NCAA MEN’S SOCCER SWEET 16
LIPSCOMB at UK
NOV. 24, 2018
THE BELL – LEXINGTON, KY.
Kentucky Head Coach Johan Cedergren
Opening statement …
I was just talking to (Lipscomb Head Coach) Charles (Morrow). He’s a great guy and a very, very good coach. If you look at what Lipscomb’s done this season and how he turned that program around and how he turned this season around it’s – if you look at it maybe from a rankings and RPI and all that kind of stuff it might not look like that hard of a game, but Tanner (Hummel) and I have played them I don’t know four or five times now since Tanner came here and it is a tough game every time. So we were able to win 3-2 in overtime (at Lipscomb) earlier this fall and it was a very similar game this time around. So incredibly proud of my guys for embracing the battle and the grind and respecting the opponent, and keeping (on) working. You can’t forget, just looking at the starting lineup, we had nine underclassmen start today. This was a first for us as a program to be able to get to a quarterfinal game at home. So I think that some of the shakiness or some of the nerves that came out in this game have to do with things that we’ve never done before. One of the things we’ve talked about all season is, ‘okay, now this week can we get better?’ I think again being able to get through a game like tonight with a win – even though we maybe didn’t play at 100 percent – shows how good of a team we have. Shows how good of a squad we have. And it’s also something that, again, we’re very humble and selfless and we keep working. For us, really excited to get another home game. Hopefully we can get another big crowd out. You’ve got to thank the Big Blue Nation. Almost 2,000 people – 1,939 people on a pretty cold day when (UK) football’s playing at the same time. Just really happy to be sitting here and to be able to get one more home game next Friday.”
On the UK v Lipscomb fixture …
“I think they’re really good on the ball – Lipscomb. They throw bodies forward, and again they’re not so worried about the counter attack. Again, even though JJ (Williams) didn’t score today, he had some really good chances. Kalil (ElMedkhar) had some good chances so I think it’s one of those where every coach is different and every coach is different. Every coach prioritizes different things, but I think part of the reason why Lipscomb is so good and why they’re so dangerous in attack is the numbers that they throw forward. Again, a lot of credit Charles and his staff and Lipscomb because it’s a very good program.”
On adjusting in the second half …
“I was talking to somebody the other day because the beauty of soccer is it’s gonna take sometimes some time to break the other team down. That’s why you play for 90 minutes or more. I think again we did some things really well in the first half, but they were either able to clear it or the goalkeeper made a couple of saves. But it’s also one of those where keep giving us chances and we’re going to find a way to put a ball in the net. Again, today Jason (Reyes) and Bailey (Rouse) were the goal scorers. It wasn’t the guys that have scored most of the time for us this year, but it also shows the strength in how good we are in terms of going forward. We’ve talked about being dynamic all year so to be able to score two goals in a Sweet 16 game where JJ and Kalil didn’t score just shows how many talented attacking players we have.”
On recovering from conceding so soon after scoring …
“That one, and I thought about it since it happened. That one has to come down to I have to do a better job. We give every player a marking assignment and I should have changed that up. Having thought that through, their No. 22 (Logan Paynter) – is a redshirt senior – he has torched us the last few games. I think this is three goals in four games for him. So he’s a very good player and I think we should have through a little more in regards to how to mark him because he’s very good around the box. I think we deal with the initial ball coming in, but then the clearance lands right to him and he’s wide open. I think that’s something that we talk about problem solver being something that’s one of our core values. Looking at how that goal developed, that’s something that I should have planned better – set pieces.”
UK Player Quotes
#7, JJ Williams, Jr, F
On what Bailey and Marcel were able to do to get to this point …
“Like you said in the beginning, as last week I said, we had players who were going to step up at big moments. I had a poor performance and didn’t finish the way we needed to, Kalil didn’t finish but that was the beauty of them stepping up and wining us the game. That’s a championship team. I think this is my favorite win of the entire season, not any of those other ones where I’m scoring goals because it shows how close this team is and shows how big this team can be and how far this team can go. I mean, they put themselves in a great position. Jason’s goal was hard work from Marcel (Meinzer) initially and it was just a battle in the box and whoever wanted it more and they put themselves in a great position and Jason did whatever he had to do to score. Bailey, it doesn’t matter how many misses, doesn’t matter how many he hits over in training, whenever he needed to finish tonight he did and I’m thankful for it.”
