NIU Women's Soccer coach Michael O'Neill at 2024 Fall Sports Media Day

great to see you all uh as Don alluded to uh we get things kicked off uh August 15th away at the pool so I think we were the first team back on campus uh been here a week feels like a month um but happy to report that the group has been sharp um there's a lot of excitement around camp with some of the uh some of the success of last year um another piece for us was uh they knocked for the fitness test out the park which is always as from a coaching staff standpoint is always an indicator of the commitment and the accountability pieces over summer where we don't see them so fantastic effort from from their standpoint and they've really hit the ground running so yeah it would be fair to say a lot of excitement around the team we uh we get things going from an exhibition standpoint uh this Friday at 7:00 p.m. at home to West Illinois so that would be a good test for us to see where at obviously playing each other or playing uh against ourselves for for 10 days you can only look so good obviously there's always got to be a loser in practice so it'll be nice to go against a different team a different feel and and get that game day Vibe back uh that's what these girls are here for that's what they train for so very excited for what Friday night brings uh some other dates for your diary uh we have our home open our regular season September 22nd against Thomas from Minnesota August 22nd see I told you it's been a month it feels like um and um we actually play uh Notre Dame a couple days before the football team uh travel down there September 5th does that sound right September 5th uh so again a great opportunity for us to go down to a Powerhouse uh they Powerhouse in all sports but women so going are different and test ourselves against another Dame so excited for that in terms of expectations again um like I said the excitement is there we're ready to go we we would like to push on from last year where we really kind of took the biggest step forward uh separating ourselves from the bottom of the pack to now competing in postseason play and um it would be it would be a lie for me if I told you we aren't looking to to push on and start competing for championships that's why we're here that's what we do as all coaches that have come before me have said the same thing we are no different and you know there's reason to believe and I've always believed but now I've got players in the locker room that start to see winning and seeing is believing and so we feel we're in a good place as we uh as we go into the 2024 uh for full campaign so on that note any questions what the was the biggest what was the biggest momentum for you why were you able to make that step in you too that you feel like you Theory now you can make something happen yeah um couple things one we we we wanted to build a resiliency where we were able to finish games the program I took over there was almost like a learned helplessness when you know even if you were playing well or winning there was always almost an expectation of oh here we go again you know how long are we going to hold this lead for um and we tried to build this resiliency this perseverance where we could finish games and to be honest with you the SE the month of September last year we actually struggled um we had a few ties because we were good defensively but then we scored a late winner at akan and we won six to the last seven so to answer your question we had built the foundation from a mindset standpoint but winning changes everything and once you start to experience that winning feeling it's addictive and and that pushed them on and we were able to finish that that Max season uh stronger than ever and it led to obviously us climbing the the the the conference standings and making that postseason what players are you expecting to C be spearheading the effort this year and like and how's uh the net Miner situation look yeah so um we have a lot of senior players in the in the program that we feel are going to be a catalyst four uh success this year again it's going to take 27 players we know that but um our captains Abby zipy and Leah grugle uh both fifth year players um having them kind of there to guide and direct some of the younger players I think is huge they're both big minute players as well and have established themselves within the within the uh within the team and also within the conference so those two will be huge for us moving forward um in terms of the newcomers and the new players you know it's hard to always you know say you know a freshman is going to do this and obviously we're excitement there's excitement about them but you know we just want to get them up to speed with how we do things from a cultural standpoint from a standard standpoint um and anything we get from from the younger players is a bonus you know because it's it's a big jump for them uh so returners we're going to lean heavily on them uh and hope that the experience that they had last year um they can use to their benefit and push us forward this year oh yes go ahead in the limited time you've seen her already Purifoy a transfer from Morgan State what have you seen from her what is she bring from the field bringing the field into this program yeah in in the goalkeeper position she brings a lot of things you know she's obviously a fifth year player herself so experience which you know is important in every sport in every position but as a goalkeeper uh you have to have thick skin because you're under the microscope 24/7 so that experience uh that she has is going to be you know fantastic for us throughout the year um she coming as a new player but she feels like she's a returner she's she's shown confidence she's she's been authoritative within her position and commanding that that back for um and she seems like she has a great work ethic so a local kid that we're happy to bring uh back home from Oklahoma State and excited to uh to see what she can bring to NIU