University of Connecticut Athletics
Post Game Quotes
11/21/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Nov. 21, 2010
2010 NCAA DIVISION I MEN'S SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP
SECOND ROUND · JOSEPH J. MORRONE STADIUM · STORRS, CONN.
PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES
NOVEMBER 21, 2010
UConn vs. Brown NCAA Second Round
Coach Ray Reid Quotes:
On changing goalkeepers before the shootout:
"We've not been very good at penalties and by no stretch is that Josh's (Ford) fault. I can't change the 10 shooters, so I had to change something. It went back to a couple of years when we haven't been successful in penalties. There's a bigger issue than that. You are in a tournament game. There's three things you have to do. Finish your chances, not give up a bad goal and put home your penalties. We didn't do any of them. As good as we played today, we didn't do any of them. We gave up a horrific goal to start the game. We had plenty of chances to get the second goal and then five shooters hit. The other two have to score and put them on target. Their keeper made one save. In one way, I was proud of them. They worked, they were resilient and they gave us effort. Brown had one opportunity over 110 minutes. Our guys were courageous and bounced back. But at the end of the day, you have to finish the chances you get if you want to advance in the tournament. You have to finish your penalties. There's no surprise we aren't playing anymore.
On the seniors Robert Brickley and Josh Ford and the success of the season:
"These two guys are wonderful. I had them here for five years each. They are captains. They gave me everything I asked of them for five years. They led by example. These two guys will be as hard to replace as (All-Americans) O'Brian White and Chris Gbandi were to this program. I don't think it was a successful season though. Our goal is to advance in the post season and we failed. Through no fault of these two (Robert and Josh). But if you are talking the team's body of work, then we failed.
On penalty kick losses and how to coach it:
"John Deeley (Associate Head Coach) and I argue about it all the time. And I'm not throwing my players under the bus. But I'm being honest. You have to be able to go in there, stare it down and bury it. Some of the best players in the world can't go in there and do it, that's fine, I'm not coaching the best players in the world. I need college guys to hit the back of the net. Let's be honest, most of the teams that play us want to get it into overtime and penalty kicks. If we can't put teams away, then we'll have to beat them in penalties. We can't miss two kicks, especially when one doesn't even go on the goal. You can't prepare for penalty kicks. You have to do a better job in the 90 or 110 minutes on the field. Same as Cincinnati in the BIG EAST Tournament, we were the better team and got eliminated with better players. We were eliminated and at the end of the day I wonder if we are the better team... I'm not quite sure."
On the Brown goal in the first half:
"We gave it away and the kid passed the ball, laid it off and the kid had a shot on goal that ended up going in. I saw it a little late but that's not a reason to not make the save. "
On senior year coming down to penalty kicks:
"It was tough to see it go down that way. It's part of the game. To not be in the situation (In goal for the penalties) is difficult but the decision was made. I'd still do it again. I'm proud of our teammates. We worked hard and got a goal, we created a lot of chances. At the end of the day, we didn't get it done, but I'm still proud of my team."
On senior year coming down to penalty kicks:
"You never want to settle the game with PKs but we weren't able to generate enough goals to win the game in regulation or in overtime. That got us in this situation. PKs are a tough way to win and a tougher way to lose."
On scoring less later on in the season:
"I think it's a combination of the teams we play as the year progresses. Every team, ourselves included get better as a unit and are harder to break down. That combined with the beginning of the year, we were able to score a number of goals in a number of games so teams will kind of come in and play for a counter-attack goal, much like Brown did today."
On the team having eight players earn individual awards this season:
"Having that many players earn awards is something we should be proud of. Collectively as a team, it's something to be proud of. At the same time, as a collective unit, we didn't win the BIG EAST regular season. We didn't win the BIG EAST Championship. And now, we are eliminated from the NCAA. So ultimately, the goals we set out as a team weren't reached. So it's tough to swallow."
Brown Head Coach Patrick Laughlin
Synopsis: "You all can see that it was a very exciting and hard fought game out there. UConn is an outstanding program, they made it very difficult for us and I think it's hard, someone has to advance, and we're on the good side of it right now, but penalty kicks are a difficult thing to handle after you've played so hard for 110 minutes, so again, UConn - an excellent program, they gave us a very difficult game, someone's got to advance and we were just better than them on the kick shoot-out."
On UConn's pressure in the last 15 minutes of regulation
"They were on top us definitely during that time, I think one of the challenges of the NCAA tournament is we played a 90-minute match on Thursday night against Boston College and it was a difficult game and there's going to be some fatigue, you have to battle through that, again I thought our team was outstanding in their ability to get through that. We used many guys today and they were able to come in and contribute and help us get the success."
On the pressure Brown showed in overtime
"I think for us we had some good energy going into overtime and had a bit more success, I don't know if we dominated, but I thought we had more of the ball."
On the penalty kick scenario
"We go 10 guys, that's what the NCAA has us do, we went 10 guys, and, in fact the guy that scored the game-winning PK stepped in for another player in the eighth slot."
David Wells (D, Sr.) on the mindset going into a PK
I think we've battled for so long, it's been a long game today, it's been a long season, and we came in and just said "we're not scared to fail."
Taylor Gorman (M, Jr.) on playing with the lead
"I always think the first goal is always helpful, the team was excited and had a lot of energy. It kind of helped us get more adrenaline throughout the game to keep us going."
Paul Grandstrand (GK, Sr.) on facing a PK situation
"Yesterday in training I probably faced 35 penalty kicks courtesy of [Assistant Coach] Gregg Miller. At the end of that he just said something simple, "go up there and do whatever's comfortable for you, you're not expected to save any, but if you do you're a hero."
