Dec. 13, 2001

2001 NCAA Men's Soccer College Cup
Columbus, Ohio
Pre-Championship Press Conference Quotes

Stanford head coach Bret Simon
"I'm very pleased to be here. I'm particularly pleased for this group who I've had the good fortune of working with for the last 9-10 months. It seems like longer in only the best way possible."

On his feelings about appearing in the College Cup with two different teams: "Last year would have been a surprise because I didn't anticipate leaving. It's great. I joined this group at Stanford at the end of February last year. We'd gone through an interview process and one of the parts was with the players. The players made it clear from the first moment that their focus and their primary goal was to get to the College Cup and win a national championsnhip."

On whether it is a good matchup with North Carolina, both teams being so defensively minded: "I think if you looked at the goals for and goals against for each team that is in the final four, I would suspect it would be similar. Each team, to get to this point, must have a good defensive group and must also be able to score goals.

"I think the better way to look at it would be which teams are packed with players who are committed to playing and using the ball. I'll let you decide that, hopefully we'll make a favorable impression. Every team that I've had I've tried to get every player to play. Every player has to play, be good on the ball, be willing to contribute to the attack but also must be committed to defending."

Stanford junior forward Roger Levesque
"It's been a great year so far. Last year I had a role coming off the bench, just a contributer. We had two senior strikers who played great. This year as an upperclassman, I knew expectations were going to be a little bit higher. I knew a lot of the burden would be on me. Coming in I just wanted to contribute as much as I could for the team so we could be as successful as possible."

Stanford senior defender Lee Morrison
On the team's role in coach Bret Simon's interview process: "The general consensus of the team was that Coach Simon was someone that we went after and we knew we wanted. The qualifications that he had are something the entire team, when we got together and met, said these were the things we wanted to look for in a coach. Coach (Simon) met all those and went above and beyond them. The team was ecstatic to get him and looked forward to winning a championship."

Stanford junior defender Todd Dunivant
On North Carolina: "They did very well in the ACC and all year. They had a tough schedule which is a testament to them. They have a very good striker who is really tall that we will have to deal with. They have some quick outside midfielders who we will have to keep an eye on. They are a dangerous team. We will have to be on our toes and be ready for whatever they throw at us. I think we'll keep playing the same way we always have, I don't think things will change very much."

North Carolina head coach Elmar Bolowich
"We are certainly happy to be here. We also feel we deserve to be here. We had a tough stretch in the playoffs, however we made it through and we had a fantastic year. Coming back from last year, we fell short in the quarterfinals. We ultimately wanted to be in Ericcson Stadium in Charlotte but Indiana had a say in that. This year we made a strong run at the end of the season to make it happen for our guys and our team and our program to be here."

On the changes in his team this season: "I think they showed more of their determination when we had some close games in terms of pulling through and in terms of attitude. When we were behind against Farleigh Dickinson they really rolled up their sleeves defensively and put nine players behind the ball. I saw a change in our team in terms of resolve. We are here and we want to enjoy this. We'll see how far we can take it. Obviously we're going for the same thing as everyone else."

On being the lowest seed in the championship: "From a coach's point of view, it's not good for your heart. Either way, we're not a team that sits back and just defends. Although our defense is fairly strong, it's just not our style, we don't want to do that. We will go out and attack the ball."

North Carolina senior defender Danny Jackson
"This year we came in with the attitude that defense would be the foundation of our team. If you look at our record we proved that. We defended well as a team, not just our (backfield) and our goalkeeper. The determination and our goal at the beginning of this season was that we would make it to the College Cup in Columbus and we achieved that."

North Carolina senior defender Chris Leitch (a native of Baltimore, Ohio)
On coming back to his hometown for the College Cup: "It's great to come back here from my standpoint, coming back home. Growing up here, I've been a Columbus sports fan all my life, Ohio State football. The Columbus Crew was a great addition to the city. It's nice being here. I have gotten a chance to play up north during my time at UNC. It's great because my family is going to be here."

St. John's head coach Dave Masur
On the changes in the team throughout the season: "It's a little different. I'm not sure if it's better or worse, just different. I think some of the younger players have come along. Some of the guys who didn't play against IU because they weren't ready hopefully will be ready to play. Hopefully we have matured as a team and we understand what it's going to take to be successful."

On St. John's quarterfinal victory over SMU: "The guys wanted to do well in that game. They were very focused and very committed. They probably got the result they deserved. Whether it's a carry-over effect I don't know, we're going to see. We have a huge weekend in front of us, a huge game against Indiana on Friday and we have a lot to do to get ready for that game."

On difference in approach to the championship between 1996 (last appearance) and now: "I've learned a lot as a coach. Before I got here, I made sure we created an educational environment to make sure we got the message across to the team so they knew what they had to do to be successful. We're sticking with the same format, with the same amount of focus, concentration and effort in our preparation.

St. John's junior midfielder Patrick Lonergan
On the road to the College Cup: The first game was a pretty tough game. I thought it was one of the hardest games. Getting that under our belt was huge. We won the next one and tried to get momentum, as we kept going on it built our confidence as a team. The last game we played against SMU was pretty tough. We were down there on their home field in front of all their fans and I think that was the toughest team we've faced so far."

St. John's freshman midfielder Alberto Duenas
On St. John's quarterfinal victory over SMU: "It was a great win. It was good for us because obviously it helped us get to the final four and play to win the whole thing. I give credit to SMU because they are a great team."

Indiana head coach Jerry Yeagley
"We're certainly glad to be here in Columbus. We'd like to think that being close to home, four hours away, that we might have an advantage by having a good fan following. This is the first time its been in the Midwest since I think 1988, when we hosted it Indiana University. Being here five years in a row also might be a slight advantage, especially for our upperclassmen who have been here and are giving the rite of passage to the younger ones. We start three freshmen. I think they've gotten the word to them about what it is to be here. It's not just good enough to be in 'the dance' and be happy to be here. Our goal is to win the national championship."

"I was on record as saying I favored Stanford in the preseason. I think they have exceptional talent. It's a wide open final four. It could be anybody's game."

On Indiana's first game of the season,a loss to St. John's: "We were not a very good team then. They very honestly were a much better team than we were. They beat us, 2-1, but that was going away. We played much better in the first half than in the second half. They have very good players in midfield. We probably have at least four players starting now who didn't start then. We're not even thinking about that first game, that's history. We're trying to focus on what we need to do in this game. There's no revenge factor, nothing like that. We're going to play the best we can."

Indiana senior goalkeeper Colin Rogers
"I don't think right now there really is a favorite. I think the two teams that everyone really looked at to be the favorites at the beginning of the tournament, SMU and Virginia, aren't here. I think the four teams that are here are pretty much in the same boat. They are very strong defensive teams and I think every team has an equal chance."

Indiana junior forward Pat Noonan
"It's a great atmosphere and a great field and I think all the teams are excited to be here playing in a good environment. I think all four teams have experienced watching the games on TV. They understand Columbus Crew Stadium. I don't think it's really an advantage, our having been here watching a couple games. We haven't ever played a game on this field but it's good to be here."