Posted 10/6/06
Amber Piacentine is a sophomore midfielder and forward for the UW-Platteville Pioneer women's soccer team. She hails from Oconomowoc and has started all but two of the 25 games she has played at UWP. She leads the Pioneers into Sunday night's home game vs. Cornell at 7 p.m.
What brought you here to UW-Platteville?
"It was actually purely just soccer. I was all set and ready to go to Madison, I had everything figured out there and then coach (Chris Bianchi) came to one of our tournaments at the end of the year and recruited me. I was on and off but he kept pushing it so I ended up coming here and I'm glad I did. It's a good experience."
What was it like out in New York playing St. John Fisher, knowing they are a strong team?
"It was a good start to the season just to put us against a team that had a lot of skill. I know it was out first game and we lost but I was still a good experience. We saw how we were playing together and what we might come up against during season with our conference teams. It was a challenging team so it was a good start to get us prepared for what is to come."
What did it feel like when you scored the first two goals against MSOE?
"It felt good considering last year I only had two goals the whole season, so to get that in one game was kind of like 'Great, this will be fun.' I can tell I improved so it was exciting."
>How exciting was it to beat the 16-game losing streak against UW-La Crosse and the 19-game losing streak against UW-Stevens Point?
"That was so cool. I've only been here for a year, but it was still cool to tie two teams that were really good and had really good skill and it just showed how much potential and how much skill we actually have."
Now that you've played and tied two of the better teams in the conference, how do you think the rest of the season will go?
"I think we are definitely going to give every team a run for their money. Especially Oshkosh. Last year we lost to them 3 nothing. It's kind of like a Stevens Point, playing Oshkosh. I'm really excited to play them to see how we can step it up against that team but I definitely think that we are going to be ahead in the conference."
The Ralph E Davis Pioneer Stadium is in its second year after renovation. Do you like the newer field and how does it compare to the others in the conference?
"I love it, and I think that we are spoiled that we have such a good field. When I first came here, I really didn't like the turf but now I do and I prefer it over grass. Every time we go to another field with grass its kind of a disappointment, because our stadium is a really good facility."
Interview by SID student assistant Heather Schaufenbil