 | | UNLV women's soccer head coach Kat Mertz chatted with fans online on Oct. 28. |
UNLV head women's soccer coach Kat Mertz participate in a live chat on UNLVRebels.com on Tuesday, Oct. 28. The coach of the four-time defending MWC champion women's soccer program answered questions from fans. The transcript is below. |
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 |  | UNLV Moderator: Welcome everyone to this morning's chat with women's soccer coach Kat Mertz |
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| | UNLV Moderator: Let's get started. |
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| Tom (Las Vegas): Coach, congratulations on your success in the MWC the last few years. Other than winning the conference tournament, what do you think the team needs to do to qualify for the NCAA Tournament again? |
 | | Kat Mertz: Hi Tom. I think we have to play a competitive schedule and take care of the games that on paper look to be wins. This year, our goal is to win the MWC Tournament, as it is at home. We learned from last year, the only secure way to get into the NCAA tournament is to win the MWC tournament and receive the automatic bid. |
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| Brian (Las Vegas): Are you surprised with the performance of your team this year after losing the best player in the conference from last season? |
 | | Kat Mertz: Hi Brian. I am happy where our team is this year after losing five starters, including Katie Carney. Getting transfer Ashleigh Shoughro has added another level to our game, but at the same time I'm proud of the girls for stepping up in positions that we lost starters in last year. |
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| Robert (Las Vegas): How excited are you with the performance of Ashleigh Shoughro this season with her only being a sophomore? |
| | Kat Mertz: I'm very excited about Ashleigh's performance. I knew she had the ability to score goals, but I'm excited that she's buying into our team concept, and that will only make her a better player, as well as our team a better team. My goal is to help her become one of the better players in the Mountain West. |
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| Darin (Arizona): Coach...You have really put UNLV's women's soccer program on the map and you are doing a great job. Who was your biggest influence in coaching? |
| | Kat Mertz: I would say I have two. My high school coach, Kim Maslin-Kamerdiner, who was one of the goalkeepers on the first-ever U.S. National team. She taught me alot about winning and a competitive spirit, and taught me how much work it takes to put into a winning team. My other influence would be Jillian Ellis, from UCLA, who I worked for for five years. Jill taught me how to read the game better, and how to manage elite athletes. |
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| David (Las Vegas): Coach, your last regular season game is this Friday night against New Mexico before the conference tournament begins. Are you guys doing anything special that day for your two seniors? |
| | Kat Mertz: We are going to recognize our two seniors right before the start of the game. All of our girls know how important the game is, these two seniors have been with me for the past four years, and have contributed so much to developing and building this program into a championship level program. We will miss them dearly. |
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| Mark Houston: How has the change in athletic apparel affected the program? Last year while wearing adidas UNLV scored 24 goals. This year while wearing Nike, UNLV has scored 31 goals. |
| | Kat Mertz: Hi Mark Olson, Nike and Ashleigh Shoughro have been very good to us this year. |
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| lake forest: what has been your favorite moment of being a rebel??? your the best coach!!! from princess katie carney |
| | Kat Mertz: I have three moments, and two of them involve Katie Carney. My first year, Katie scoring in overtime against New Mexico to win our first-ever MWC Tournament. The next one would be the 2006 MWC Tournament, only scoring one goal but winning the tournament in PK fashion. My last one would be beating BYU at home last year, on another Katie Carney golden goal. |
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| Chris (Las Vegas): Coach - What is the biggest change in your opinion with this year's team compared to last season's team? |
| | Kat Mertz: One of the biggest changes was graduating such a big senior class last year, with true leaders. This year, we have 13 new players which we are trying to mold into our team culture. We are working on developing our junior class into becoming strong leaders for their senior season in 2009. |
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| Mia (Las Vegas): Two questions...Who do you think your MVP is so far this season and who do you think is the league MVP this year? |
| | Kat Mertz: I would actually have to say our MVP this season is our goalkeeper, Alicia Lugo. Lugo has surprised me with some of the saves she's made this season, she's kept us in games and gives us a chance to win everytime we go out on the field. As for the league MVP, I've really been impressed by the play of BYU senior Katie Larkin, I think she will defintely play in the WPS next year. |
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| Brittany (Henderson): Who do you think is your toughest opponent going into the MWC Tournament? |
