The La Salle University Women's Soccer team is on pace to break quite a few records this season. The team is currently 10-0-1 and has not conceded a goal, eleven games, eleven shutouts. Soccer Banter spoke with Head Coach Paul Royal about the season, his role with the Philadelphia Independence and playing Dayton this Friday night.
Soccer Banter: Did you envision a season as good as this back in preseason? What do you contribute your team’s success defensively?
Paul Royal: I honestly thought we would be winning games 4-3 or 3-2. During preseason we ended up losing a few attacking players and we had to reshuffle the lineup. Besides the players developing a lot of continuity by playing together, I believe Redshirt Senior Goalkeeper, Melissa Sanger has had the biggest influence on the team’s success defensively. I knew coming into this season with her leadership we had the potential for a special year. This is my 14th season in college soccer and she is the best leader I have ever coached. She always does what is best for the team and that attitude has won a lot of her teammates over and her teammates want to play for her. She chose to redshirt as a senior last Fall instead of splitting time with our other goalkeeper and now will receive an MBA in five years.
Lastly, I believe our group has been motivated by the preseason preview on All White Kit, which stated how shocking and inconsistent the La Salle defense was. The players read this and felt inspired to prove this publication wrong. We have players that play with great tenacity and they take every 1v1 situation personally.
SB: Now that it's been eleven games without being scored upon, is the mystique of not giving up a goal spoken about a lot within the team, coaches, etc?
PR: We really don’t talk about it as we believe in business as usual here. The players have prepared everyday for every game. This is something I have learned from Paul Riley when I worked with the Philadelphia Independence. Riley did a great job of preparing the Independence for each game no matter where that opponent was in the standings. We are focused on maximizing our performance at every practice and game.
SB: Last year, La Salle won it's first A-10 tournament game and finished with 11 wins, tied for the 2nd most in school history. What were the original goals for the team this year and have those goals changed at all with the current form of the team?
PR: In preseason we spoke about goals as a team and developed a goal chart for the fall, which included getting 8 shutouts (which would have been a school record), gain 24 points in out of conference games (we gained 25) and to qualify for the Atlantic 10 Final. As a staff we discuss what we need to do and we have had to redefine everything. In terms of playing in the NCAA tournament, we are all hoping for a special year, but we are staying grounded at this point.
Soccer Banter: Did you envision a season as good as this back in preseason? What do you contribute your team’s success defensively?
Paul Royal: I honestly thought we would be winning games 4-3 or 3-2. During preseason we ended up losing a few attacking players and we had to reshuffle the lineup. Besides the players developing a lot of continuity by playing together, I believe Redshirt Senior Goalkeeper, Melissa Sanger has had the biggest influence on the team’s success defensively. I knew coming into this season with her leadership we had the potential for a special year. This is my 14th season in college soccer and she is the best leader I have ever coached. She always does what is best for the team and that attitude has won a lot of her teammates over and her teammates want to play for her. She chose to redshirt as a senior last Fall instead of splitting time with our other goalkeeper and now will receive an MBA in five years.
Lastly, I believe our group has been motivated by the preseason preview on All White Kit, which stated how shocking and inconsistent the La Salle defense was. The players read this and felt inspired to prove this publication wrong. We have players that play with great tenacity and they take every 1v1 situation personally.
SB: Now that it's been eleven games without being scored upon, is the mystique of not giving up a goal spoken about a lot within the team, coaches, etc?
PR: We really don’t talk about it as we believe in business as usual here. The players have prepared everyday for every game. This is something I have learned from Paul Riley when I worked with the Philadelphia Independence. Riley did a great job of preparing the Independence for each game no matter where that opponent was in the standings. We are focused on maximizing our performance at every practice and game.
SB: Last year, La Salle won it's first A-10 tournament game and finished with 11 wins, tied for the 2nd most in school history. What were the original goals for the team this year and have those goals changed at all with the current form of the team?
PR: In preseason we spoke about goals as a team and developed a goal chart for the fall, which included getting 8 shutouts (which would have been a school record), gain 24 points in out of conference games (we gained 25) and to qualify for the Atlantic 10 Final. As a staff we discuss what we need to do and we have had to redefine everything. In terms of playing in the NCAA tournament, we are all hoping for a special year, but we are staying grounded at this point.
