University of Tennessee Athletics
2003 NCAA SOCCER TOURNAMENT - 1ST ROUND - POST GAME QUOTES
November 14, 2003 | Soccer
Nov. 14, 2003
Tennessee Head Coach Angela Kelly:
(opening remarks) "I have to give a ton of credit to Oklahoma. They were very disciplined and it was frustrating at times. They were able to expose and exploit us in the back at times. They find their open player very well. Randy [Evans] has them organized. He's a great coach. In that, a win is a win as ugly as it might have been. We could have been better organized, especially in the mid to attacking third. That is the game of soccer. It can be frustrating. I feel fortunate we were on the winning side tonight."
(on winning the Southeastern Conference tournament) "I gave my girls a day to enjoy the SEC win. They knew that Oklahoma was not to be taken lightly. I haven't been able to get Bi 12 teams on my schedule. I tried to prepare my team as best as I could. They did well enough to win. Emotionally, there were no excuses because they were emotionally drained. They had plenty of time to regroup and get re energized."
(on progression in the NCAA tournament) "We haven't proven anything yet. We will be extremely fortunate to get out of Knoxville. Georgia is one of the best teams we have faced. They are explosive and dangerous. We better recoup and get our legs back and prepare to battle on Sunday."
(on SEC winning all five NCAA tournament games) "I credit all of my fellow coaches in the SEC. We made a collective effort to bring in better talent in the conference. We are going to go to playing all the teams in the conference. If the NCAA is going to rank conferences and they do take this tournament into account, the SEC has to be one of the top conferences in the country. The ACC has held that for many years. The teams in the SEC can play a ton of different styles. We have the facilities, bodies and athletes to play with people in the BIG EAST and Big 12."
(on team success) "I think our conference prepares us. I used the out of conference schedule to prepare our team for anything we might see. I hate to lose, but I will take those losses as long as we can learn from them. I know for a fact that I am here to win the conference championship. Joan [Cronan] did not ask me to win September. We try to peak and win the conference championship. You have to play three games in four days. We try to get better ever week. Nationally, it prepares us for the NCAA tournament."
(on being satisfied as a coach) "I am never satisfied. We can definitely get better. I am pleased with what they have accomplished. I am always striving to get them to play better and better. I try to push them to that level."
(on team peaking at the right time) "We have collectively played minutes of a game at the top level. I don't think we have put together a full 90 minutes yet."
(on Georgia) "They are a talented and athletic team. Anyone in the NCAA tournament is going to be great from now on."
Junior Forward Lyndsey Patterson:
(on ultimate goals) "We are always striving. We can always be better. We all had the same goal in mind and that is a national championship. We strive to get even better. We can always get better."
(on team progression) "We have the same type of people coming in with the same attitude, want and heart. Everyone is going for the same goal. We are doing everything we can to get to the next level."
(on game against Oklahoma) "I felt like we were prepared, but it was a little frustrating because they know how to play their style. It was frustrating to beat someone and someone was in your face right away. Everyone should want to score. That is how I have to go into the game personally."
Senior Forward Rhian Wilkinson:
(on playing at home for the first time this season) "I am excited about it. I didn't think I'd get the chance to play at home again. It worked out for me. I was happy. We got the win and it was good enough for me."
(on getting to the next level as a team) "We have an incredible amount of heart. Nothing replaces heart. That's why we think we can do so well because we can work as a unit. We will need heart to get past Georgia. They are a great team. It is always a great game."
Oklahoma Head Coach Randy Evans:
(opening remarks) "The game was a little exhausting. Obviously, it was disappointing. You don't want to be satisfied with showing up. You want to come in and be successful. I was very proud of my team's performance. Tennessee is a good offensive team and you know exactly what they are going to do and you can't stop them anyway. They have some individual talent that is hard to deal with."
(on Tennessee's style of play) "It is a little different because we haven't played each other. With everyone in the conference, there are no surprises. I wouldn't think there are too many things that are common. I think the novelty is playing a team this talented and that you haven't seen before."
(on raising the bar for Oklahoma soccer) "The natural progression of ours to get better and better. It's nice to be rewarded with a bid to show that your hard work is paying off. We have set a new bottom on our expectations. Anything short of what we have accomplished this year would be a major disappointment for us."
(on Logan Womack) "When I was recruiting Logan, she had to watch a 4-13-1 team play. She had to watch that team play. She took a leap of faith that it was going to work. She's been instrumental in getting us to where we are. We are well ahead of the race from where we started."
(on returning to Knoxville [Evans is a '91 graduate of Maryville College]) "It has been fun. A couple of people I have gotten to see and spend time with have made the trip special for me. Things have changed a lot here. It is fun to be back. It was this field where one of the crowning achievements in my career happened when I was with Vanderbilt as an assistant coach and we knocked off a highly-ranked Virginia team."
(on wife playing previously for Tennessee) "She's incredibly loyal to the Crimson. She has a lot of respect for Tennessee. She wishes them well in every game that they will play minus one. We went back into a really nice locker room. It was fun to walk by and see her name up on the wall. It was kind of neat."
Senior Forward Logan Womack:
(on legacy left for Oklahoma) "It's been a great year. We have done well as a team. I am just glad for me I was able to end my career actually making the tournament for the first time. I couldn't be more excited for the team. A lot of my success is due to my teammates. I couldn't have done it without my team. I am glad to
Georgia Head Coach Sue Montagne Patberg:
(opening remarks) "It was an incredible game and an incredible 12 minutes. I am very proud of our team. We took some chances and they paid off."
(on second half adjustment) "About 20 minutes left, it didn't matter if we lost, we lost. We went to a 3-4-3. We didn't know how much time Geneil Newbern could play. We swapped forwards and then Geneil got the first goal. When she went down with 12 minutes, we knew we had to step up and go for it."
(on Geneil Newbern's injury) "We knew she could go. We just weren't sure how strong her ankle was going to be. We were thin on forwards. We just told her she had to go for the entire time."
(on second round expectations) "We are extremely excited. We beat a heck of a good Clemson team. They are dangerous for 90 minutes. We are relishing the fact that we just won that game. We are a bit shocked. We are excited to be playing on Sunday. We just want the team to enjoy the moment. Tomorrow, we can start thinking about Sunday."
Senior Forward Jessica Winton:
(on assist to Geneil Newbern) "I saw Geneil faced up with two players. She's strong and has a hard shot. My main goal was to get her in. Right when I saw her, I knew it was just one touch. I was trying to go to her feet and she split those two players. I know we brought it to them at a totally new level. We knew that it was just 12 minutes and this is it. We wanted to win that game."
Freshman Defender Randi-Lynn Bruso:
(on assist from Geneil Newbern) "It was a team effort. She has one of the strongest arms on the team. Any ball coming to the goal line is dangerous. The defender was inside of me and I went around her and was able to slide my foot in there."
Clemson Head Coach Todd Bramble:
(opening remarks) "We never let up. I don't have any words to describe [Georgia's] goals. We dominated every phase of the game. Then they got a goal to tie it up. We went back to dominating, but then they got a goal off a set piece. It is a cruel sport sometimes. There is no question. The amount of pressure we had on them, if we would have kept the ball away from them we would have been fine. We never got down on ourselves."
(on Georgia's first goal) "We were trying to clear it. The ball ended up at her feet. It was just a matter of a fortunate ball at her feet. We had some chances, we just didn't bury them."
(on Georgia's second goal) "We work on set pieces several times during practice. We have seen better ones than that. I am not sure how it got through. I will have to take a look at the tape."
