WORDS WITH THE COACH

TASHANA TAYLOR

The Baconian Online sat down with first-year Head Coach Tashana Taylor to get her take on the season and what she expects from the 2012 women's soccer campaign.

Q: How would you describe this year's team?

A: We have a team with some experience. We have been plagued by injuries, but I do believe we have enough veterans on the team, enough leaders to be a good team.

Q: With players out with injuries, what needs to happen for you to be successful this year?

A: As I told prior in the first interview I did, I'm going for the conference title. And if we win the conference then we automatically go to the national tournament. I'm making no excuses. We just need to execute the game plan that I put forth.

Q: Last year was the first time Bacone went past the first round of the Red River Athletic Tournament, and eventually lost to champion UT-Brownsville in the semi-finals. Do you feel you have a legitimate shot at making back in your first year here?

A: We were beaten by the eventual winner, UT-Brownsville, and only lost 2-0. From what I have read and from what I see, Coach [Ana] Costa has done a great job to build the program, and I just look to take it from there. We brought back about 18 or 19 players from last year, and we have about three or four really good freshmen.

Q: As this is your first year at Bacone, what challenges have you faced installing a new system, and how have players reacted?

A: The players have responded very well. Every now and then we have our ups and downs in practice trying to get them motivated, but I always have conversations with my players. They are the ones that go out on the field and play. If they are not buying into the system then I have to change it, because it doesn't make sense that I force something on them.

Q: How does communication work between you and the players?

A: We have down well. It's not to say that I’m giving them the right to tell me how to run my program, but I do value their input. At the end of the day they are the ones that go on the field and play. After every practice we try to have a conversation to see what we have done well in practice, what we haven't done well, what we need to work on, what we need to throw out, and what we need to implement.

Q: Women's soccer is 2-2 (3-9) on the season with Our Lady of the Lake University here Thursday, (Oct. 4) at 3 p.m. What is the key to going forward?

A: I have had players stepping up from last year having three or four bad games. But I think the win over SAGU (Sept. 27, 1-0) was a boost for us. The players need to understand even though we have key players missing, they still have the ability to step up and play well.