Phil C
08-23-2005, 10:21 AM
Both teams have great potential this year to do very well and advance in the playoffs. I just did a little personal analysis and other fans such as Aggie John are invited to put their input and opnions. I did some comparisons to 2004 and 2005.
UT had 21 players on the 2004 team and graduated 7 of them and 3 undergraduates left. Nikki Thaden transfered to Drake and I don't know why Charisse Co and Christy Perkins are gone. I think Thaden may have transferred because UT has had outstanding recruiting success the past two years and she may have done so to get closer to home (Iowa) and get more playing time (PT) since she didn't have as much playing time as a sophomore last year as she did as a freshman. This year UT still has 20 on the team with a lot of freshmen who have showed great potential in the two exhibition games.
The Lady Aggies had 28 players in 2004 and had 4 graduate and only one undergraduate left and that was Jessica Green who was a freshman last year. I don't know why she left because she has a Senior sister Janelle Green who is playing this year. They are from Katy, Texas. In 2005 the Lady Aggies have 30 players listed and one of them a goalie named Nicki Benningfield sat out last year and is returning as a junior this year and may redshirt this year since their star goalie (Kati Jo Spisak) is a senior and she would get to play the two years so unless Kati gets hurt she will probably not play this year. Overall it looks like the Lady Aggies have done well in keeping their players on the team even though they may not have as much PT. Of course the potential to get to be on a national championship team this year may have something to do with it. The Lady Aggies had the top recruting class two years ago and even though they had good success this year it was not as good as two years ago. When a team does well it may have problems recruiting the next year because players realize that they will not get much PT. That has happened to North Carolina. They may get a few of the top ten players since they are a power but the others outside the top ten that would play well for them off the bench go elsewhere to get PT.
Of course another factor is that both schools are very well respected academically so that the players that stay with the programs will get a good education from schools that have great prestiges. That and the possibility of playing for schools that have a good chance to do well and go far in the playoffs indeed. Overall the soccer future of both of these universities looks bright indeed and this year should be a fun year for both of the schools' fans.
Please share your thoughts AggieJohn and others.
UT had 21 players on the 2004 team and graduated 7 of them and 3 undergraduates left. Nikki Thaden transfered to Drake and I don't know why Charisse Co and Christy Perkins are gone. I think Thaden may have transferred because UT has had outstanding recruiting success the past two years and she may have done so to get closer to home (Iowa) and get more playing time (PT) since she didn't have as much playing time as a sophomore last year as she did as a freshman. This year UT still has 20 on the team with a lot of freshmen who have showed great potential in the two exhibition games.
The Lady Aggies had 28 players in 2004 and had 4 graduate and only one undergraduate left and that was Jessica Green who was a freshman last year. I don't know why she left because she has a Senior sister Janelle Green who is playing this year. They are from Katy, Texas. In 2005 the Lady Aggies have 30 players listed and one of them a goalie named Nicki Benningfield sat out last year and is returning as a junior this year and may redshirt this year since their star goalie (Kati Jo Spisak) is a senior and she would get to play the two years so unless Kati gets hurt she will probably not play this year. Overall it looks like the Lady Aggies have done well in keeping their players on the team even though they may not have as much PT. Of course the potential to get to be on a national championship team this year may have something to do with it. The Lady Aggies had the top recruting class two years ago and even though they had good success this year it was not as good as two years ago. When a team does well it may have problems recruiting the next year because players realize that they will not get much PT. That has happened to North Carolina. They may get a few of the top ten players since they are a power but the others outside the top ten that would play well for them off the bench go elsewhere to get PT.
Of course another factor is that both schools are very well respected academically so that the players that stay with the programs will get a good education from schools that have great prestiges. That and the possibility of playing for schools that have a good chance to do well and go far in the playoffs indeed. Overall the soccer future of both of these universities looks bright indeed and this year should be a fun year for both of the schools' fans.
Please share your thoughts AggieJohn and others.