Wednesday, August 26, 1998
The University Daily Kansan
Section B · Page 5
Midfield key to soccer success
Central players on women's team fill leadership roles
By Brad Hallor
Kansan sportswriter
They don't always score the most goals for the team, but in soccer, the outside midfielders and the central midfielder are the ones that dictate how a game goes.
"Soccer is a game where the game is won or lost in the midfield," said coach Dan Magner, who is relying heavily on the three midfielders this year.
"The outside midfield-
The outside midfielders have the most running to do in soccer because they must cover their side of the field endline to endline.
The outside managers will have an immense task," said Magner. "They will be asked to attack and defend in equal quantity, more so than other players. They need to understand their roles, and I think they do."
Lents said she apprecii-
Christy Clark, the leading scorer on the Kansas women's soccer team last year, has quit the team for personal reasons.
TEAM UPDATE
ated the team support at the end of the game.
"I rely on my teammates to pick me up in the 90th minute." Lents said.
Ashley Gorham, Omaha, Neb., sophomore understands playing midfield.
"Communication, checking to the ball, opening space and playing the ball to the forwards is what I look to do," she said.
Among the candidates to play the three midfielder positions are Gorham, Katie Lenses, Overland Park, sophomore, and Jenny Wallace, Overland Park, sophomore.
Dictating the tempo of a game, these three know they must be leaders on the field.
"You have to keep the team up, and you can't let them fall apart." Wallace said.
Magner is looking to the outside midfielders to distribute the ball with the central midfielders when they have possession of the ball.
"They will be involved in the building of the play," said Magner. "In the attack, we will look for them to serve in crosses and get on the end of crosses, so in order to get on the end of crosses to the far post, I will be looking for them to make late runs."
According to Lents, Wallace and Gorham, when the midfield gets the ball, communication lets them know what to do with the ball.
"Usually, it's just safe to play the way you're facing." Lents said.
The central midfielder is the key for the offense and defense, Magner said.
the central mutfielder will control the tempo of the game," Magner said. "They'll be able to
Above: Midfielder Jennifer Wallace works on her ball-control skills during women's varsity soccer practice. The team practiced twice a day last week. Katie Lents passes the ball to teammate during practice. The regular season begins Labor Day weekend. Photos by Graham K. Johnson/KANSAN
express themselves. We will choreograph some movements in practice, but they will have freedom."
By playing five midfielders, it may seem the midfield will be packed. However, there are many pros to increasing the number of midfielders. Wallace said.
"Playing five in the midfield will help support the defense and the offense." Wallace said.
the defense and the offense.
Lents summed up what the all-around roles of the central midfielder and outside midfielders were.
"We get to prevent goals and support and score goals, but the bad thing is we have to cover the whole field," Lents said.
De Costa returns to KU basketball
Kansan sportswriter
For University of Kansas women's basketball assistant Pam De Costa, there was only one thing in the world that could convince her to take another assistant position.
"Working with coach (Marian) Washington again," she said.
By Sam Mollinger
De Costa was an assistant at the University from 1993-96, and after a two-season stint at the University of Oklahoma, she has rejoined Washington as recruiting coordinator.
The recruiting job opened when Tim Eat-
De Costa: Returns as assistant women's basketball coach
man took the head coaching job at the University of Illinois-Chicago.
"We are very happy to welcome Pam back to our staff." Washington said. "She is an exceptional communicator and is able to relate well to the student athletes."
De Costa did not leave by choice. She was the University's restricted earnings coach from 1993-95 and filled former assistant Rene
Brown's job in 1965-96 when Brown took a year off to help coach the U.S. National Team.
Brown returned and got her job back. A now-defunct NCAA rule prevented De Costa from reassuming the job as restricted earnings coach.
"Once you moved up (to full-time assistant), you couldn't move back down," she said.
So De Costa had to leave, and she did not think she would be back.
"When I left to go to Oklahoma, in my mind I was going to stay there and help coach (Sherri) Coale build that program," she said.
The Sooners went 5-22 and 8-19, respectively, in De Costa's two years there.
