The following is a written transcript from the post game press conference following Columbus State's 2-0 victory over Barry University in the NCAA Women's Soccer Elite Eight match up at Carson-Newman University.
Columbus State coach Jay Entlich
Q1: Coach, if you would, open us up with statement about this win.
Entlich: I'm super proud. Gosh, it's so tough to get to this point and we have been to this point four or five times now. I have to give a lot of credit to Mark Sheldon and Mark Francis, good friends of mine. We came up with a motto this summer and we chose cross the line. Every day for the last three and half to four months, we have been talking about crossing the line and today, we crossed the line. Unfortunately, we just have gotten to the Final Four and we aren't done. A lot of teams are happy to just get there and so my statement at the end of the game was that we aren't done. Nobody cares who comes in second, third and fourth place. We have to keep going and working hard. We aren't done yet.
Q2: I was watching the end of the Bridgeport game, the team you will be playing in the Final Four, and they rushed the field and were ecstatic. Your team was more composed on how you celebrated and had a business-like attitude. What's that say about your team?
Entlich: I think it is also just showing respect to your opponent a little bit. I have so much respect for Barry and the year that they have had. Again, nobody remembers who comes in second, third or fourth. If we are fortunate enough to win the national championship, we will storm the field, but we haven't arrived yet. We have talked a lot about how players when they feel like they have arrived, you might as well retire. We have to understand that there is more work to be done and we can't be happy just getting there. We want to go on and win this thing.
Q3: You break through in the ninth minute. How does that affect the way you coach on the sideline and how your team feels breaking through so early?
Entlich: Well, it is certainly nice to get an early goal. We have been in that situation before. Last year against Rawlings, we scored early and we didn't hang on. So, I was really proud of the kids today. They believe that this is our year. I think that that says a lot about the character of our program. We stayed in our shape for the remainder of the game. In the end, we kind of shifted and played more defense, but we want to attack. We want to score more goals. Even though we scored early, we still tried to connect. We almost got a second goal, I think it got cleared off the line. A lot to be proud of, but again, I keep going back to we aren't done. We have a very tough opponent in Bridgeport. Magnus Nilerud is a good friend of mine and I love the fact that we are playing another great coach. Looking forward to travelling to Pensacola and seeing what we are made of.
Q4: You get two weeks off, what do you do to get ready for that Final Four matchup?
Entlich: The beauty of being here at Carson-Newman is I have a great coach in Richard Moodie and I was just sharing and picking his brain a little bit. He said that when his men won it, he kept them for Thanksgiving and trained them every day out there on the snow on the turf. I love hearing other people and how they prepare. I've got some thinking to do and don't want to share any secrets. Magnus might be listening. It's always great to hear how other people approach things and to get some ideas. We are done. We have to keep working.
Columbus State forward Nicole Corcione
Nicole Corcione Press Conference
Q1: Last season, you guys lost in the quarterfinals. This year, you get to the national semifinals. What's it feel like to be at that point?
Corcione: It's just so surreal and it's crazy to be the first team to make it past this round. We are all just so happy and amazed, but we knew we could do it. It's a cool opportunity and I'm really excited for the next game.
Q2: Walk us through your goal in this game and what you saw when it went in.
Corcione: We got a free kick because Mandy [Janowitz] got fouled right outside the box. [Amanda] Traynor placed a really good shot on goal and it was kind of in the middle and I just kicked it right in to put us up.
Q3: You guys were up one to nothing in just nine minutes, what does that do for the confidence of this team knowing you can score that early?
Corcione: We always seem to do really well when we score early. It always gets us going, so it was really good to score early in this game. It was a great goal and really boosted us to get us going in this game.
Q4: This is the first Final Four in the program's history, what does it mean for you to be a part of that?
Corcione: Amazing. I am really excited to be here. We have a great team this year and it wouldn't be possible without every single person on this team. So, it is really cool to be here because of everyone.
Q5: Coach said he's not sure what is going to happen over the next two weeks, but what do you think the team needs to do to get ready for the Final Four?
Corcione: Just practicing and getting a little bit of fitness in to make sure we are getting our legs good to go. I think if we keep doing what we have been doing then we will be good.
Barry University coach Denise Brolly
Denise Brolly Press Conference
Q1: Coach, can you go ahead and open us up with a statement about this game?
Brolly: It was an experience. What a journey this whole season has been. It's unfortunate. We just didn't get the break on the ball and I think we are a better football team than that, but it didn't reflect in the score today. Congratulations to the other team. They did what they had to do and that kind of sums it up for us.
Q2: They get a goal in the ninth minute. Did that change anything that you wanted to do in this game and how did your team respond?
Brolly: I think we all saw it, we could have been one or two up in the first five minutes. We just didn't take our chances on the day and it cost us this year. Again, I think our team is the better team, but it doesn't matter. That's football. They scored two goals and we didn't. Two off set pieces.
Q3: We saw that this team can be really electrical on the state in terms of scoring, you are top-five in the country in that. You hold them to two goals and then they didn't score until really late. At halftime, what things were you saying to your team to try to make some adjustments?
Brolly: Well basically, I just told them to settle down. Obviously, they were a little hyper trying to get the goal back, but I told them if we settled down, we were going to get chances. And we did, but again, we just didn't finish and it wasn't for a lack of trying. As you saw, I think there was 10 or 15 seconds left on the clock and we were still battling. I think that sums up our team for this season. I'm really proud of them all and obviously for our seniors, they were fantastic all season. We are proud of what we have done.
Q4: When you look at the future of the program, how does a game like this fuel the fire for next season?
Brolly: I think these seniors have really helped us come along and to get back to where we are supposed to be. I mean, obviously we have three national titles and we want to get another one. So we are getting closer and closer. You can see the progress. Good things are happening at Barry University. We will get better and recover and we will try again next year.
