College Cup Opening Press Conference Quotes

Dec. 13, 2007

Head Coach Sam Koch Opening Statement:
"It's been a fantastic season and we're excited to be here. People have treated us extremely well so far. The facilities are fantastic. We're just very happy to be able to keep playing, and we're extremely happy with the support we have been getting from our school, our fans, in the last couple of games to make sure we're here. Playing in the ice the last couple of games was something we were alright with, but we certainly enjoyed practicing on a field that is not frozen."

On how satisfied he is for the team to keep going:
"We're pretty satisfied that we're one of four teams practicing right now, but we feel we have a job to do on Friday. We're not here just to be here, we're here to keep playing. We've been talking about it all season about how we want to practice next week, we want to practice the next day, and this group really enjoys going out to training and being with each other. We're not here for one game, we're here for two."

On what the team ideally looks like while playing:
"We want to play a simple game, safe in the back, a few combinations in the midfield, and attack in the final third in a way that fits the game, whether it's balls being crossed in or combinations at the top of the 18 yard box. It all depends on what we feel our strengths are going against their weaknesses. We've been able to do that on a good field. It's been different in different games depending on the opponent, and we've been growing as a team as the season's gone on. I feel our front-runners now are more comfortable with each other and they're able to combine better together, and they combine with our midfield a little bit better. We see what the other team gives us and we take it."

Bryan Hogan On the feeling of being at the College Cup:
"I think it's a lot of excitement, kind of shock. I don't think anyone realized how big it was until we walked into the stadium and saw the field and everything. It was a lot of excitement."

Zack Simmons On what the team has done to get to the College Cup:
"I think we've just come together as a team. We've built character and we've really built on the success that we've had, especially in the A-10, with conference play and the tournament. We came together in our time in Dayton (Ohio) where we won the A-10 championship. I think we've built on that and just carried that momentum and the quality of play that we brought there on to the tournament. It's taken us pretty far and we hoping to keep it going tomorrow."

Kenny Cook On the team's style of play:
"I think our style of play we have doesn't go in one direction or the other, I think it's more conducive to playing more direct. Sometimes its not what you would hope. The more passes you have, the more chance you have of screwing up. The field's absolutely beautiful out there, we can't wait to get on it."

On mixing up the way the team plays:
"We do play direct at times because it's what's been working for us, finding our striker's feet in the back and running the play after that first pass. But we can definitely mix it up."

-Courtesy NCAA

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University of Massachusets Athletics

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