She started at the University in June, and already the Jayhawks have secured visits to the homes of several of the top players in the country.
"It was something I needed to do to become a better coach," she said. "Here, I was spoiled. I walked into a top 25 program."
"It's one thing to get a visit with them, but you've got to get them to come visit you," De Costa said. "But coach Washington is such an
De Costa's post as recruiting coordinator is similar to her duties at Oklahoma.
"I love it," she said. "I like talking to kids and meeting people."
"It'll be a lot of fun. When we do get back to the Sweet 16 again, we should be prepared to make the next step to the Elite 8. We've got everybody back, and there's no reason to not think that way."
easy sell, once you meet her, I don't see why a kid wouldn't want to play for her."
Honesty is one of Washington's best attributes, De Costa said.
When not busy with recruiting, De Costa will be working with the post players. The Jayhawks have two incoming freshmen centers, 6-6 Kristin Geoffroy and 6-5 Dalchon Brown, to go along with junior forward/center Heather Fletcher and senior forward/center Nakia Sanford.
Sanford and De Costa worked together during Sanford's freshman year.
"She's going to tell you like it is, and she's going to be fair," De Costa said. "Once you're part of her family, she's going to take care of you. There's not too many people like that anymore."
"Nakia has all the ability in the world," De Costa said. "When she was a freshman, you could see it. I looked at her and said, 'Dang, she's
Pam De Costa
Women's basketball assistant coach
going to be good.' If she wants to put it all on the line, she's going to be a great post player."
Timberwolves' guard sued for assault
De Costa also had personal experience recruiting Fletcher.
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Peeler played at Missouri from 1989 to 1992, when he was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers. He was traded to the Vancouver Grizzlies
"She's a great coach," Sanford said. "She knows how to teach in the post, and she's great to work with."
Sanford returned the compliment.
Peeler's lawyer, Bradley Marshall of Seattle, told jurors Monday that Peeler never choked Link or pointed a gun at her and added that the marks on her body were "love bites."
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Marshall said Link was a vengeful ex-girlfriend, one of several women Peeler was dating at the same time. The lawyer said Peeler pleaded guilty in the criminal case because officials from some NBA teams said that if the case remained unresolved, he would not be selected in the June 1992 draft.
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While at Oklahoma, De Costa was familiar with what KU was doing. The Jayhawks beat the Sooners twice during De Costa's time on the bench, and she's excited about what the team can accomplish this year with an experienced roster back from last year's Sweet 16 team.
She is seeking unspecified damages
Link's lawyer, Mary Coffey, told the eight-person jury that early in the morning May 30, 1992, Peeler appeared at Link's apartment in Columbia, Mo., entered her bedroom, locked the door and attacked her. After biting and choking Link, he held a gun to her head, Coffey said.
in 1966 and to the Timberwolves in February.
Link filed the suit in 1994 in St. Louis Circuit Court, but the day before trial, Marshall talked about the case on a radio talk show. Because a jury was not yet picked, Link had the case dismissed.
Coffey said Link has suffered post traumatic stress disorder and other ailments since the incident six years ago, when she was a Missouri student. Her suit against Peeler is "the only legal way Angie has of fighting back." Coffey said.
"It'll be a lot of fun," she said. "When we do get back to the Sweet 16 again, we should be prepared to make the next step to the Elite 8. We've got everybody back, and there's no reason to not think that way."
The next day, Coffey said, Columbia police stopped Peeler and found a gun in his car. Peeler pleaded guilty in June 1992 to carrying a concealed weapon, a felony, and of false imprisonment and third-degree assault, which were misdemeanors. A judge put Peeler on five years' probation.
Peeler, who ranks third on the Tigers' career scoring list with 1,970 points, was the Big Eight Conference Player of the Year in 1992.
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Anthony Peeler faces suit for 1992 attack involving ex-girlfriend
ST. LOUIS - A former college girlfriend is suing Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Peeler for damages suffered in what she said was a physical attack in 1992.
The civil suit opened in U.S. District Court on Monday.
The Associated Press
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The woman, Angela Link, said Peeler, a former University of Missouri basketball star, choked, bit her and held a pistol to her head.
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