Men's Soccer Prepared for Semifinal Matchup Friday Evening

Men's Soccer Prepared for Semifinal Matchup Friday Evening

Dec. 11, 2003

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Santa Clara University men's soccer team prepared for its semifinal matchup Friday evening with Indiana with a full day of practice and walk-throughs on Thursday in Columbus, Ohio.

Following breakfast at the team hotel, Santa Clara boarded its bus and traveled to Crew Stadium for a walk-though at the site of the 2003 College Cup. Selected Broncos and head coach Cameron Rast took part in interviews for ESPN during this time as well.

Practiced soon followed at Jesse Owens stadium on the Ohio State campus where Santa Clara focused in a little more on the job at hand. The weather was cold and windy, perfect preparations for what seems to be in store for SCU Friday evening.

Rast, Will Weatherly and Jason Pan went from practice to the NCAA Press Conference where they took questions from the national media. The transcript from that press conference is below.

2003 College Cup Press Conference


Santa Clara

Santa Clara Head Coach Cameron Rast
Opening statement
"We'd like to thank Ohio State for hosting the event and we are happy to be here. We are looking forward to a great weekend."

On the underdog role.
"When you look at the seeding, you can look at this that way (that Santa Clara is the underdog), but we don't feel that way. We've had some success this year. We're very excited and pleased to be here and very deserving. We expect to play well and win games. I don't think there is any additional pressure."

On the loss of Ryan Cochrane and Steve Cronin, both starters, to the national team "They are two world-class players. We're very pleased to have them competing there. We miss them, but we've had some players step up and play well for us and we're happy to go with them over the next couple games."

Reaction to Indiana beating UCLA in the quarterfinals
"It's not surprising. Indiana is a great program and has a great tradition. In the playoffs, you have to be prepared every game. Both Indiana and UCLA played pretty well and Indiana was able to come out on top."

On Indiana
"Indiana is just a good solid team. They don't make mistakes. They are good passers and they do a great job in keeping possession. I don't know if there's any one thing they do bad, it's just a matter of us going out and enjoying the game and playing well."

Junior Forward Will Weatherly
On the cold weather
"It's going to take some time to adjust. It's a bit of a shock, but we have undershirts and gloves and once we get moving we'll be fine. It gets cold at night in Santa Clara, so we've been training at night."

On Santa Clara's game plan for Indiana
"I don't think we're going to change what we've been doing this year. We'll try to keep our discipline on keeping the pressure on the opposing team and staying focus."

Junior Defender Jason Pan
On Santa Clara's game plan for Indiana
"The way we play is based on pressure and it has worked throughout the year. We'll try to throw Indiana off their game a little bit."

On playing against a traditional power like Indiana
"We have played against these teams during the year. We have played Creighton and Stanford so we're used to playing good teams. I think there's a mystique about Indiana, but I do think there is a mystique about Santa Clara, too. I don't think they're much different than any other team here."