Indiana University Athletics
Indiana vs. Northern Illinois Postgame Quotes
11/15/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Nov. 15, 2006
Indiana Head Coach Mike Freitag
Opening statement:
"We've found out over the years that this first game, the second round game always seems to be the toughest game. I credit Northern Illinois, (head coach) Steve (Simmons) and his team fought tooth and nail. There are a lot of different ways to play the game of soccer. Their style is one that's very difficult to play against sometimes. They are direct and they generate a lot off of restarts, and they are good in the air and they have big boys. I want to credit the Hoosiers tonight for fighting tooth and nail with them and handling their style of play. It was a good win tonight, a hard fought win. I was worried with the conditions, but I thought our guys handled it very well. We found a way to win. That is what I have been saying all year long, that this team finds a way to win. I am glad that one is over, and we will move on to the next one."
On the wet playing conditions:
"We like to play the ball hard on the ground and in these conditions, it's hard to do that. Sometimes it rolls, sometimes it stops. It's not conducive to the way we like to play. We like to knock it with a fast surface where we can knock it around and move the ball. You have to be able to adapt, and that is why I am proud of this team. We have been able to adapt under different conditions, and again that is why I keep saying that this team finds a way to win, because they know how to win."
On responding to NIU's height advantage:
"It's something we have worked on throughout the year. We are not a big team, but I credit guys like Brian Ackley and Ofori Sarkodie. Brian has been a big asset, not just in the front part of the field but also in the back on restarts. Being the big lug that he is, we need him. Ofori and some of the other guys, like Charlie Traylor, he's not a big guy, but when you are going up for head balls sometimes you just go up and challenge to get a body on a guy, it doesn't give them a clear head. We're not big but we play big."
On the focus of his team:
"At this stage in the tournament, you have to have a little luck. But I also think you make your luck. Right now this team is focused, and we believe. We have had a long road. I told the guys, let's stay on the road, you are going to have bumps, but let's keep going down this road as long as we can. As we drive our car, we are going to stay focused and stay on the road and do the best we can. Right now, we are driving pretty well."
Northern Illinois Head Coach Steve Simmons
Opening statement:
"First of all, my hat goes off to IU. They were all that we expected them to be. They were what we expected a storied program to be at home. Coach Freitag and his staff definitely had their guys prepared. I thought they were on a roll coming off the Big Ten Tournament. That's a tough tournament, especially when you are playing in Columbus, and playing Ohio State to win the Big Ten. We felt we were unlucky on a couple of occasions, certainly the conditions kind of favored the way we played. And at the end of the day, we are unfortunate not to take it a game further, but that is soccer for you."
On what this loss means:
"It's not a moral victory, it's a massive disappointment. I think that would be the same answer the other way around if you asked Coach Freitag, it is a massive disappointment. Like I told the boys in the locker room, when the dust settles, and disappointment kind of goes away a little bit, the one thing that they have done all year and we demonstrated tonight, is that we belong. We belong in this strata. We have our certain way of doing it, and when it is all said and done we have 15 wins, and played a good game tonight against a very good IU team."
On the height advantage of NIU and the playing conditions:
"You look at the roster and we had a pretty significant height advantage against Indiana. The thing that we were really concerned with Indiana, is that they were awfully good in past games at winning second balls. They are really quick and they get in good positions. So that is something we tried to come out and do. When you have a game like this, it's a lot of field position. When the ball goes six or seven yards and dies, it doesn't make for attractive soccer, it only makes for soccer that you hope to be playing in your attacking half, and that is what we ended up having quite a bit. It was unfortunate, that we weren't able to get on the end of that. You saw two teams out there with a battle of wills."
