 |
 Western Carolina is looking for its first victory of the season after opening with back-to-back road matches at East Carolina and N.C. State. |
 |
Sept. 4, 2008
CATAMOUNT STUDENT-ATHLETE ROUNDTABLE PODCAST WITH BARUWA AND WHITTLE
Cullowhee, N.C. - Western Carolina will open the home portion of its 2008 schedule on Friday, Sept. 5 and Sunday, Sept. 7 as it hosts the Butler Bulldogs and the Belmont Bruins, respectively, at the on-campus Catamount Athletic Complex. Friday's match is scheduled for a Noon kickoff with FREE admission for all WCU Faculty and Staff on Appreciation Day, with Sunday's afternoon matinee slated for a 2:00 pm start time.
Also, in a year where Western Carolina University celebrates its 75th anniversary of the Catamount moniker, the WCU women's soccer team is celebrating its 10th season of intercollegiate competition. As a part of the celebration this year, the Catamount Athletic Department will announce a 10th Anniversary team, as well as the "Top 10 Moments from the First 10 Years" ahead of Homecoming 2008 festivities.
WCU is scheduled to honor its WCU women's soccer alum in two matches that bookend Homecoming Weekend, 2008. Western hosts Wofford on Friday, Oct. 3 at 6:00 pm in Cullowhee in a match that will be followed by Spirit Night activities. And then, on Sunday, Oct. 5, WCU will recognize its Anniversary Team at halftime of the match against Furman at 2:00 pm (See more below).
Business at hand for the Catamounts, though, are the Butler Bulldogs (1-2) who are coming off a double-overtime loss at Western Kentucky to slip below the .500 plateau. Western (0-2) is coming off back-to-back road losses at East Carolina (1-0) and North Carolina State (2-0) to open the season.
"With a noon-time match, we're not sure exactly what to expect," said WCU fourth-year head coach, Tammy DeCesare. "We are hoping that the WCU Faculty and Staff take advantage of the free admission for Appreciation Day and join us on their lunch hour. I think it's a great way for our entire WCU community to kick off their weekend."
|
|
 |
Coverage of both Friday and Saturday's matches will be available through live GameTracker, presented by Carolina West Sports Medicine, by logging onto www.CatamountSports.com.
Western Carolina Women's Soccer to Celebrate its 10th Season of Competition in 2008
Founded in 1998 under head coach Debbie Hensley, the Catamounts first took the pitch in 1999 and quickly became a program with which to contend with in the Southern Conference. WCU earned it's first-ever victory at Troy State, 2-0, on Sept. 4, 1999, and claimed its first-ever home victory over Limestone 12 days later on Sept. 16.
Hensley garnered 2001 SoCon Coach of the Year honors as her squad posted a then-school-record 16 victories and claimed WCU's only regular season conference championship to date in just its third year of existence. The Catamounts advanced to the SoCon finals in '01, falling in double-overtime to UNC Greensboro, 2-1, at the tournament in Greenville, S.C.
Four years later, with the tournament again being held at Furman's Stone Soccer Stadium in Greenville and under the direction of first-year head coach Tammy DeCesare, WCU earned an overtime victory over the College of Charleston before blanking both Davidson and Furman to win the '05 SoCon Tournament Championship. The team won a school-best 18 matches in '05. The Catamounts made the school's first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance, falling to second-seeded North Carolina, 2-0, in Chapel Hill.
From Oct. 3, 2000 until Sept. 6, 2002, Western Carolina won an impressive 14-straight home matches at Charles Schrader Field. Then, in 2005, WCU opened the on-campus Catamount Athletic Complex with a 3-0 shutout victory over Campbell in the first-ever match played under the lights in Cullowhee.
To commemorate the Catamount Athletic Department will announce a 10th Anniversary team, as well as the "Top 10 Moments from the First 10 Years" ahead of Homecoming 2008 festivities scheduled for Oct. 3-5 in Cullowhee. WCU will honor its WCU women's soccer alum in two matches that bookend that weekend. Western hosts Wofford on Friday, Oct. 3 at 6:00 pm in Cullowhee in a match that will be followed by Spirit Night activities.
On Saturday, the Catamount football team hosts SoCon-newcomer, Samford, at 1:00 pm with a special recognition scheduled during the game for the women's soccer alum. And then, on Sunday, Oct. 5, WCU will recognize its Anniversary Team at halftime of the match against Furman at 2:00 pm.
More information about the 10th Anniversary of Western Carolina Women's Soccer will be made available closer to the date.
Additional Comments from Western Carolina Head Coach, Tammy DeCesare:
How has your team prepared for two non-conference games this weekend? With never playing either team before what can you expect and how do you plan to attack the other teams' weaknesses? What players have been showing great progress in practice this week and are their leaders stepping up? Will the team feed off the energy?
"We've had essentially two weeks since our last match to prepare. Last week was more of a mini-preseason focusing on the tactical breakdowns that hurt us against N.C. State, in addition to staying on top of our fitness. We gave the players the weekend off, and they returned reenergized and practices have primarily focused on the way we attack in our system with how to defend Butler in theirs."
"In every match we make the players aware of the `danger' zones - the opponents apparent strengths - and we work through those leading into the game. We also focus on any perceived weaknesses and attempt to gear our attack to take advantage of breakdowns that may occur. Butler is a quality team that has some special players up top, and seems to be solid from front to back. They will test our team much like our previous three opponents. Our players will have to come out and play from the first whistle to the final whistle to earn a favorable result."
"This past week we've seen a lot of growth in our frontline. Junior Nikki Collins has been moved up top and is becoming more threatening every day. Our back line becomes more solid every time we step on the field and the central midfield is beginning to gel. When that group gels and plays as a unit for the 90 minutes, we'll become very difficult to beat."
"Traditionally our first home game is under the lights which seem to emit a particular energy of its own. This season we'll only have two matches at home under the lights. My personal hope is the excitement to be on our turf generates the same energy as it has in the past and we end up with the same result at our home opener as we have for my previous three seasons...a convincing win."
