Bob Ammann: From The Bench

September 5, 2007: Cal State Fullerton Men's Soccer Head Coach Bob Ammann Shares His Thoughts on the Titans' 2007 Season

Long Island Game
"I was obviously very pleased with the way we started the season. I thought we played well versus LIU. There is always a lot of energy, nerves and anxiety involved with getting the season started and the first game. I thought we came out with great focus and had good rhythm to our play. Getting out to an early 2-0 lead was very good and had a calming effect on the guys. They played with a lot of confidence and were very deserving of the result.

"Although LIU was competing until the final whistle they weren't overly physical which made for a very lean game. There were very few fouls called in the game which helped in keeping the flow. It was a good game from a Titan fan's point of view. We had one player ( Andres Jarquin) make his collegiate debut against LIU and another (Ryan Kaylor) his Titan debut."

Detroit Game
"The game versus Detroit was always going to be difficult. The weather was not conducive to playing soccer. I was told by the Northridge coaches that Detroit wasn't nearly as bad as the score line (6-1) from their game indicated. We were expecting a hard fought match knowing that they wanted to salvage something from the trip out West. We did have to make a couple of changes to the lineup from Friday's game due to injuries. Fortunately, neither of the injuries are serious and shouldn't cost them to miss any more time.

"Getting off to the quick start was something that we had talked about and scoring within the first minutes of the game was critical. I was hoping that we could get a few more goals to really make the game easier but that wasn't the case. I really give Detroit credit because it would have been very easy to pack it in but they kept at it and competed until the end. We had a few more players make their collegiate debuts against Detroit (Tony Terrazas and TJ Detviler) as well as a Titan debut in James Maynard."

Weekend review
"I was pleased with the way we defended in both games over the weekend. It is something that we have stressed since the start of spring. If we can continue to play quality defense we will always be in contention to win games.

"We also started off last year 2-0 after two games but we had conceded 4 goals while scoring 6. We didn't get our first shutout until the 7th game and the second and final shutout until the last game of the season. "

Upcoming Tournament
" We have four teams that have gotten off to great starts. I don't know of too many tournaments that can boast of having all the participants undefeated and untied(7-0)."

Memphis
"We are anticipating a very tough game again this year with Memphis. We dropped a 1-0 game in Memphis last season and will be looking to pay them back. I thought that they were one of the best teams we played last year and they are returning a number of players from that squad. They have beaten two good teams to start the season and are playing with a lot of confidence. They are coming out west for the first time in their program's history, so they will be looking forward to making it memorable time."

Michigan
"I am definitely not looking past Memphis in speaking about our Michigan game. This will be the first time that we have ever faced each other in a regular season game and the first of 3 games in a row for us against Big Ten opponents (Penn St & Ohio St). They have also gotten off to a very good start, winning both games against quality opponents by shutout. I am sure that they will be coming in looking at these games as having major NCAA selection implications. Out of region games are extremely important in setting yourself up for an at-large berth and they will be determined to improve those chances. Michigan recruits out here frequently and will be wanting to leave a good impression."

Summary
"This is a huge weekend for us and will give us a real feel for where we are at this point of the season. We realize that these games are extremely important and can really help the Big West and the West region in general. Labor Day weekend is always a difficult drawing weekend, but I hope that this weekend we have great fan support and that we can take advantage of our home field. I look forward to seeing Titan fans in bunches for these important games."