The following is a written transcript from coaches following Columbus State's 4-1 win over Carson-Newman in the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship Round of 16.
Columbus State
Q1: Coach, if you would, go ahead and open us up with a statement on advancing to the Elite Eight for the second straight year.
Entlich: I'm super proud of the players. It's been a tough year with obviously the start that we had. To come up here to Jefferson City and to play an extremely talented team and a well-coached team, it was great for us. I don't think in the end that either team probably had their best performance. I think both of us could have probable played better, but at this point it's just survive and advance.
Q2: I know you had said, in one of the newspapers, that you had a bad memory about the last time your team came up here. After Carson-Newman equalized, what is going through your head at that point? And then you reel off three-straight goals?
Entlich: Yeah, I was checking the sidelines for the ball kids, because six years ago with .07 seconds left, one of the ball kids was sprinting down the sideline and placed the ball in the corner. A kid serves it and gets a goal, and we end up losing. But no, for sure I have so much respect for Carson-Newman and what Coach Richard has done here and beforehand when Phil was here. We have had so many great memories of games and I'm hoping at some point we can rekindle the regular season games, because we used to play. But, gosh, everything that Richard has done this year has been remarkable, considering where the team was the past couple of years. My hat goes off to Coach Moodie and his ability to get the program headed in the right direction.
Q3: Olivia Jerrell, obviously an impactful performer today, where does this individual game-performance rank during your time at Columbus State?
Entlich: Olivia has been great for us this year and scored goals when it mattered. I think that is the important thing. Along the way, you have players that can score against maybe some of the lesser-skilled opponents, but to be able to score two goals against a very good defensive team says a lot about her ability. In the end, it wasn't a complete performance. I keep saying that to our players. We had other opportunities to score and we weren't very efficient. I think the further you advance in this tournament, you have to continue to be efficient. We will go back and watch film and try to get better before Sunday. It's a quick turnaround.
Q4: Looking at Barry, the team that you will face in the Elite Eight, what strikes you from seeing them?
Entlich: Unfortunately, I only caught a few minutes of the game, so I'll have to rely a lot on our staff, because they were here for the whole game. Any team that comes out of the South is going to be talented, going to be athletic and strong. For me, honestly, it's just great to be able to play an opponent we haven't played this year. Today, it was fun playing a game against a team we haven't faced. Unfortunately for Barry, they had to play Tampa three times this year. A shout out goes to the NCAA. I hope they can look at the different brackets. Division II is the only division that has regional championships and we continue to beat up on each other by playing the same teams. I hope the NCAA looks at this and say 'hey, we should change.' And why is it always that the Southeast ends up playing the South in this Elite Eight game? Why can't we play someone else? I hope the NCAA is listening. It would be nice to play another opponent, but it's not going to change Sunday. We are going to play Barry who is a very well-coached team and they are talented. They have a lot of weapons and get goals from a lot of different people. We just have to recuperate and enjoy our time here in Jefferson City. Carson-Newman has been great hosts and we have really enjoyed our time. We had a great dinner at Gondolier and are going to the Dixie Stampede tonight to get a little southern cooking [laughs].
Carson-Newman
Richard Moodie Press Confernce
Q1: First off coach, give us an overall comment on the game.
Moodie: I thought it was an even game up until the 71st-minute and we got the goal to tie it up. Great team, well-coached. We knew it was going to be a tough opponent. We definitely got off to a good start to the game, first five minutes, and then we had to make some substitutions that we didn't plan on making. I'm proud of the girls. I think if you were to go out, any coach would want to go out in the national tournament, considering where we were last year and everything that we have achieved this year. I think it would be a bit farfetched to think we could have went on and won this region and all this kind of stuff, but I think deep down, we all believed that we were good enough. We had an off day and they were on and so the score line suggests just that.
Q2: Walk us through the mindset of your goal. You equalize in the 62nd minute. What was the hope there in bringing Holly [Talbut-Smith] back on to try and bring some more speed to the field?
Moodie: We had Holly on the sideline warming up, and then of course we scored, but then we just stuck to the game plan. Even then, I think, we were just off. We were off and I think the second goal they scored with the little break away when she cuts inside, I mean, everything that could have went wrong went wrong today for us. It's just one of those days and thankfully we haven't had many of them. It's just the third one we have had this year in our third loss on the season. I kind of hoped that the goal was going to reenergize us, not really reenergize us, but gives us that little belief or energy to give us the thought that we had a chance here. Sadly enough, it didn't and we didn't really see that change or that dynamic where the game shifted. They had just responded less than four minutes later by getting the second goal. We started pushing and put three in the back. At least we went out swinging.
Q3: There in the second half, you bring in Bailey Williams [Powell, Tenn.) on up top. Did she bring a little spark where you scored that goal?
Moodie: Perhaps. The thing we have to remember is that we are a young team. We are young. She is just a freshman. We are all over the park. We are freshman, but she gave a little bit to us. She is still trying to figure it out. She needs a good spring season now and hopefully it will get her ready for the fall. Great moment for her to get into the box and to have drives between two players, but you know, just that experience to be in front of the goal and to just get anything on it and send it on top of the keeper there. She kept trying to look for that perfect shot in the midst of havoc, but she did well coming on. I think for us as we move forward that is something that excites us. You know, we look at bench and we still have a lot of youth and some players that we think can really take this program forward. Two seniors played in this game today and that's what we lose moving forward to next year. We are excited about the recruits coming in January and excited about the recruits coming in the fall as well.
Q4: How do you put into perspective the success you had this year after just three wins last year?
Moodie: I don't know. It's been tough. I think without trying to sound overly-confident or cocky, I'm a good coach, we have a good coaching staff. We have all of the resources we need to do well here. I think it was just a matter of time before we got the players in that we needed to and to get it right. Even then there's still a lot that can go wrong. It's hard to put things into perspective, because for me as a coach, I expect things. When you work at Carson-Newman, I think there's a pressure on coaches to win and to win championships. We have a football coach that sets records every time he steps on the field and a softball coach that has a 1,000 plus wins. For me, I expect to do well, to succeed and win and I think it is only a matter of time before this women's team took off and did it. I think for me as a coach, I've had a great year as well. Both men's and the women's teams were performing and both played good soccer. Moving forward, there is a lot more work to do on the men's side than on the women's, because again, losing three seniors to ten. It's hard to put it all into perspective. I don't know. I'm still a little bit taken bit about the result, but again. A great, great season. Something the girls should be very proud of and even a coaching staff, something to be proud of after everything the girls have given us this year.
-CN-
