The Hustler sat down with soccer players Molly and Megan Kinsella to discuss preseason expectations, postseason plans, and pushing each other to get better.
Vanderbit Hustler: Your coach says that your team is committed to win the SEC championship this year, something the women’s soccer program hasn’t done since 1994. Why is this year the year?
Molly: First of all, we have a pretty old team right now; we have a lot of upperclassmen. I feel like we’ve kind of underachieved, and we’ve seen it all, so there’s no reason not to play to the best of our abilities. I think we could definitely beat every team on any given day.
Megan: We’ve got a lot of upperclassmen, and we want to go out with a bang. We’ve got a whole new dynamic.
VH: The SEC women’s soccer coaches poll has Vanderbilt picked to finish second to last in the SEC East. What have you both done since last year to make sure this doesn’t happen?
Molly: Well, first of all, that is a little discouraging considering we finished 7th (in the SEC) last year, and we only graduated one senior. That’s not saying a lot about us as seniors, so we have all taken it upon ourselves to prove them wrong. (The poll is) saying we’re going backwards in only losing one person. We know it’s a lot of hard work, but I definitely don’t think that’s going to happen. We’ve been to Orange Beach (home of the SEC women’s soccer tournament), and we want to go back.
Megan: Our goal is definitely to go back to Orange Beach. Those were good times.
VH: This year you play 10 teams who were in the NCAA tournament last season and five teams who start the season in the top 25. After running through this gauntlet, do you think Vanderbilt will be nationally ranked like last year? And how far up will you be ranked?
Molly: Definitely top 25. (Ronnie Woodard) has put a lot of good teams with really good RPI’s in our schedule.
Megan: Ronnie has laid it out for us so that if we can beat these top ranked teams we definitely have a chance to be ranked in the top 25.
VH: What is the biggest strength of this team, and what is its biggest weakness?
Molly: I think the biggest strength is our chemistry. We have a good team with good chemistry. Bringing in the freshmen (and) showing them our ways will help.
Megan: I think our weakness last year was (failing to finish) our opportunities. We ranked top in the SEC in shots, but we couldn’t complete those. Last Friday against UAB we scored five goals, and I think a big part of what we want to do differently this year is to finish our opportunities.
VH: How have you helped your sister in the development of her skills?
Molly: Well, we definitely get honest feedback from each other, and that’s good.
Megan: This summer we trained as much as we could. We trained together by running, fitness and lifting weights.
VH: You’ve both made the SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll for two straight years. How do you do it?
Molly: Well actually, soccer almost helps, because it makes you more disciplined, so you don’t really have time to get distracted. You have to get stuff done at a certain time. It really teaches you time management skills.
Megan: It helps that we have our coaches and academic counselors on our back; if we struggle in school, we’re not going to play.
VH: Do you have plans to pursue playing professional soccer?
Molly: I would love to play professional soccer if my body would hold together. It would be a great opportunity if it came up, but if not, I’m hoping to go to pharmacy school.
Megan: I plan on going to nursing school after I graduate.
