MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER QUOTE SHEET
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 2, 2004 - NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION 3, KANSAS CITY WIZARDS 2
KANSAS CITY WIZARDS HEAD COACH BOB GANSLER
On the game:
"We gave one away. You've got to call them as they occur and we gave one away. We are better than that. We need to rise to the occasion in the next game. We came back from adversity well in the first half and had the game in control by halftime. At halftime we talked about that third goal, not about defending but getting the third goal. We had possibilities and didn't put them away. Lack of concentration in the last five minutes of the game cost us three points."
On looking ahead to the next five games on the road:
"We know we gave one away tonight and we know we are better than that. We also know that every game has a life of its own. This next one is winnable and that is the way we approach it. I don't go by two games, two weeks or a month. That is nice to write about and nice to read about but it behooves us to concentrate on the next 90 minutes that are in front of us."
KANSAS CITY WIZARDS GOALKEEPER TONY MEOLA
On New England's game-tying goal:
"The first shot was rolling and I thought it was going to get cleared out. (Shalrie) Joseph got his body inside and shot it and it hit me in the chest, went to the left and a guy shot it again. I hit it and it deflected and hit Jimmy (Conrad), came back out and Noonan took a shot and it hit my hand and went into the net. You have to give them credit. They put guys in the box and that is what we don't do."
On the history between Kansas City and New England at Arrowhead Stadium:
"I can remember in the championship year in 2000, New England came in here on a Wednesday night and threw one in from midfield and won 1-0 on a Wolde Harris breakaway. Last year they came in and tied it up in the 90-something minute on Taylor Twellman's goal. They come in here tonight and beat us again. They had in the last 20 minutes what we didn't have, and that was bite."
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION HEAD COACH STEVE NICOL
On the win:
"I don't know what to say. I can't say enough for the boys. Just pure heart and soul."
On the halftime team talk:
"We basically said that all the problems they were causing were coming from our poor decisions, or being careless or just not taking care of the ball properly. There's only one goal (between the teams). We have to make sure that we step it up when you're in individual battles and generally just do everything better because we felt as though we were as good a team if not better than they were. We played some decent stuff, we'd also made some mistakes, but to come back at the end there like that just shows you what the players are made of."
On Pat Noonan's performance:
"Three goals say it all. None of them were easy. He's got to get in front of the 'keeper for the first, he's got a million bodies in front of him for the second and he's just alert and gets on the end for the third one. I mean everything he was doing he was trying to be positive and some of the things just weren't coming off for him but again, like all the rest, he stuck at it and got his just reward."
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION FORWARD PAT NOONAN
On the win:
"It had been a struggle. We stuck with it. I thought we played well in the first half, but, you know, we made some careless giveaways all around and next thing you know we're losing 2-1. We came in the locker room, and that's what we said, 'Enough of the careless giveaways ... the only chances they're getting is off of our mistakes.' So, we stuck with it, we kept battling and we found a way to get three points on the road which is huge. We couldn't have needed that win more."
On scoring a hat trick in his home state of Missouri:
"It was nice because I had great support here tonight. There were 30, 40 people - a lot of my sister's friends, her team and my parents and family and cousins - so it was good to have them in the stands with a victory for the Revs."
On the physical nature of the game:
"When you're trailing 2-1 you're doing whatever you can to try and win any possible ball, to get the right bounce. And I'll tell you what, on the second goal Shalrie (Joseph), Steve (Ralston) and Clint (Dempsey) were working their (tails) off to make that ball bounce around and stuck with it and we were able to jam it in there. Guys worked hard all around."
On his game-winning goal:
"Shalrie (Joseph) got the ball outside the 18 and out wide, he took a couple of touches and played a nice ball in and then Clint was making a good near post run. I think he heard me, I said, 'Let it run,' because it looked like if he got a toe on it wasn't going to be enough. But he did that and I was able to get a solid shot off on net."
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION DEFENDER JAY HEAPS
On his mistake that led to the second Wizards' goal:
"I'll take it. When I blow it, I'll take it. It was a bad giveaway on my part. I should have had that thing into the fourth row. Instead it cost us, but Pat Noonan came back huge."
On the win:
"I think our team played well. What we did in the second half was good for us. We didn't lose our cool in the locker room. Everyone stayed focused. Even when they had us at the end of the game - they were playing well, we were playing well - we didn't give anything else up and we were able to wear them down and find a way to score those two goals."
