University of North Carolina Athletics
Quotes from NCAA Semifinal Game #1
December 2, 2000 | Women's Soccer
Dec. 1, 2000
SAN JOSE, CALIF. - North Carolina defeated #1-ranked Notre Dame 2-1 in the NCAA Women's College Cup semifinals Friday night at Spartan Stadium. Following are quotes from the participants following the game.
North Carolina Head Coach Anson Dorrance
"We are absolutely thrilled to be in the final, especially in light of such a great challenge in the semifinal. I felt that we were completely outclassed in the first half. I thought we got it together a bit in the second half and I think that our fitness basing and our depth were major contributors to helping us overcome an outstanding Notre Dame game."
(One Being Down One Goal at the Start)
"In a way you are and in a way you're not. You don't intend to play 90 minutes without scoring so if a team goes up a goal we're never in a panic. We don't even try to play for one-goal margins. We're pretty confident that we're probably going to get one. I wasn't overly concerned."
(Team's play in the first half)
"What I was concerned about is how miserably we played in the first half. My concern was what the heck was going on. There were several contributing factors. One was the size of the field. Early in a game when a team has a lot of energy, talent and commitment like Notre Dame, it's going to be hard for us to fly. So it really didn't give us a lot of room to play. Then we just played badly anyway. The size of the field and the slickness, so every ball that you served had too much pace on it and if it was the least bit inaccurate either the defender was winning it or we were mistrapping it. It was interesting. We had been preparing for Notre Dame in a U.S. inverted pyramid 4-3-3. Then of course, we didn't know that Dryer was going to be out. Then Notre Dame came in with a completely different system. We discussed how to beat this systemn that we thought Notre Dame was going to play and so then we get out there and the field is narrow and the players were playing against a system that Notre Dame wasn't playing. It took us basically an entire half to sort out that we have to play in our regular system and also that we have to play better. The thing I told my team at the half is that was the worst half of soccer we played all year and if we're only down a goal this is a miracle. Let's see if we can play a different second half and jump back in it. Fortunately that started the half and obviously two remarkable goals got us back in it and we are certainly relieved to be in the finals."
(Experience in Being in the Playoff)
"I think when you've been her it does help you. I can see some of the kids that haven't been here before that we played, some of our freshmen, were a bit jittery. I think that is a factor. But obviously Notre Dame has also been here. They have a lot of experience in that environment. It contributes tremendously. So those were all factors and that was probably a factor that helped us jump back in it, the fact that we've been here so often."
(Transition Game in Second Half)
"We went back to absoulte fundamental ideas like, why not trap and pass the ball on the ground to players on your own team, that was one suggestion that we sort of rehashed for a couple of minutes. Other fundamental things, I actually walked over to Jena Kluegel and I prentended that I was five yards away from her and I said now I'm going to pass the ball to Jena and I put my finger in a space right underneath her, which I was I was going to aim for her. In other words, I'm not going to put it on her right foot or left foot. I'm basically going to bisect her with my pass. We got down to incredibly esoteric stuff like that at the half because we were shanking everything and wacking everything. We were off balance and it was just a bloody nightmare. Unfortunately someone is going to have to watch that first half and I hope there is some sort of warning sign for youth. If you watch this and play this way it is going to cause all kinds of psychological problems for the rest of your life. I just don't see how you could play soccer any worse than that. Stuff that we reviewed at the half were basically very fundamental ideas like trapping, passing, serving balls at the correct pace and checking back to the ball. That was probably about it."
Physical Game Plan on Notre Dame Goalkeeper Liz Wagner
"No, although we wanted to get the ball in the attacking box. We've got Kalli Kamholz who is huge for us. She has the capacity, even on the narrow sideline, to launch the ball into the box. We are going to be dangerous on attacking throw ins up there. Also, we've got some big girls. Maggie Tomecka is big, Kalli is big, and we've got some girls that will jump up and bang. We didn't deliberately go after her, that's not our style. We certainly we challenge anything in the box and a part of our box organizational training is any ball that is served toward the goalkeeper, the function of the attacking personality is to get between the ball and the goalkeeper. A lot of people will just back off and let the goalkeeper have it, well that's a free ball. We've going to stick our heads in there between the ball and see what havoc we can create. We certainly made no intention to go after their goalkeeper."
