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Kentucky men’s soccer head coach Ian Collins addressed the media Tuesday afternoon in Memorial Coliseum. The 10th year coach discussed the upcoming NCAA First Round match against Cincinnati, which will take place Saturday at the UK Soccer Complex at 7:30 p.m., as well as other issues concerning the Wildcat program.
Tickets for the game are currently on sale via ukathletics.com or at the UKAA Ticket office at 257-1818 in Memorial Coliseum. Adult tickets are $7 and students are $5. Due to NCAA Regulations, each person must purchase a ticket or present a credential for admission. Gates are set to open at 6:00 p.m.
Coach Ian Collins’ Press Conference Quotes
“This Saturday will be our first time hosting an NCAA Tournament game, so we’re excited about that. Cincinnati is the Conference USA regular season champion, so we know it will be a very difficult game for us, but we’re looking forward to it.”
“Our kids are playing well and this is the first time we’ve ever gotten an at-large bid. We are playing in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in the last five years and we’re developing a nice tradition.”
On waiting to hear about an NCAA berth
“All along I thought we’d done enough to get in because our strength of schedule was very strong. We played eight teams that made the tournament and throughout the year we faced five or six teams who have been in the top-10. We also beat three teams who are in the tournament, so I thought we were in, but you never know with automatic qualifiers if there are many upsets. It was good to get that off our chests and get it over with.”
On the Wildcats’ tough schedule
“Our RPI is high and if we’d have won one more game I think we may have gotten a bye into the second round and still hosted a tournament match. In our region we were ranked high and four teams in our region received byes and I think we were fifth or at least pretty close to the fourth. From one end, we are a bit disappointed, but then again, all we can ask for is a chance to play and play at home, which is what we really wanted. We’re very excited.”
On what making the tournament means to the program
“If we win it will be huge. We’ve been in the second round a couple of times and been close to going a bit further. I thought last year was one of the strongest teams we’ve had here in four or five years and that team didn’t even make the NCAA Tournament so you never know how things will go.”
“To win a game at home would be huge. We have a great following here at UK and we’ve developed a good solid student following. Also, the people around town have supported us well. I would like to play well for them. I want to put on a show that’s good and this will be a tough game. If we can win, it will be great. I want us to play well and get after it, which is what we’re known for.”
On his assessment of the entire tournament
“I don’t even want to think about that to be fair. I want to look at one game. We will have our hands full on Saturday and our kids have to be ready. I’d just like to keep playing until we’e out of it. I just want to go as far as we can. I haven’ looked deep into the bracket because this game scares me. I think it will be one of the toughest first round games there is and the toughest first round game in our region.”
On the intensity of men’s soccer in the postseason
“Every game is tight for the most part. I think that goes back to conference play. If you look back at conference results this weekend, Indiana won the Big Ten on penalty kicks, SMU won the Missouri Valley on penalty kicks and Virginia won the ACC on penalty kicks. So, everything is tight and our history is that we’ve done pretty well in tight games. I don’t expect it to be a one-sided game.”
“Sometimes during the regular season players don’t realize the importance of each match. But I think everybody understands very clearly that if you lose, you’re done. If you don’t understand very clearly you shouldn’t be playing. You should be looking for something else to do, going to a movie, hanging out with your girlfriend or whatever, but you shouldn’t be playing soccer. I promise you we won’t have any of those guys playing on our team this weekend.”
“They know what we are playing for and they understand that we are representing the school and the state. We want to do something special here.”
On the team’s expectations
“This is a different group. During the selection show yesterday we had five players raise their hands who have played in an NCAA Tournament game. We’ve turned over some players to the pros the past couple of years and we were in it two years ago. So, we do have people who have experience in the tournament, but trying to get kids to understand the importance is difficult until they play in it.”
“They know the importance of it now and the program expects (to be in this position), the coaches expect it and the players expect it. We’ve had a very tough schedule and had some adversity, but our players have really battled well and I’m proud of them. I told them that getting in is fine, but the biggest deal is winning.”
On having a successful season
“To me the season is not a success (at this point). I’m the kind of guy that sees the glass as three-quarters empty all the time. We are a fairly young program and we are still trying to build a tradition. We’ve done some nice things, but I challenge each group that plays here to do something that nobody has ever done before. We went undefeated in our conference and didn’t give up a goal ? that’s great. Now were hosting an NCAA Tournament game ? that’s great. But let’s do something better. Let’s go on a drive in the tournament.”
“I guess everyone’s definition of success is different. Mine is looking at myself and my kids and asking, ‘Did you give it all everyday?’ I think that’s success. I hope there is better for us ahead. If we lose on Saturday, we’ll be devastated because I think we can do better, but if we play our hearts out and lose that’s all I can ask for. Soccer is unlike most other games. You can dominate and lose by a goal or get absolutely battered for 89 minutes and be lucky in the last minute. If we get battered and score in the last minute I’ll be really happy. That’s not my game plan, but I’d much rather have it that way than the other way around.”
“We want to give it an honest effort and for our fans to be entertained. We want all our kids to look each other in the eye and say, ‘I want you to be on my team. I want to play with you.’ I want the kids to look at me and say, ‘I’m happy to be a part of the program.’ I want to stare at everyone involved with our program and say that we gave it the best possible effort we could. It’s not results driven, it’s effort driven.”
On being excited about the tournament
“People who have seen me before know that I’m a pretty emotional and passionate guy on the field. I’ve been in college soccer 19 years at the Division I level. The job has changed a lot. It involves a lot more paperwork and administrative things, that’s the nature of how things are. I get excited about one thing ? soccer. I just came from training right now and the guys are excited. I think they look forward to seeing how far they can push themselves and how far they can go. If I’m not excited I should probably be fired.”
