COLLEGE: Reaction after NCAA Division I Men's Tournament third-round games

• by Soccer America , Nov 27, 2005

ôI thought it was a well-played and competitive contest. Both teams had a lot to lose and a lot to gain this afternoon. I think the NCAA single-elimination format brings a lot of pressure and enthusiasm into the contest. I was very pleased with our boys to get this victory against a very good UNCG team on the road.ö

UNC GreensboroÆs Michael Parker:

ôGive SMU a lot of the credit for today. They were outstanding on the counterattack today. I thought this game was winnable before hand and I still think we could have won now that the match is over. It just didnÆt happen for us today.ö

MarylandÆs Sasho Cirovski:

ôSt. John's is a great team - I think they are one of the toughest outs in college soccer. I thought in the second half we really took the game over. We came out with an aggressive mentality, our rotation in the midfield was much better and our execution going forward was a lot crisper.ö

AkronÆs Ken Lolla:

ôI am very proud of our guys' ability to keep competing after being up and the relinquishing the lead. We believed in what we were doing and that carried over to the penalty kicks.ö

North CarolinaÆs Elmar Bolowich:

ôWe knew it would be a tight game and we knew Virginia is a quality team. We had them before and lost to them at their place, so it was great to play them here on our home field, in the playoffs and advance. IÆm very pleased with the way our guys played the game. We were very opportunistic in the second half to get the two goals. We created some chances on attack and then we held on.ö