(Save of the Game and Play of Catherine Reddick and Danielle Borgman)
"As you can see we made one switch between the starting half and the second. We got Reddick onto the field and also we got Borgman up top. I thought Borgman's energy up top was huge. Also Reddick in the back was also huge for us. She is the kind of girl that can trap and pass a ball with correct pace and accuracy five yards. We had her on the field for that reason and also she gives us all kinds of qualities. Obviously we play a high risk system. Branam is out there fishing, gets carved up and I thought it was great that Catherine was back there to basically make a game-breaking save, that was huge for us. I thought she was a major factor. Here was a freshman stepping up in a big game and having a huge impact for us."
(Play of Kim Patrick)
"She came in and we were struggling a bit up top in the first half, not just up top but all over the place. What she gave us right off the bat, the first ball that came to her, she managed to win an airball. The one thing that impressed me about Notre Dame is they are all tough up in the air. Their entire back line were very combative. We're pretty good in the air and we didn't win anything. All of a sudden Kim Patrick goes in there and was battling, throwing herself all over the place. Also, when the ball is coming to her feet she is not just wacking it and playing in panic. She is trying to play a bit. She gave us a huge lift and as a result we put her in very early in the second half and basically played her until she was injured. Then we put her back in and we felt she had an absolutely wonderful game and we wouldn't be sitting here about to go into the final without her tremendous performance for us."
(Team's Play in last 10 Minutes of First Half)
"Part of that I attribute to Kim. When Kim came in things started to happen. We started to trap and pass and she was winning head balls. Actually we did have that timeout period and we introduced the concept of passing the ball on the ground during the timeout."
Junior Midfielder Jena Kluegel on the UNC Corner Kicks
"I was hoping that one corner kick would eventually go in. I know all the corner kicks previous to the goal Notre Dame goalkeeper Liz Wagner kept picking up, so I knew I needed to pull out more. I was looking for a near post run which Kim Patrick made and scored a spectacular goal. Eventually, it all worked out so that was very nice for us."
Freshman Midfielder Jordan Walker on the Tar Heels' second goal
"The interesting thing about it was that before the goal UNC head coach Anson Dorrance told me to pull back, because Notre Dame had two players back. I pulled back to even out the numbers, but on the goal I saw it roll out and put my head down and hit it as hard as I possibly could. I knew that most of the players were on the near post side, so actually, earlier in the season that was how we had a few goals scored on us this way. Where the keeper was screened and there were a lot of people on the near side and the ball was shot far post and it went in. I learned from watching those previous goals so that is what I did and it went in. I don not think I have ever kicked a ball that hard in my life."
Sophomore Striker Kim Patrick on the Tar Heels' first goal
"It is kind of interesting because that run I made on the goal is not my typical run. When I made that run it is usually because all the tall people are out or the front line is out. It is funny that I did score off that run. It was in slow motion because I got in fron of Notre Dame defender Monica Gonzalez and she was winning balls in the back all over the place. I saw the ball and it was great timing on my run."
Kim Patrick on her injury
"Basically, I remember going up and getting hit. I think the pressure from the hit, and noit being able to open my eyes right away was scary. Other than that, I do not think I ever blacked at all."
Notre Dame Head Coach Randy Waldrum
"What do you say? How many times is this with Anson? I was really proud of the effort our kids gave especially with a lot of things we've kind of gone through this season. There have been some things we've kind of kept hidden. We've been very good defensively all year and I just think some of those things kind of caught up with us and also catching a good Carolina team. Until somebody beats them for a couple of years in a row I still think that they are the team to beat. My hat is off to Anson and the Carolina Tar Heels. They continue to find ways to get it done. But having said that, I'm really proud of what we've accomplished this year."
