2003 SOM vs. Saint Peter's -- Postgame Quotes
11/26/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Michigan Head Coach Steve Burns
On the game ... The expectations were that this game was going to break open but we wanted that to be later vs. sooner with our feeling that we had a better level of fitness. Certainly, when the game broke open both teams had many chances and it just happened to be our day today. I think Saint Peter's is a good team and you have to give them credit for the Cinderella season they had this year."
On Michigan's third goal ... "For us it was like slipping into the hot tub. It was huge. Anytime a team can respond to a goal that was scored against them, it breaks the psychological component of the other team. Our guys did it twice today. We were up 2-0 and almost up 3-0 in the opening seconds of the second half, but they came back and made it a game. But for our guys to come back and get that two-goal lead speaks to our maturity as a team. Our team is mature enough now that they look to get after other team's jugulars when they sense that they can. Restarts we knew were going to be important, and here Chris Glinski scores on two and Adam Bruh scores on another."
On Trai Blanks' defensive matchup with Marco Orias ... "We knew that was going to be a key matchup. We knew that he was a right-sided mid who plays real withdrawn, which meant that Trai was going to be able to find him with our shape. Trai did a great job neutralizing him in the sense that he did not enough play in the second half."
On playing without Knox Cameron ... "Knox would have contributed to this game. One of the great things about having Knox is that a lot of teams will key on him and will forget about the Mike Whites or the Chris Glinskis that come up for restarts. So it was a good victory and a good team victory as well."
U-M Junior Forward Mychal Turpin
On Chris Glinski's two-goal performance ... "We knew coming into this game that Chris was going to have a big game. During the week of practice he was playing real hard. Coach Burns actually predicted that he would score and he proved Coach right."
On getting back into the goal-scoring mode ... "I was just working hard and trying to do the things that I was doing at the beginning of the season, and I just happened to score."
On the players' feelings now they have won their first NCAA Championship game ... "We still have another big game ahead of us. When you win by that many goals we are not going to charge the field. We have to continue our focus because we do have another big game coming up."
U-M Sophomore Defender Chris Glinski
On at what point the Wolverines felt they had control of the game ... "I would say the first time we went up by four goals (5-1). When we were up 2-0 and they scored to make it 2-1, we all got nervous, but once we countered and went up by four we felt a little bit better."
On the team's emotions heading into this game ... "The mode in the locker room was actually was more relaxed than you would expect it to be going into a big game like this. But I did have the nerves at the beginning of the game."
On his feelings ... "It definitely feels really good and we are going to relish it."
Saint Peter's Head Coach Cesar Markovic
Opening statement ... "Michigan was ready for the game. They came in well rested and they looked very energetic. They looked very eager to prove something in their first NCAA appearance."
On what he said at halftime to make the team come out so strongly ... "I felt that we were cutting through their defense pretty easily. Even though we were giving up stuff on the other end, we were definitely getting opportunities. We had been in this situation before, being down 2-0, and this is a team that won 18 games this year and believes in itself. We were not ready to give up at that point. Unfortunately it was not our day today. It is just one of those days where the ball does not bounce your way."
On the play of Mychal Turpin ... "We knew about the players Michigan had. It all kind of caught up with us today. One of the things I mentioned on the way here today is that we fought a tough fight Saturday night at Brown. We just lacked a little bit of juice and lacked a little bit of sharpness. I think it caught up with us on some of those plays where we had to jump and stay with someone. We just didn't quite have it in the legs."
On Michigan's ability to answer Saint Peter's goals ... "It was huge. It was actually seconds later. At that point, like I said before, our team is used to winning games and finding a way to win. We come out of the locker room, we score a goal and we are believing in ourselves and it is almost like a bucket of cold water on a fire. That was basically the game right there."
