NCAA College Cup Semifinal Quotes
12/10/2011 12:25:00 AM | Men's Soccer
NCAA College Cup
Hoover, Ala.
December 9, 2011
Creighton Semifinal Postgame Quotes
Elmar Bolowich, Head Coach
Opening
statements…
“First off,
congratulations to Charlotte for an outstanding game. We expected that this
would be a tight game. At this stage, you're only meeting good teams. There's a
reason why Charlotte made it to the College Cup, and there's a reason why
they're now advancing to the final as well. I'm very pleased with the way we
played, especially in the first half, where I felt like we had a great rhythm
going. Second half, we lost it a little bit and tried to regain it. Overall, it
was a real hard-fought match, as you'd expect it to be at this stage. I'm very
proud of our players, especially our senior class for what they've accomplished
all season long. ”
On
Charlotte's game…
“I thought they did a
very good job defensively. I thought both goalkeepers had an excellent game.
There was nothing that we didn't expect. There was nothing that was new to us
or that we necessarily needed to change. We had some opportunities. The
crossbar got in the way a couple of times. That's just part of the game. When
it happens, it happens. You just find a way, and hopefully you get another
opportunity.”
On
Creighton's defensive strategy…
“We kept them off the
board, but we just missed to score that goal or two to win the game. It was not
necessarily that our goal was to have a shutout. You just try to play a good
game, an entertaining game, a game that gives you a chance to advance, put your
stamp on, dominate. I think we did a good job for most of the game. At this
point, obviously, it's hard to do for 90 minutes. It's difficult to accomplish.
That's all I can say. We just fell a little bit short on the other end of the
field.”
On
the entire season…
“I am happy when I
look at the season as a whole because we have done a tremendous job. We have a
great administration, we have great players, we have a great program, we have a
great school, we have a wonderful facility, and we did a good job managing our
season and being successful in it. When you're at this stage, you obviously
want more. You're that close, and that is the ultimate goal. When you come
here, you want to win it all. It's two more games and it's yours. I think we
were ready for it. We weren't hiding. We played our hearts out. The guys did
what they could, and their shots were just not falling tonight. Soccer is like
that.”
Ethan Finlay, Sr., Forward
On ending the
season with penalty kicks…
“It's really tough. We worked so
hard defensively. That's soccer. We knew coming into it, there was a chance for
PKs. You know, I think I looked at some of the guys up front, and we said,
'What more could we have done to prevent those PKs,' but hindsight is always
20-20. I'm really proud of our guys, I'm proud of our seniors, I'm proud of our
back line. We showed a lot of character tonight. We played for 110 minutes, and
we played our heart out.”
On whether
Charlotte could have won without PKs…
“Anything can happen in soccer.
I think that we never wanted to let it get to PKs. I don't think any team
really does because it does make it more of a level playing field. I think we
felt like we had a majority of the game throughout – not saying that they
didn't have good chances. We thought we played well. We created some good
opportunities for ourselves. A little stagnant at times – you could see that.
It's frustrating, but Charlotte is a good team. They defended really well today
and took advantage of the opportunities up top.”
On making it to
the College Cup…
“It's definitely a great
accomplishment. It wasn't the overall goal. So right now, I feel like we fell a
little short, but I think reflecting on what Creighton has given to me in
education and a great opportunity in soccer, I can't thank them enough. I'm
very lucky to have played a Division I sport at a school like Creighton that is
so dedicated to soccer. I think you'll see that in the future because I have a
belief that Creighton will be back in the College Cup sooner than later.”
Brian Holt, Sr., Goalkeeper
On his time at
Creighton…
“It's pretty hard to look back
at it already. I really enjoyed my time at Creighton with a community of
support, with the players I've had the opportunity to play with, just like
Ethan (Finlay). It's a bunch of hard-working guys that are dedicated to each
one of the players and to the program and making it better. I've had the
privilege and the opportunity to play at Creighton, and I've really enjoyed it.”
