By
Audrey DeAnda
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Team anxious to start new campaign
With the start of the 2000 Arizona soccer season a day away, head coach Cathy Klein is getting restless.
"I would absolutely climb the walls if we had another week of practice," said Klein. "It's time to play. It's time to evaluate. It's time to figure out where we stand."
The Wildcats will kick off the season this weekend as they head to Tennessee to face the University of Tennessee tomorrow and Vanderbilt on Sunday.
"Tennessee and Vanderbilt will be a great measure to how good we are right now," Klein said. "Win, lose or draw, we still have to come back on Monday and go after it."
The Vols are 0-2-0 this season, losing to both Marquette and Wisconsin-Milwaukee last weekend. The Commodores stand at 1-1-0 after beating Tulane 5-0, and losing to Marquette, 2-1, in overtime.
Though Klein said the Wildcats are a bit overmatched, she's only focusing on her team.
"I've got to focus on what we've got to do to win," Klein said. "We've got to remain defensively organized, composed with the ball. There's very little between winning and losing at this level and we've got to learn what it takes to win games like this."
Klein said junior forward Kristi Lorona, senior midfielder Kate Nighswander-Will and junior midfielder Erin Nelson are the leaders on the field and will need to play well for the Wildcats to be successful.
Starting in the goal will be junior Shannon Monti, who will be the No. 1 goalkeeper for the first time in her UA career.
"She has got to be a solid presence in the net," Klein said. "Shannon Monti has got to have a big weekend, a weekend that builds her confidence and so that her presence is sound and solid."
Monti said she's ready to take on the leadership position.
"The goalie is like the backbone of the team," she said. "Cathy always says 'be a gorilla,' play hard, play fair, but just let them know that I'm not going to let them walk all over us."
After weeks of preparation, the team is finally ready to play a meaningful game.
"Everything we've done up to now has progressed into something strong enough to withhold this weekend," Monti said.
Junior defender Cassidy Guinn agrees.
"We have a great team this year and we should do really well," Guinn said. "It will be good to start on the road because it will give us a chance to get our nervousness out and be able to perform at home well."
