Quotes from Wake Forest's College Cup Press Conference
12/10/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Dec. 10, 2009
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CARY, N.C. - Wake Forest seniors Austin da Luz, Akira Fitzgerald and Zack Schilawski, along with head coach Jay Vidovich met with members of the media on Thursday afternoon at the team's College Cup press conference.
A transcript of the press conference is below.
Wake Forest Head Coach Jay Vidovich
Opening statement...
"It's been a tremendous year for our program in terms of the growth of our student-athletes. I'm very proud of what they've done and, in particular, the group of seniors that are up here. They filled in a big void with a lot of tremendous players leaving our program. I think they've done a tremendous job of leadership and getting us back here to Cary. We're very excited to be back in the College Cup and have an opportunity to see if we can advance and be alive on Saturday for another training session."
On what has changed with Wake Forest from the beginning of the season...
"We've done everything a lot better. The way we defended, we were much more compact as a team. We defend with more urgency. In our attack, we're finding ways to get the ball to Zack (Schilawski) to finish. Austin (da Luz) has done a tremendous job of servicing different players. The team chemistry part has improved. It's been overall progress in everything that they do. When we went through preseason, we haven't changed too much since that time with what we're doing. We're just much better at it now."
On Virginia...
"We have a formidable opponent. UVA is athletic, they're deep. They're the best defensive team in the country. It's going to be a tremendous thing for us to try to break them down. They're very capable of exploiting a mistake that you make and getting a piece of you. We have to make sure we err on the side of safety and that we don't give anything away. We know we're a quality attacking team and we're going to get our chances. The question is, will we find the back of the net? If we do, we'll be fine."
Wake Forest Student-Athletes
Senior Midfielder Austin da Luz
On taking younger players under his wing this season...
"As a senior class, we're pretty experienced. We've seen just about all there is to see in college soccer. Bringing the young guys along is just more of us acting like we've been there and showing composure in difficult situations. It's nothing huge. They're all good players and at Wake Forest for a reason because they show those kinds of characteristics and the potential to become the players that we like to think we've become at this point in our careers."
On thoughts going into the Virginia game...
"It's a little bit surreal. Like you said, I've been around the program since I was nine or 10 years old. I'm just proud to have the opportunity to be a part of these last four years and have a chance to take this program to the top level of college soccer. I try not to think about it too much. It's definitely emotional. It really means a lot for me to be here one more time and try to get another one for the program."
Senior Goalkeeper Akira Fitzgerald
On Virginia's attack...
"Everyone talks about how athletic they are. The biggest thing is just limiting the amount of mistakes that we make. They're very opportunistic in terms of capitalizing off the mistakes that we make. Defensively, we talk about being clean and how to lose the ball. I think the biggest thing is to minimize the mistakes that we make and the areas that we make them in."
On the challenge of penalty kicks...
"At that point, it's an exciting opportunity that you can help your team win the game. As a goalkeeper, you're expected to make one or two saves and if you do that, you make your contribution. When it gets to penalties, you can be a hero at that point and that's an exciting feeling for all goalkeepers to have. You want to try to save one or two shots in the shootout and put it back on your guys to make their shots. It's an exciting feeling, but I think we'd rather just go ahead and play good soccer and win it in regulation."
Senior Forward Zack Schilawski
On being back in Cary, the site of the team's 2007 national title...
"I think everyone is excited. We've had a lot of good memories here. We've played a lot of games here. Obviously, in 2007, the biggest moment of our careers took place on that field. There are a lot of good memories and a lot of good moments, and I think we're excited to be back."
On playing in his hometown...
"I think it will be an emotional game either way, obviously. With the kind of format it is, the farther you go, the more it hurts when you go down. I think in Cary with a lot of my family able to watch and be here makes it special to have them watch me play the last games of my career."
On what draws top players to ACC schools...
"I think the precedent had already been set, as far as we're concerned. When we came out of high school, that's where the best players went and where the best teams were. If you're an ambitious soccer player, you want to play with the best and against the best. That was my thought coming out of high school. I wanted to play in the ACC. I'm from North Carolina. I was fortunate enough to watch a lot of games and a lot of good teams. I wanted to play with those players and see if I had what it takes to play with them."