SB: In your spare time (is there such a thing) you are the Assistant Coach for the Philadelphia Independence of the WPS, it's been a little over a month since the Independence lost to the Flash in the WPS Final on penalties. Looking back now, what are your thoughts on that game?
PR: The WPS final was heart wrenching. For our players that also played in the World Cup for the US, I don’t know how they were able to handle the loss to Japan and a month later the loss to the Flash. I was on double duty that weekend as we had a game on Friday with La Salle and I flew up on Saturday to the match. The budget Head Coach Paul Riley works with in regards to player salaries is around an 1/8 of what WNY Flash spent and Paul gets the most out of the team. We had great team chemistry and we went into that game believing we could win which is a credit to Paul. WNY probably has the best front line ever assembled in women’s soccer with Marta, Alex Morgan and Christine Sinclair.
SB: How has working with the Independence, helped you develop as a coach?
PR: Working with professional women’s players the bar is raised everyday with the speed of play and technical ability at a higher level. I saw how well Paul was able to manage players, their emotions and outside life. In many ways being a professional player is a lot tougher than a college athlete. College athletes have school-work and their friends to focus on when things might not be going well, but professional athletes don’t have that outlet.
We have tried to train and treat the La Salle players like professional players. I believe that if you raise the standards, the players are more likely to reach expectations. Working with the Independence helped me realize I needed to manage our players better. Paul is hard, but honest with the Independence players and they all have great respect for him and know if that if one minute he is getting on them, the next minute he is there for them if they need him to be. I want to have a similar relationship with the players I coach.
SB: Back to La Salle, this Friday night you play against Dayton, which has been the top team in the A-10 the past few seasons, what are your thoughts heading into one of the marquee matches of the weekend?
PR: Coming into the game we are the underdog. We are always the underdog when matched up against Charlotte and Dayton. We want to go in with that blue-collar attitude a mantra we carry into each game. I know Dayton has special attacking players, but I believe we have two of the better attacking players in the league as well. I believe the game will be a chess match that could come down to a set-piece or which team makes the smallest of mistakes. It is great for our team to get this test in early
PR: The WPS final was heart wrenching. For our players that also played in the World Cup for the US, I don’t know how they were able to handle the loss to Japan and a month later the loss to the Flash. I was on double duty that weekend as we had a game on Friday with La Salle and I flew up on Saturday to the match. The budget Head Coach Paul Riley works with in regards to player salaries is around an 1/8 of what WNY Flash spent and Paul gets the most out of the team. We had great team chemistry and we went into that game believing we could win which is a credit to Paul. WNY probably has the best front line ever assembled in women’s soccer with Marta, Alex Morgan and Christine Sinclair.
SB: How has working with the Independence, helped you develop as a coach?
PR: Working with professional women’s players the bar is raised everyday with the speed of play and technical ability at a higher level. I saw how well Paul was able to manage players, their emotions and outside life. In many ways being a professional player is a lot tougher than a college athlete. College athletes have school-work and their friends to focus on when things might not be going well, but professional athletes don’t have that outlet.
We have tried to train and treat the La Salle players like professional players. I believe that if you raise the standards, the players are more likely to reach expectations. Working with the Independence helped me realize I needed to manage our players better. Paul is hard, but honest with the Independence players and they all have great respect for him and know if that if one minute he is getting on them, the next minute he is there for them if they need him to be. I want to have a similar relationship with the players I coach.
SB: Back to La Salle, this Friday night you play against Dayton, which has been the top team in the A-10 the past few seasons, what are your thoughts heading into one of the marquee matches of the weekend?
PR: Coming into the game we are the underdog. We are always the underdog when matched up against Charlotte and Dayton. We want to go in with that blue-collar attitude a mantra we carry into each game. I know Dayton has special attacking players, but I believe we have two of the better attacking players in the league as well. I believe the game will be a chess match that could come down to a set-piece or which team makes the smallest of mistakes. It is great for our team to get this test in early
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