On if in February they thought they would be here now …
“Yeah I think that’s something that when we were getting up at 6 a.m. a few times throughout the year when there wasn’t light out we were going out and grinding every single day, doing the hard workouts, pushing through. You don’t do it for no reason and at first we were wondering where the holes were going to be filled in and who we were going to get, and all this but then we’re playing our spring games and we’re getting good results. We’re playing really well, we’re tying Notre Dame 2-2, and then we’re thinking ‘well we’re going into next year, we have a great schedule, we’re here now and we start out 6-0.’ We’re playing big teams, getting great results and I think that’s something from the very beginning that we planned on, but you really don’t know how it’s going to go until you get to season and you see what your personnel is looking like. You don’t do all that hard work, you don’t push through all of it, you don’t build that bond with your brothers, you don’t do all of that if you don’t think you’re going to put yourself in a position to be successful and that’s what we did.”
#22, Tanner Hummel, Sr., D
On UK’s offseason work paying off at this point in the season …
“I think the biggest thing was in the spring when we would wake up every Friday we would do “Push Friday” and we would always wake up like ‘this is going to be a rough one’ but in the back of our minds to push through and we have to think about ‘how bad we really want it and this could reflect on the games when you’re playing Lipscomb when you’re tied 1-1, how bad do you want to make that extra run or how bad you want to defend for your brother next to you?’ It was just like in the spring we really build a bond when times were tough, ‘just say how bad you really want it? How bad do you want to go to Santa Barbara? How bad do you want to go to the next level?’ And I think all of those troubles we went through in the spring when it was cold, it wasn’t the easiest of times, we just have to push through it and have shown through this entire year from the beginning all the way until now that we’re not going to give up. We’re going to keep pushing and we know that we’ve been in the situation before in the spring.”
Lipscomb Head Coach Charles Morrow
Opening statement …
“Thank you guys for being here. Thank you for this opportunity to talk a little bit. First off, really proud of these two guys beside me (Chris Zappia and Logan Paynter) and the rest of the team. Thankful for the season we had and for the five years with these guys but the four years with our seniors. Really excited about the group that we have moving forward. We’ll miss these guys tremendously. This run we’ve had sort of the second half of the season is in large part due to the leadership of our senior group. Just really, really proud of them.”
On not going away down the stretch and if that’s a characteristic of this team …
“I think that’s a credit to the team’s perseverance. I felt like when we answered so quickly, it just felt like at that moment that the momentum of the game had turned coming off having a lot of the ball. Certainly things looked optimistic at that point and were looking good going forward. Kentucky is such a dangerous team in terms of set pieces and catching you on the counter. We knew that would continue down the stretch. I don’t know – it’s hard as officials to deal with a team that’s as physical and as athletic as a team like that. I don’t think that had anything to do with either goal. But it’s difficult to play against it and difficult to officiate as well. But yeah, we liked our chances after that second goal and obviously the second goal that they scored was a dagger. But our guys kept playing. I thought we did a good job to create what we could out of what was left in the game.”
On how he replaces players like Zappia and Paynter …
“It will be hard. Obviously Chris has been a consistent starter for us and a guy in goal. He’s not only very good in terms of what you see on game day, but as a training partner for the goalkeeping core and someone to lead that group. He’s developed so much over his time here as a person and has done an awesome job of bringing guys along with him – the goalkeeping group along with him through that time. Logan is irreplaceable – I think not only what he does on the field but who he is off the field and the energy he brings to training. Earlier, I guess it was in the conference tournament that he broke the all-time goals scored record for our program. Tonight, with that goal, he now is the leader in total points as well. If it were just those things that would be one thing, but all the intangibles and who he is in the locker room and the way he leads guys is pretty special. It’s sort of evolved over his time here and it’s just gotten better and better as he’s grown into himself as a leader. How do we replace him? There’s no way to replace them in terms of who they are and what they mean to the program. And that’s a great part about the program as well. I think we offer guys the opportunity to come in and fill roles through that process and not try to live up to someone else. I think these guys will never be replaced but the guys that come in and fill their roles will have awesome opportunities to live up to a great standard that was left behind for them.”
On the biggest reason his team was outshot 20-10 tonight …
“They’re just good. I mean, they’re good. The fact of the matter is, you look at tonight, you look at UCF and you look at Washington, player for player athletically, the teams we’re playing are just better athletically. And we know that going into the game. That doesn’t mean that we can’t win. I think we have an unbelievable team and I think that we can out-team opponents who may be better athletically, but in these games where there are nerves – it took us a while to settle into the game. And when there’s a frenetic pace to the game and the game won’t settle down – that’s the knock on college soccer, right? With all the subs that you can maintain this frenetic pace and not necessarily the best soccer teams win, but sometimes just the more athletic teams win. And that’s not a knock on Kentucky. They’re a very good soccer team. But when they had us pinned in and we couldn’t clear lines early in the game and they just kept coming and coming, that results in shots. So yeah, that’s why we got outshot. I think if you look statistically as the game settled, we were able get more of the game – that evened out as the game went on a little more. But a very good team.”
