Recruiting focus of new coach
By Jamie Smith
Sports Editor

     New women’s soccer head coach John Wilson knows he has inherited something special at DePaul, and even after a shaky start he is confident in his team’s ability to come through for the rest of the season.

     DePaul dropped four of its first five games in the 2000 season. However, the Blue Demons were close to victory in nearly all of those games. In the first two games of the season, the Demons were tied with their opponents 0-0 at half but failed score in the second half as well.

     In the season-opener against Purdue on August 25, DePaul fell 3-0. The first goal was not scored until the 58:38 mark, but the Boilermakers added two more goals late in the game. On August 27 the Demons out-shot Western Illinois University 27-13 but still failed to score as they fell 2-0.

     “We’ve had no problem creating opportunities, we’ve just had problems taking advantage of them,” Wilson said.

     In the home-opener on September 1 against Eastern Illinois, DePaul jumped out to an early 1-0 lead when freshman Courtney Hannel scored at the 16:27 mark of the first half. The Demons couldn’t hold on to the lead after the Panthers scored at the 55:33 mark and again shortly after, making the final score 2-1.

     Chicago rival Loyola proved too much for the Demons on September 6 as they fell 3-1 to the Ramblers. Hannel scored her second career goal but it wasn’t enough to bring home the victory.

     In the fifth game of the season, DePaul finally meshed. Wisconsin-Green Bay couldn’t hold off the Demons as they came on strong with three goals scored by Shana Mills, Tammy Howe and Autumn Laidler. The Demons led 3-0 until two late second-half goals by Green Bay.

     “We’ve been playing some of the best soccer we’ve ever played but we’ve had some trouble with scoring,” Wilson said. “I’ve been telling the girls that it’ll come, and when it does, it’ll come in buckets.  And it did against Green Bay.”

     Wilson comes to DePaul from Louisiana State University where he was the head assistant and the recruiting coordinator. Wilson plans on using his recruiting skills to gradually build the women’s soccer program into a nationally recognized program.

     “If you’re going to have any strength in college sports, it should be in recruiting,” Wilson said. “I want to bring in the best players in Illinois, then the best players from the region and eventually the best players in the nation.”

     Although recruiting is one of Wilson’s goals, he is very happy with the players that he has on his team right now.

     “I’m very blessed to have the kind of players I have. A lot of times you inherit problems but I can tell that Laurie (Schingen) has left me with a lot to work with,” Wilson said. “These players give me all they have and no one can ask more than that.”

     Wilson and his team are back in action today at Wish Field where they start their Conference USA season against Cincinnati.