Alieu Musa
Year: Senior
Sport: Soccer
Position: Midfielder
Hometown: Greenwood, Indiana
After scoring his first goal of the season last week, senior midfielder Alieu Musa added another goal in DePauw’s win over Wabash on Wednesday, helping the Tigers secure a sport in the NCAC Conference Tournament. This week, The DePauw had a chance to sit down with Musa and hear his thoughts on the game, his senior season and the team’s mindset in preparing for the tournament.
The DePauw: What were your overall thoughts on the win on Wednesday?
Alieu Musa: It was a really big win for us. We needed that win to clinch a spot in the NCAC Conference Tournament. It took a lot of pressure off of us, and put pressure on the other team(s) in the conference. So it was a huge win.
TDP: Having secured a spot in conference, what’s next for the team?
AM: We’re not really sure we’re going to play yet. We’re hoping that we clinch the second seed and end up hosting the first game (next Wednesday) so we don’t have to travel to either Ohio Wesleyan or Kenyon, which would be a lot better for us… But… if we do win that game, we’ll have a pretty tough game on Saturday away.
TDP:Is there anything you guys are looking to work on between now and conference?
AM: Right now we’re… starting to click more and more, so right now, we (need to) keep the positivity up on the team. So far, we could be a little bit more clinical… There (were) some chances we should’ve put away that we didn’t… Our goal/shot ratio isn’t the best, so we need to figure out why that is and also be held accountable defensively.
TDP: Your two goals of the season have come in the past week. How do you feel being able to step up offensively at such an important point in the season?
AM: It’s kind of weird because last year, I played mostly in (a) defensive role, so I didn’t really get the chance to be (on offense)... This year I ended up moving up… Honestly, I don’t really care how the goals go in as long as the goals go in. It’s nice to be the person scoring the goals, but it’s also nice to be the person helping someone else score a goal too. So, the way I see it is that as long as we’re helping the team out, I don’t really care who gets the goal in.
TDP: As a senior, what has the success of this season meant to you, especially in comparison to the past seasons?
AM: I kind of miss a lot, actually. I’m starting to realize… that this is my last season. It’s starting to hit me slowly… I’m starting to freak out a little bit. This might be the end, and I don’t want it to be the end anytime soon… I want to keep playing for as long as I can because I do love my teammates. They’re awesome kids, awesome talent, (There are) a lot of hard working kids on that team. Hopefully we go all the way.