Men's Soccer Press Conference Quotes
11/12/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Nov. 12, 2002
Wake Forest men's soccer coach Jay Vidovich and junior Brian Carroll, a M.A.C. Hermann Trophy finalist, met with the media on Tuesday leading up to this weekend's Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.
The Deacons (14-0-4) are the #1 seed, have a first round bye and will play the Virginia-Duke winner on Friday evening at 5:30 p.m. at the SAS Soccer Stadium in Cary, N.C.
Head Coach Jay Vidovich
On being undefeated:
"It is nice to be the only undefeated team in the country, but our goal is to go out there and bring home the championship. I don't think the kids think about it. We ended up with a scare with the tie against St. John's, and the tie comeback against Clemson where we were down. Those were all wake up calls to me, and we consider them losses."
On getting a first round bye in the ACC Tournament:
"It is an advantage. It will allow our staff to observe the other teams Thursday, and we will not get injured and be healthy for Friday."
On reaching team goals:
"One of our goals was to be the top team in the conference. We want to go out and win the ACC Championship and give ourselves a chance to win the national championship as well. The guys have put themselves in the correct position, and it helps to only have to win two games to win the ACC Championship. The guys have done everything we have asked of them."
Junior midfielder Brian Carroll
On being undefeated:
"It's very exciting for the program and the guys on our team. I don't think there was one particular goal that we set out for ourselves in the beginning of the season. Once we got to a point midway through the season, we realized we could obtain a goal, and we just worked hard to get it."
On the pressure of being undefeated:
"I think we have already bypassed that pressure. We haven't had a loss, but we've tied against North Carolina and Clemson. We realized from those games that we needed to pick up our play. It made us realize that a loss could come if we didn't pick up the intensity."
On the need for luck in soccer:
"Sometimes opponents might not be playing as well as you are, but they find that goal or get some lucky thing running by you. Soccer is just a funny sport that way. The effort and intensity we've put forth in practice I hope will help us find that lucky streak.
On his ACC Tournament expectations:
"I expect the game against Virginia or Duke to be good, and the winner we play after that I assume to be difficult and good. So I'm hoping we get passed the semifinals and into the finals, and I'm confident we will. No one is going to give us anything, everything is going to have to be earned, and from here on out it is going to be tough."