Nov. 14, 2009
Recap | Box Score
Wisconsin Head Coach Paula Wilkins
On the pk shootout…
"As a player and a coach I’ve never won a pk shootout. It was my first experience. I’ve lost a lot though but I heard the streak ends, so I was able to end a streak today. I’m very happy for the players. It is a huge credit to them to step up in difficult positions and we have a lot of young players that were making big plays for us."
On the early goal off the throw-in…
"It panicked me to be honest. We don’t normally score that early. I thought there was a lot of game to be played and I knew the wind would make a big difference in the second half. At halftime I told the team the biggest thing is this is the end of somebody’s season and that the next 45 minutes would be very tough. It’s a learning process for our players still, but a great learning process and I’m glad we got the result. It’s exciting for them but I hope we’ve learned from that for Sunday."
Wisconsin Sophomore Michele Dalton
On the experience of going down to pk’s…
"There’s no words to describe it. What I was thinking at that moment and what I’m feeling right now, it’s surreal. Paula [Wilkins] talks about living in the moment and that was a moment I will never forget, ever. It was such an emotional thing and I’m glad we won."
On her strategy for pk’s…
"I’m going to contribute a lot of it to practice this week. We’ve ended every session with them and I was solid going into all of those in the practices so I was pretty confident coming out. The first three shots almost didn’t faze me. I came off and I knew I’d get at least one. When she stepped up for the fifth shot it just felt right. I dove left, I can’t even contribute it to good guessing, I just reacted."
Wisconsin Sophomore Midfielder Leigh Williams
On the flip-throw that led to her goal…
"It’s definitely a set play. We’ve been practicing it all week hoping for a result from it and luckily tonight we were able to. I actually thought Paige Adams was going to finish it so I was kind of dropping off waiting for any clearances. And I saw the free ball open and I instinctively went for it. Luckily I came out on top."
On their physical, tough reputation…
"I think we are. And I don’t think it’s something to be disappointed about. They came out and responded and were just as physical. Whenever a team is physical we pull together as a team and don’t take anything. I think that’s a really good quality of our team."
Arizona State Head Coach Kevin Boyd
On the outcome of the game…
"In the scope of the game, I think a tie was a pretty fair result; that’s what it goes down in the book as, a tie. We gave up that first goal in a 1:40 and that’s something we discussed and we just didn’t come out right away and handle it. We did a great job battling back after that goal. I thought we played very well in the second half, at least our intensity matching what they were doing. Overtimes… overtimes are overtimes. We had a couple of good chances but was cleared quite well and then somehow became a goal kick which I’m still astounded by. Then when it goes to pk’s, anything can happen."
On Katie Cochran and the pk’s…
"We put Katie in for the pk’s because she’s very good at them and we knew she’d get at least one. It’s up to the shooters to put the other five away and we just didn’t do it."
"We’ve been practicing them this week but we could practice a thousand of them and it’s not our strength as it turns out."
Arizona State Junior Midfielder Alexandra Elston
On your first free kick of the second half…
"I didn’t hit it as hard as I wanted to and she made a nice save."
On what Wisconsin was doing to control the game…
"They’re really physical. In the midfield it’s always a battle to get the second ball. They’re all pretty big girls out there and we aren’t quite as big as them, so it was hard trying to battle and trying to win our positions. We haven’t faced as many tall girls but we can play against them."
Central Florida Head Coach Amanda Cromwell
On the tale of two halves...
"Getting used to the field in the first half was hard. But the first-half goal was a typical Courtney Whidden goal, she just cleaned up the mess. But I thought we had to make adjustments on defense, and adjusted our formation a little bit to try to get more possession in the second half. And even against a strong wind in the second half we had some good possessions."
On the second half goals...
"The second goal was just a big-time goal with Courtney finishing it from Becca Thomas and Yvonne George. And Alex Brandt showed great composure by a rookie on the third goal. But Whidden is just a goal scorer. That's what she's been doing in her whole career."
On the play of UW-Milwaukee...
"That No. 10 for them up top is a good player. She's a handful. They are a very good team and we dodged bullets for sure. I don't think the score shows how competitive this game was."
On Aline Reis...
"Honestly in the first half she made a mistake by coming out on a chance and we told her to just let her defenders defend. Aline was then patient and made some great saves, and that's why she's an All-American."
Central Florida Senior Forward Courtney Whidden
On the offense finding a rhythm...
"I think getting used to the field was really important in the first half. That ball bounces everywhere. Our touches would have been perfect in Orlando and it was difficult here. So we had to learn the new balls and the new field. And getting up 1-0 in the first half was key, and our offense really started going in the second half. Things really clicked for us. We were winning balls, winning tackles and scoring goals."
Central Florida Sophomore Goalkeeper Aline Reis
On making seven saves in chilly conditions...
"It was different out there and if we would have made excuses about things (like the weather and the hard surface) we would have had trouble. But we know we can play in snow or in 100 degrees. We have one goal in mind, and that's winning. Even if we have to go around the country. And although I had seven saves, it was a team effort. We all worked well and my defense was great. We didn't play our best but we will work on that."
UW Milwaukee Head Coach Michael Moynihan
On the outcome of the game…
"This is a hard one to stomach. You look at the score line and it looks like we got it handed to us. I thought in almost every regard we out played them. We controlled the ball, we controlled the rhythm of play, and had it in the areas of the field we wanted. I thought our game plan was right on. We played attractive, we played hard, and we had a number of chances.
I have to credit their team, they had some really nice saves. You know the old inches speech; if you ever saw a game of inches this was one. It wasn’t for lack of fight or battle or anything, we just didn’t have that extra inch today. It just wasn’t in the cards for whatever reason. I’m really proud of them and after the game Central Florida was very complementary towards our team and the way we played. I’m very impressed as well to play that way; to come in and control the game so well."
