless minutes, forward Doak VanEnk scored from 15 yards out to beat the Metroplex-rival Southern Methodist for the first time in school TCU history. The win ended 31 games of futility.

The year was 1999, but the Frogs (2-3-1, 1-0 Conference USA) will employ the same strategy they did two years ago against the Mustangs, the No. 1 ranked team in the country. The Ponies have dominated the Frogs in the past, posting a 31-1 lifetime edge over TCU.

The two play at 5 p.m. today at Garvey-Rosenthal Soccer Stadium.

file photo Forward Doak VanEnk goes after the ball against Southern Methodist Oct. 17, 1999. VanEnk scored the game winning goal to lead the Frogs to victory over SMU for the first time in school history.

To beat the Mustangs, the Frogs will have to keep the score low against a team averaging 4.2 goals a game, associate head coach Blake Amos said.

“We have to be in the game a long time,” Amos said. “If they come out and score a lot of goals in the opening minutes, my concern is our guys will lose interest. SMU has proven if they smell blood, it is going to be a long day. The moment our heads droop, they will kill us.”

Beating SMU will be no easy task. The Mustangs are ranked No.1 by the National Soccer Coaches’ Association of America and Soccer America. Amos said playing fundamentally-sound soccer will be more important against the Mustangs than any other team.

SMU is more likely to take advantage of mistakes, he said.

“Our ideas is to limit our mistakes,” Amos said. “They will punish you. We can’t be our own enemies.”

Stopping SMU forward/midfielder Luchi Gonzalez and midfielder Diego Walsh will be a top priority. Gonzalez leads the NCAA in points and has 10 goals and five assists.

Walsh is tied for 16th in the nation in points, with 2.5 points a game.

“The main thing is we have to stop their two stars,” junior midfielder Nick Browne said. “We have to defend well.”

Defense will be the key, Amos said. The Frogs are averaging one goal a game, even though they have out-shot their competition 33-26 for the season.

Overpowering the Southern Methodist defense, which allows less than a goal a game, is not going to happen, Amos said.

“We don’t have the goal scoring they have,” Amos said. “It is not legitimate to say we are going to go out and score a lot of goals.”

Brandon Ortiz
b.p.ortiz@student.tcu.edu