On whether Notre Dame's depth was a problem compared to North Carolina's depth
"Carolina has probably got two national championship teams sitting right there on the bench. It's amazing what he (Anson Dorrance) comes off with, from his first starting team to his second group. The rest of the coaches would die to have those kids on their team. He's got a tremendous amount of depth and I think he's only going to be deeper next year. Early in the year that's been one of our strengths. We'ved been pretty deep. It just finally caught up to us with the kind of injuries that we've had. What started out being a pretty deep team for us early, kind of ended up being pretty thin by the time we got through it."
On Kim Patrick's goal and influence in the game
"I felt we scouted them well and kind of knew what runs they make and where they place their players and we actually kind of rearranged our defending on the corners to compensate for it. I think it was just quite honestly one of those times where the player on our front post who was supposed to deal with it kind of fell asleep for a split second. All it takes in that kind of situation is for someone to get a step on you."
On Ali Lovelace's goal opportunity
"That was a huge play by Reddick on Carolina. I think at the time we were up one and if we get that goal I think we would be in a very difficult team to beat if we were up two. That was a great recovery by Reddick on that. That could've turned the game right there, had we gotten a second goal."
On parity in this year's post-season
"I think parity has arrived. I think if you look at this year's playoffs, if any of those eight teams would have won it, it wouldn't have been a huge surprise. I think the parity is certainly there. Each year it gets a little bit harder to get to this stage. But I will still go back and say that someone has to dethrone Carolina, and I don't mean for a year. If they lose Sunday I don't think it's time to right them off because they've proven they can lose and come back and win it the next year. There are going to have to be some programs that can knock them off for a couple of years before we can really say that parity has truly arrived."
On Ashley Dryer's injury and how it affected the game plan
"We normally play 4-3-3 and Ashley is a huge part of that midfield tandem of three. She suffered a third degree tear of her MCL last week against Santa Clara. We felt that not having her in, and seeing tape of Carolina, we were impressed with how effective Kluegel was and McDonald on the flanks. So we felt like Carolina didn't play a possession game, they were pretty direct. We felt that with Ashley hurt there was no reason to put three in the midfield because it was going to be bypassed anyway. I think for the most part we did pretty well early on in the game. I though we had a handle on Kluegel and McDonald on the flanks. The thing that killed us today was struggling to get the ball out of the back and clearances. We gave away far too many free kicks and set pieces. And you can't let Carolina get free opportunities at your team."
Notre Dame senior striker Meotis Erickson on the emotional change of the game
"I think in the first half, we actually had Carolina on their heels a little bit. I think we were going at them. I think too many teams go into the game thinking that it's Carolina and they sit back and try to defend for a full game and we discussed it beforehand. I think we were very confident going into the game and we didn't think that oh gosh, we're going to have to sit back against Carolina because we can't play with them. I think we were very confident that we could play with Carolina and I think in the first half we went at them and for some reason in the second half we began to sit back. In the games this year whenever we've had problems, it's when we started to sit back and kind of try and hold on to the lead rather than keep attacking and I think that was our problem."
Notre Dame Senior Defender Kelly Lindsey on the 11 second half corner kicks by Carolina
"I think our biggest problem was that no matter what we did we couldn't get it out of the back. Our game plan was to try and clear it out to the forwards and get them running at their backs and also in the second half it seemed like no matter what we did we either kicked it out of bounds or gave them another corner and they have that long throw. So, I mean over and over gain, no matter what we did, they were getting that set piece where they could set it up and send it right into our box. It was difficult and I felt they had way too many corner kicks. I don't think we've ever given up that many corner kicks and that definitely put us on our heels."
Lindsey on the last Carolina goal
"When I saw her line up for the shot, I felt it was in the way of our goalkeeper Liz, so I felt like it was in the hole. So, I tried to move right a little bitt to give Liz the view, but I guess from the view that Randy (ND head coach) had, it looked like she had a direct angle at the far post, so maybe I should have stayed, but I wanted to make sure Liz could see the ball. I don't know if she could or not."
