Piper takes drastic measures after 'most embarrassing' loss

With last year's 2-0 loss to Angelo State in the Lone Star Conference quarterfinals fresh on his mind, women's soccer Head Coach Neil Piper has taken a major step to ensure that history does not repeat itself this season by completely changing how his team works.

"I can't emphasize enough, we're just completely different," Piper said. "Not one thing's the same, and we worked all spring. "

Piper puts this down to two reasons. First, Chelsey Haight has graduated, meaning this is the second year in a row the team has lost their leading scorer after Meagan Lasley's eligibility ended the year before. The second reason was the LSC tournament loss last year, which Piper calls the "worst performance a team has ever played under me."

"That's probably the biggest embarrassment of my coaching career, and it was basically a foreshadow of life without Chelsey up front," Piper said. "I knew we had to change if we were to survive. "

A recruitment class of 10 players has given Piper time to tinker and work out just where the goals are going to come from in this new-look Lions squad. He said a few of the new players, including sophomore goalkeeper Tracey Rogers, have been out with injuries during the preseason, but he also said three or four players' performances have been impressive over the past few weeks.

One player that could produce from the start is freshman Alondra Flores. The Fort Worth native's 60 goals in her high school career, including 25 as a senior, set a program record for Trimble Tech HS.

"I think once everyone gets in shape, they'll provide some good depth for us," Piper said. "I expect three or four of the freshmen to start. They're all terrific players. As far as scoring goes, I think we're going to get scoring from a lot of different people".

The hope is to combine the new talent with the established leaders on the team. Last season's second-leading scorer on the team, senior Devon Herrman, returns to a midfield line-up that will also include senior Jordan McCarty, who has four goals in two scrimmages this preseason. Piper said he expects McCarty will get plenty of goals in the upcoming season, and she seems up for it.

"Obviously, I'd love to win a conference tournament; we haven't been able to experience that as a team," McCarty said. "I definitely think we've got the potential to win the conference tournament, if not more. I think we have the players to do it and the motivation to do it, so I'd like to see [the team] continually getting better and being able to reach our ultimate goal."

Piper has also had to shuffle players around at the back, as defensive leader and team captain Megan Monroe has graduated. The obvious replacement for defensive leader, senior Evan Stanberry, will be operating more in the midfield this season, according to Piper. This leaves a back-four consisting of three sophomores and one freshman, but Stanberry said she has faith in the personnel tasked with stopping the opposition.

"We've got other players like Brionna [Minde] stepping up and being the voice of the back," Stanberry said. "She's in the center, can see everything, and she's really stepped up to fill those shoes well. I think she'll create very good defense and communication back there. It's hard to be all the way on the right and help them throughout the back, because they're all pretty young back there. But, throughout every scrimmage and practice we're getting better and better, and the communication is better."

Another change comes with the new-look LSC. Now with fewer teams, the Lions' schedule sees them play every conference opponent twice: once at home and once away. Piper said this will make the conference more competitive.

"There's just not an easy game on the schedule, and that's good news and bad news," he said. "There's no easy games, but you're also never out of it, because everyone else has tough games. Anyone can beat anyone, so as long as you keep getting better and you keep trying, you're going to have a shot."

A&M-Commerce was given a preseason ranking of sixth by the LSC. With a new system, new philosophy and Lasley as a new assistant coach, Piper said he thinks the opposing teams may not know just what to expect from his side.

"I think we'll surprise a lot of people the first time they see us," he said. "We have the personnel to play this new system. So far we've had two scrimmages and we look great."

The Lions begin their 2011 campaign away from home on Friday against Northwest Missouri State. They then have another away game this Sunday, before their first home match on Sept. 11 against St. Edwards at noon.