| | Kat Mertz: This year, I feel that every team in the conference has the ability to win on any given day. For us, our toughest opponent will be whoever we face first in the tournament, and then we will take it from there. |
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| Adam (Utah): Do you think you need to win the Mountain West Conference tournament to make it in the NCAA tournament? |
| | Kat Mertz: Yes, we've dropped some tough games this year that hurt our RPI, so we're going in knowing that winning the tournament is the only way to reach the NCAA Tournament this year. |
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| Herman (Summerlin): What was your biggest win of the season for you this year? |
| | Kat Mertz: In conference, so far it would have to be at San Diego State, on their home field. For out of conference, it would have to be the Long Beach State game, we showed alot of heart and character to come back in the second half after being outshot in the first, and to come up with the winning score. |
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| Pauly (North Las Vegas): How much of an honor was it to you to be named an assistant coach on the under 20 national team this year? |
| | Kat Mertz: It has been one of the highlights of my coaching career so far. To be able to coach for your country and with the level of athletes and coaching staff that I'm with, its been an unbelievable experience. |
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| Steve (Henderson): I know there are a lot of passionate soccer fans out there, but the sport has never really taken off in the U.S. I know the MLS has tried to do stuff, but what do you think it will take to get soccer to be more mainstream in this country? |
| | Kat Mertz: Soccer in the U.S. is competing with football, basketball, and baseball, three sports that have been a big part of the culture in America. Right now, soccer is the largest youth sport in the US, so I believe its only a matter of time for soccer to increase in popularity. |
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| Ben (Fort Collins): I used to live in Las Vegas before I had to move to Colorado. What is your favorite part of living in Las Vegas? |
| | Kat Mertz: I have a couple of favorite things. I truly enjoy the weather, being able to play soccer year round without having to worry about snow or rain, it really provides a great training enviroment for my team. Second, I love sushi, and there are some amazing sushi resturants here. And third, entertainment, the ability to go to difference concerts or shows any night of the week. And four, the shopping is amazing. |
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| Marlene (College Station, Texas): How is recruiting going for next season? |
| | Kat Mertz: Great. For 2009, we already have five kids that have verbaly committed, and we are currently working on our 2010 class. |
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| Wendy, Las Vegas: Coach Mertz: what kind of things does your program do to get young kids interested in your games? |
| | Kat Mertz: Hi Wendy. During the spring, we like to go out into the community and do different community events. We have a competition within our team, each class has to come up with a different community service event. So far this season, we did a Halloween event with the City of Las Vegas rec center. We also had camps and clinics this summer where we try to promote the sport of soccer. I think its important to reach out into the community. |
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| Connor (Henderson): How do you think your stadium and facilities compare to other programs in your conference and on the entire West Coast? |
| | Kat Mertz: I think we have a great field that was just donated in the past few years. Mario (men's head coach) and I are working on a new fundraising project that would raise money for covered benches and covered stands. I think the atmosphere is outstanding, with our fans being so close to the field, but as every coach, we strive for continued improvements. |
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| renee (san clemente): you mentioned earlier strength of schedule ,have you been able to work any higher ranked teams into your pre-season next year |
| | Kat Mertz: Next season, we have Duke, NC State, Ohio State, and St. Mary's to name a few. It was my goal to provide a challenging schedule for our senior class next year, I think we will have the team that will compete against a schedule such as this. |
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| | UNLV Moderator: And we have time for one final question |
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| Sabastian - Vegas: You have had a little bit of a turnover with your coaching staff in the last year. Can you talk about Jen Klien and Alan Cox? |
| | Kat Mertz: I've been super excited about Jen Klein and Alan Cox. Jen is a great young coach that I think will go far in this field, she is passionate and very knowledgeable about the sport. Alan has been a great addition this year, he is new to the college game but his contributions have been very vaulable. I'm looking forward to working with both of them again next year. |
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| | Kat Mertz: Thank you all for your questions, I hope to see you come out for our games, if not for the rest of this season the for next year. Having great fans like yourselves help us achieve our goals and help us on our way to the conference championships. Thanks again and Go Rebels! |
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