University of Tennessee Athletics
Clemson-Charlotte Post Game Quotes
November 16, 2007 | Soccer
Charlotte Head Coach Jon Lipsitz
(Opening Statement) ???First of all, I want to give all the credit to Clemson.?? They put on a tremendous performance. It???s not the easiest thing to come back from a deficit, so credit goes to them for a great victory.?? I wish them all the luck on Sunday.
???I think the irony of the game was that as we went out for the second half, we told our team about them (Clemson) going into a 3-4-3.?? We suspected that they were going to make that adjustment at halftime.?? Sometimes in athletics, just because you know doesn???t mean that you can handle it.?? I thought that they put our back line under a level of pressure that we weren???t to handle.?? That was the difference in the game.?? There wasn???t any tactical surprise to it; we knew it was coming.?? It was still something that we did not handle well.
???We haven???t given up a breakaway all year.?? One of the things we pride ourselves on is that we don???t give up breakaways and we don???t give up set piece goals.?? All four goals in the second half were a set piece and three breakaways.?? Clemson did something to us that has not happened to us all year, and the credit for that goes to them.???
Charlotte Player Lindsey Ozimek
(On Whether Clemson???s Second-Half Performance Was Due To A Domino Effect Or Charlotte Being Tired): ???It???s definitely not us being tired. We pride ourselves on being one of the most fit teams.?? Fitness is our core.?? I would definitely not attribute it to us getting tired or a domino effect. We are not the kind of team that caves or folds, whatsoever. It wasn???t like they got one, and we put our heads down and were like, ???oh, no, here it comes, make it two??? and just gave up.?? No way.??
???As coach said, they just threw so much pressure at us, and it was something that we???d never seen the whole season.?? We???ve had stuff similar to that, but not that sort of pressure and with that caliber of players.?? We gave up goals that we don???t usually give up.?? It???s a credit to them, but by no means did we fold.???
Charlotte Player Hailey Beam
???(On Whether This Season Is Something They Can Build Off Of, Even Though It Is A Setback Right Now): ???It???s definitely not a setback at all. This is the third time we???ve made it to the NCAAs in our program???s history. It???s an expectation (getting to NCAAs) that we have set that it is not just good enough to get to the A-10 Tournament or to win the A-10 Tournament, it???s to win that and get to the NCAAs.?? I think we met that this year, so now it???s going to be an expectation for my next two years and the rest of the program???s history, I hope, to continue to get back to this point.?? And it is not just to get here, but then to continue to move forward and get to the Sweet 16 and continue to move on and move up.?? It???s not a setback.???
Clemson Head Coach Todd Bramble
(Opening Statement) ???First off, I???d like to congratulate Charlotte. It was a special night the way the game unfolded for us. I???m a little concerned about the way we came out in the first half. We???ll have to evaluate some of our preparation; we just seemed a bit off tonight, a step slow and weren???t very sharp.?? If we do that against Tennessee on Sunday we???ll probably find ourselves in a deeper hole than just 2-0.
???We moved some players around on the field to get ourselves in better attacking position. We had to have a different attitude at that point. We couldn???t even think about connecting passes thru the midfield, we just had to focus on moving the ball forward as often as possible knowing that we have the athletes to do something with it when we get it up there.???
Clemson Player Elizabeth Jobe
(On Falling Behind 2-0 After Losing To Charlotte 3-1 Earlier This Season): ???I don???t think us being down 2-0 had anything to do with our last game (against Charlotte) and losing that game to them at all. At halftime we knew it was going to be a true test to come out, and if we are the team we think we are, that we trained really hard to be, to come back and win this game.
(On Coming Out Firing In The Second Half): ???At halftime we all believed that we could come back, and we put the pressure on them the first part of the second half.???
Clemson Player Courtney Foster
(On The Offensive Strategy In The Second Half): ???All we were trying to do was get flicks on behind the defense because we knew we could outrun their backs.???