On if he would like to see UK-Lipscomb become an annual rivalry …
“Yeah, I would. I really would, and I don’t know that Kentucky wants to. I understand the reasons why, but the fact is our RPI has not them in the three years that we’ve played them and we’d love to see it continue. I think the game makes us better. I think it makes Kentucky better. I get all the reasons why it’s a tough game for them. But, would love to and we’ll play them anytime, anywhere.”
On what it means to the school to have this type of run …
“Well, I hope it meant a lot. I know it meant a lot to our guys. We understand and we’re OK with that, outside it doesn’t mean as much to the guys to anyone outside the locker room. We know that everyone inside the locker room it means more than anyone else, and we’re OK with that. But I hope that to the school it’s a sense of pride. I hope that it encourages other programs, other athletes that are in the athletic department that because we are a mid-major doesn’t mean we can’t compete at the highest levels. I hope it encourages those who support our program that understand college soccer is a special sport and small mid-majors who support their soccer programs can compete at the highest levels. I said this at UCF and right before overtime and we ended up winning the game – and it’s not a knock on UCF – but that game (and) this game mean so much more to Lipscomb and our community than it does to UCF and its community and Kentucky and its community just because of the size. And that’s part of what makes Lipscomb a special place is that everyone is connected there. Everyone knows everyone and everybody’s rooting for you. What does it mean to the community? I hope that it means a lot.”
#1, Chris Zappia, R-Sr., GK
On what sticks out about the way UK comes back in games like this …
“Like Coach M said, they’re a dangerous team. JJ (Williams) is a very god player and obviously he didn’t score today but you always have to have him handled and taken care of regardless of the time and they knew what they wanted to do. The way the game played out when we played them the first time, it seemed like they didn’t really think we were going to play and they were shocked, quite honestly. That was the one downside coming into this game was UCF and Washington saw us as a small mid-major school that that just won a conference tournament and that’s about it getting into the tournament. Kentucky knew exactly how we played. And credit to heir coaching staff, they know how they wanted to play and they’ve made a lot of corrections since the last time we played them too. I think, quite honestly, it’s a good team that tends to ride out storms fairly well and today they got the better of us.”
On if he plays better on a big stage like this …
“Truth be told, I feel like a lot of my college career was spent with a lot of self-paranoia about just making sure I don’t make any mistakes. And being a goal keeper naturally, when you make a mistake, it’s almost 99 percent of the time a goal. The joy of winning the conference tournament sort of gave me a sense of inner peace that I hadn’t really experienced for a very long time. I felt like now I can take a deep breath and sort of play the way I wanted to play the entire time I was in college and sort of left the rest up to God, and He helped me with everything that I possibly could.”
On closing out his college career …
“I was also Logan’s roommate freshman year so I kind of shared in that frustration. I know both of us played quite a bit in high school and with our club and academy teams, and coming to college and not playing is a pretty big dagger to the heart and no part of college sports is easy in anyway. Even when it’s good it’s still not easy but Lipscomb has been an incredible experience. We’ve seen five different teams now and we’ve seen a couple different assistant coaches. The only one that has been consistent is Charles here, but he’s done a great job of bringing in – every coach he’s brought in has helped add and develop the program. The guys that they keep bringing in juts keep getting better and the fact that we only had three seniors starting today and only three of us won’t be returning next year says a lot about the program and how high quality it’s become. There’s so much room to grow and it’s been a pleasure to experience all the different kinds of teams, especially this one. To have such a young, talented, resilient team that juts wants to be one big family, win or lose, always trying to get better, is just a great way to go out.”
#22, Logan Paynter, R-Sr., F
On what sticks out about the way UK comes back in games like this …
“Yeah, all credit to Kentucky. Unbelievable team. Both times we played them we gave them a great fight but they did come out on top. Just to reiterate what both of them have said about them being so dangerous, anytime the ball’s in the box it’s a chance for them just with the size and the athleticism they have, and they’re good at finishing and keeping the ball out of their net too. But so proud of the way we played both times we played them. Just one bounce here, one lucky break here, the game goes the other way. So I’m so proud of our guys but all credit to Kentucky as well.”
On his third goal against Kentucky in his career and if he likes playing the Wildcats …
“Yeah it’s always fun, especially here, great environment, great field, great stadium. Just fell to me and I put it away, but I mean ,everything to the boys from the effort we put in tonight and the fight from all the guys even going down a goal just so proud of those guys.”
On closing out his college career …
“I love Lipscomb more than anything. My five years here have been the most amazing time of my life. I look back at my redshirt freshman year not playing and thre frustration that was going on in that year and I wouldn’t trade that for anything now. This fifth year has been amazing. Getting to be with this group of guys has been incredible and spending five years with Coach and Chris I wouldn’t trade for anything. And I’m so glad we could make a run like this for our last time.”
