Wake Forest-UCLA Postgame Quotes
12/5/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Dec. 5, 2009
Wake Forest Head Coach Jay Vidovich
Opening statement...
"It was a tremendous college NCAA soccer game tonight with a tremendous amount of skill and soccer out on the field in tough conditions. I'm just very proud of my guys and the performance that they put out. They absorbed a lot of pressure from UCLA at different times. Hats off to UCLA - what a tremendous team and a tremendous year that they had. But once again, I'm just happy with the way my guys found their goals and the way they defended ours."
On pressure to get back to the College Cup for the fourth consecutive season...
"I think once you've been to the College Cup, it's just a tremendous experience. It's something you work for and your student-athletes work for all the time. And to get there once, you just want to always go back. For us, it's something we worked on and we wanted to do. It was in our goals and we've been working very hard on that since we lost last year to North Carolina at the College Cup. Pressures - I don't think there was as much pressure as we were under before. This group here, hats off to them. There are basically two starters from last year. We're so young. Zack [Schilawski] has played in four College Cups, he's gotten game-winners in national championship games, stuff like that, but he's never carried a season of 90 minutes. Nor have the Nick Courtney's or Austin da Luz's, etc. And to have these young men step up, not only as seniors who have been role players before, but now to have a bunch of young guys out there to do it and just see them progress throughout [the season]. We had no idea when we had our first couple of practices that we'd be where we are right now. But we did have a feeling when we played our first game against William & Mary. We said, `We can get a lot better here, and we know we're going to get better. If we keep going and staying the path, we can achieve this.' So [there was] less pressure than there was last year. Certainly we're excited about the opportunity to be back there and get people back there. It's Zack's hometown. It's where he hails from and played youth soccer. To go back there - it's where we won our national championship and the crowd treated us fantastically so we're ecstatic."
On having trouble scoring against Virginia this season...
"Well, we're one of many that have had problems scoring against Virginia. Right now, I think they're at 11 straight shutouts. We have total respect for them; we just call them a tournament team. They're very good at locking up defenses and make it very difficult to play. They stay around and survive. They know they're not going to get a chance that often, but when they do, they finish their opportunities. They're a tremendous team. This year, they beat us on our home field which broke a major record for us and then they got to advance on penalty kicks in the ACC Tournament. We have a lot of experience with them, a lot of history with them, so we're just looking forward to an opportunity to play them one more time."
On the game tonight...
"I think what was great was that we absorbed a lot of pressure. UCLA is a class team and a very technical team. They found a lot of seams with us but I think our guys stayed very organized. There weren't that many situations when you were like, `Oh my, here it comes.' So I thought we did a good job organizing. We always discuss our reactions to bad situations on the field. And we had a great thing happen - we got a penalty kick. But we missed it. We missed that but then right after that we struck blood again. We got the next goal. It was crucial. And I thought right after that we could have had another one in fact."
On the play of goalkeeper Akira Fitzgerald...
"I think part of it is he slips underneath the radar because of the quality of our team last year. We were dominant, and I don't think as many people recognized him. And I think, to be honest, he was overlooked this year in accolades because he saw a lot more shots than most keepers should at Wake Forest. He's kept us in games; he's made critical-moment saves. We usually ask a keeper to make one and he may make two or three a game for us. Akira's done a fantastic job for us. He's been one of our leaders since the beginning and he's one of the reasons why we're here."
UCLA Head Coach Jorge Salcedo
Opening statement...
"It was obviously a tough game. You look at the season and the season's a body of work. It was definitely a factor coming and playing Wake Forest here at Wake Forest in the quarterfinal. I thought overall it was an even game. You look at the shots, you look at the fouls, you look at the corner kicks. I think we were tied in corner kicks, close in fouls and saves - I think they had four saves, we had three saves. It was just one of those things where they made the plays that made a difference, and we didn't tonight. Wake Forest is obviously a very good soccer team. I thought we had a good game. I think we can walk out of here holding our heads held high and feeling proud of the effort. Unfortunately, only one team goes forward."
On the conditions of the game...
"Obviously, it was cold, but both us and Wake Forest experienced severe cold weather in St. Louis a couple years ago. A lot of these guys played and participated in that College Cup and so the cold wasn't a factor. I think the field was a little bit of a factor. It was a heavier field. They've got some good athletes like Corben Bone in the middle of the field that run well. I thought in the second half that it slowed us down a little bit."
On Wake Forest's strategy throughout the game...
"Jay [Vidovich] changed their tactics. They went from playing with one defensive midfielders to two holding midfielders. They pushed Corben [Bone] outside a little bit and played more in a diamond. They were bunkering in after they scored for about 10 minutes and, unfortunately, we just couldn't break them down for us to get our goal. We had some chances, some broken plays in and around the box that we didn't finish. Like I said, I thought the game was there for us to score a goal - and we've scored two goals in each of the playoff games that we've played - and I thought tonight we had a good chance to score a goal or two."
