NCAA Men's Soccer
November 25, 2001 | Men's Soccer
Nov. 25, 2001
NCAA Men's Soccer
Nov. 25, 2001
Second Round
Portland at Washington
Senior Ben Somoza
"It's very disappointing when you come out so strong, with so much tempo, so much speed. We were pounding them. We had numerous opportunities in the first half and to come away empty ... that's soccer for you. You can pound a team all you want, in any category, any stat, but it doesn't matter until you ultimately get the most important one and that's the score. That's what Portland got. I believe we were ahead in almost every category in the game today, except for the one that's most important. It's very frustrating."
Senior Bryn Ritchie
"It's almost surreal. We've been working for four years. There's a group of seven of us who have been working together. We've become really close, like brothers. We've put in as much or more time than anybody else. We felt like this year we had all the tools we needed to be successful and really make a run at the final four. Really, it's just unfortunate. It still hasn't sunk in yet.
"I'm sorry that we lost, but I'm not sorry for the four years that I've spent here. They were the best four years of my life. I'm going to miss it."
Washington head coach Dean Wurzberger
"It was an even game. I thought our first half performance was perhaps a little better than our second. I thought we did everything we set out to do in the first half except score goals. We got a couple of quality chances and didn't capitalize. In the second half, the plan was the same, keep at them, and try to get a bit more quality in the final third so we can hopefully score a goal.
"Conditions were heavy for both teams. It started to wear them down a bit. You could see the difference in the game. I didn't think our goalkeeper had to do that much, in terms of having to making a lot of saves. (Nate) Jacqua's a special forward. He scored against Gonzaga and made the difference again today. It was a power shot on target, right past our keeper. Playing these tight games, he's a power-type player, especially in the heavy pitch. He seems to make the difference. Having said that, we outshot them, we had more corners, we put on offensive pressure. We just couldn't get the vital goal we needed, especially when we were on top of play in the first half.
"Give credit to Portland. They hung in there without giving up a goal. They know that one goal is all it takes in a game like this. It's very competitive between the two schools. We know each other very well.
(on the rain and muddy field) "Both teams had to adjust their styles a little. Portland is very good at direct play. It didn't impact their game very much. We play well on the wings and on the wings, the field was fine. I didn't think it was that big a problem. Maybe in the center of midfield we didn't have as much control as we'd like, but neither did they. I didn't see anybody dictating play from the midfield and that was the chewed up area.
"It's very disappointing. We didn't win the conference this year so we were hoping for a long run as our reward. We were motivated. We started the game very well but couldn't catch a goal. We gave up a goal but we had a plan in place, to throw Bryn (Ritchie) up if we were behind in the score, but it wasn't to be. We scored with seven seconds to go on this team just a few weeks ago, so I thought there was belief right to the end that we could equalize, but it never came."
Portland head coach Clive Charles
"First of all, I want to congratulate University of Washington because they played very well and put us under all kinds of pressure, as we knew they would. Initially, we tried to weather the storm, because we knew it was going to come at us. We did a good job in the first half. We were going to make some changes at halftime. One of them was to bring Josh Jacque on, who is a dominating central midfield player, but he's had an injury the last five weeks and he's probably only got half a game in him. We brought him on at the half and I think that made a big difference. We won a lot of balls in the air. He won a lot of tackles. He really played a very good game at central midfield for us.
"Once again, it's always tough to come here and play University of Washington because they are a quality team. Overall, considering the field conditions and everything, I'm proud of the way we played. We battled and fought hard. We just weren't going to lose today.
"Dean (Wurzberger) and (assistant coach) Jimmy Gabriel are very good friends of mine. I told them before the game, 'this is the one team we love to beat but it's also the team we don't mind losing to' because they are a class act."
