MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER QUOTE SHEET
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2004 - NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION 1, COLUMBUS CREW
1
COLUMBUS CREW HEAD COACH GREG ANDRULIS
On the game:
"I don't know that there's been a harder one. The guys' effort was
tremendous, but you've got to take advantage of your home turf and we didn't
do it. The guys have a lot to be proud about for the season, but also a lot
to be disappointed to not take care of the first round of the playoffs.
Thanks to all of you for your support through the year. There's no way I can
answer any questions."
COLUMBUS CREW DEFENDER ROBIN FRASER
On the game:
"Overall, on a whole I don't think we executed well enough. We had a good
attitude and played at a good tempo but things didn't click like we needed
them to. At the end of the day we didn't make enough things go our way."
On missing two penalty kicks in the game:
"Things happen. It's just one of those things. Strange things happen in the
game of soccer."
COLUMBUS CREW GOALKEEPER JON BUSCH
On the game:
"You can't question our players hearts and determination. We came out and
took it to them. But it comes down to execution and we missed two golden
opportunities. You have to credit Matt Reis, he saved two penalty kicks. It
wasn't meant to be. We had a good season as a whole, but nothing you do in
the regular season means anything in the playoffs, and it wasn't a good
playoffs for us."
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION HEAD COACH STEVE NICOL
On the game:
"Other than the two penalties, they scored in the 90th minute and we reduced
them to scraps. We made four clear, great chances that we should have done
better (with). I can't disagree with the penalties. When a team gets two
penalties, you expect them to put the ball in the net. But, I think overall
the performance that we gave was great. The first half I felt that we put
ourselves in trouble as much as anything else. I just thought it was a great
performance. Obviously, (Matt Reis) has come up smelling of roses - two
great saves. But the whole team battled together and played. It was a bit of
everything. We stuck at it. We played some good stuff. We made some good
chances, and fortunately and thankfully, we stuck one away just when we
needed it."
On whether the victory was "miraculous":
"I think miraculous is absolutely not the word. I think we need to get better. That's what we said at halftime. The players actually said it before I said it. If we're better with the ball, we'll give anybody a game. We weren't as good as we could have been. As I said, we put ourselves in trouble quite a few times. But as far as the way we tried to play and the way we did play, we can't come away from here thinking we were lucky. The way we played overall in the ninety minutes I think we deserved something out of the game."
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION GOALKEEPER MATT REIS
On his foul that led to the first penalty kick being
called:
"With the crowd noise and everything, Avery (John) just laid a lazy ball back to me not knowing (Kyle Martino) was there and he made a good move to go to his left. I just tried to come out and stack my legs because obviously I couldn't have picked the ball up with the back pass. And I (fouled) him."
On the first penalty save:
"We had the slimmest of leads (in the series) at the time and that early in the game if we gave them that kind of sniff, it would have been an uphill battle for us. So, it was a big save to make."
On second penalty save:
"I honestly thought (Tony Sanneh) was going to pound it, upper middle. He just kind of opened up a little too early and he obviously didn't hit it very hard. At that point, I was just trying to read him, read him, read him - right to the last minute. I got low to my right. It wasn't the best penalty, but I'll take it."
On the series victory:
"I have a lot of confidence in this team. And we talked about it - once you get into the playoffs, anything can happen. Like in hockey, you try and ride a hot goalkeeper and go as far you can. Right now, I'm feeling pretty good about our chances. We have D.C. coming up, who we've played well. We've matched up against them very well and there's no reason we can't win that game. We just have to battle, and battle like we did here and we could easily be back in Los Angeles for a suntan and the final."
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION MIDFIELDER ANDY DORMAN
On his contribution to the game as a substitute:
"It's a brilliant feeling. I was pretty nervous coming in because it was a tense situation. My main instruction from Steve (Nicol) was just to come on and defend and compress the middle of the field and if there's a chance to break try hit Taylor (Twellman) and hold the ball up. But then Clint (Dempsey) played two brilliant through balls to me and I just ran as fast as I could towards the goal. The first one I went to play it back and I did kind of scuff the ball but luckily it went through Chad (Marshall's) legs and Taylor was there to finish it off. The second time I went through I should have scored. I put it too far in front of me and (Jon) Busch was out quickly."
On his decision to pass rather than shoot in assisting on the
Revolution goal:
"I heard (Taylor Twellman) shouting in my ear, and him being a forward I would have gotten an earful if I'd have missed. The best thing to do is play in to him because I know he's going to score."
