Colorado University Athletics
Hempen Meets With Media
BOULDER ? University of Colorado Women's Soccer coach Bill Hempen met with members of the media to discuss the 2007 NCAA Tournament on Tuesday. Juniors Michelle Wenino and Alex Cousins were also in attendance.
Colorado will play host to No. 2 seed Portland, as well as Denver and Hawai'i for the first and second rounds of the tournament. The Buffs will square off with Hawai'i in the first game on Friday, Nov. 16 at 11 a.m. MST. Portland and Denver will follow at 2 p.m. The winners of both games will meet in the second round on Sunday, Nov. 18 at 1 p.m.
Head Coach Bill Hempen
ON THE TEAM GETTING A SECOND CHANCE?GÇ£There are a lot of teams out there that probably donGÇÖt think that we deserve to get in, and we get a second chance. We fumbled some opportunities away but evidently we did just enough to stay in consideration. I look at it as a second chance, I told them last night that we got a mulligan, but they all knew that because we talk about it all the time. If a kid swings and misses at an easy chance, you donGÇÖt get a second chance at that so you have to concentrate on the first one because you donGÇÖt know when or if that second chance is going to come around and we just got one here.GÇ¥
ON THE TEAMGÇÖS LACK OF URGENCY EARLY IN THE SEASON?GÇ£It is so hard to figure that out, that is the question that I struggle with all the time. I had a conversation early today with someone where I was saying that every group of kids IGÇÖve worked with progress at a different rate. This was certainly the slowest rate, in terms of coming together as a group. We lost such a dominating personality in a Laura Munnelly (former defender) and everyone was so used to her presence that they were kind of like ?well, what do we do now?GÇÖ They just never really had that person who was willing to hurt a feeling now and again to push the kids a little harder. I think Nikki (Marshall) really in the last two weeks her whole aura has changed. I told Paul (Hogan) earlier that in the game against Texas, well that kid is fast period, but it was like she found another level of speed in that game and it was evident again in practice last night and again on Saturday. She has just gone to another level and the kids are like, ?I get it now, I want to follow her and go to that next level.GÇÖ That has really made a difference, and even though we didnGÇÖt win the game against Texas I think they (the team) all felt good about their effort and what they had accomplished.GÇ¥
ON MOVING NIKKI MARSHALL AROUND THIS YEAR?GÇ£Nikki so desperately wants to please people, and she puts so much pressure on herself to do that, I donGÇÖt think she really found a comfort zone this year; as a defender or as a forward. We made the choice to put her in the back, something I never thought I would do, and she is comfortable back there and like some of these kids have said you can do a whole lot more when you know you have a kid back there who is not going to get beat. There is nobody that IGÇÖve seen that is going to out run her, maybe HawaiGÇÖi has that, I donGÇÖt know but weGÇÖll find out because sheGÇÖll probably be in the back again on Friday.GÇ¥
ON THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAIGÇÖI?GÇ£I talked to the Kansas coach who played them in the first game of the year and he warned me to never go to HawaiGÇÖi for a game because they were basically playing them at midnight Kansas time and their players were playing like that. They are good, they are strong, athletic, quick and they play like it. We kind of have that same type of a team because we have some little guys running around who are pretty quick so it should be a good match up.GÇ¥
ON THE PORTLAND PROGRAM?GÇ£They are a great program, when weGÇÖre referring to recruiting and we have recruits in this office I ask them what are the first four teams that roll of your tongue when you think of womenGÇÖs soccer: Portland, Notre Dame, North Carolina and UCLA. My goal has always been to be one of those teams, weGÇÖre not there by any means but you certainly want to be one of those teams that kids think about around the country when they think about womenGÇÖs soccer.GÇ¥
ON THE CURRENT STATE OF THE COLORADO SOCCER PROGRAM?GÇ£I think we play a very difficult schedule and weGÇÖre going to take our lumps, but to know that weGÇÖve gone out and challenged ourselves really says a lot. That coupled with us hosting NCAAGÇÖs last year for the first time and doing it successfully had a lot to do with us not only getting into the tournament but also hosting it for the second consecutive year. Again, something that I told the kids is that I donGÇÖt know that we were necessarily chosen based on this particular team, but teams in the past that have paved the road for you to get this opportunity. So, yeah I think there is some history of what weGÇÖve done and in the (Big 12) conference itself. Look at last year, we had four teams make the tournament and three of them made it to the round of 16. That, coupled with the success of the conference itself, helped our chances. We have to take advantage of it. We got home Wednesday and had Thursday off then we had the seniors sort out the teams and we played for an hour on Friday. I was sitting with Paul, I even brought my chair out to sit and watch them play. It looked like they were having fun, and it wasnGÇÖt just the standard IGÇÖm just going to dribble everywhere. They were actually doing some of the stuff we had done against Texas. We were like maybe this is the point in the season where we just sit back and let them play. Last nights practice was high energy after they found out they were getting in the tournament, they were ecstatic and I think now might just be time we sit back and let them play.GÇ¥
Junior Defender Michelle Wenino
ON GETTING TO HOST THE NCAA TOURNAMENT AGAIN?GÇ£WeGÇÖre really excited, pretty surprised but really excited.GÇ¥
ON PLAYING WITH A HOMEFIELD ADVANTAGE?GÇ£ItGÇÖs a pretty big advantage because weGÇÖre going to be at home. ItGÇÖs really nice when you donGÇÖt have to travel because you can just focus on the game, and you donGÇÖt have to focus on traveling and all that and we do have our fans here.GÇ¥
ON CUGÇÖS SOCCER TRADITION?GÇ£I definitely think it does, it shows that things that weGÇÖve done in the past have helped to define our team, so it carries over to the next year and really helped us in the long run.GÇ¥
ON NIKKI MARSHALL AS A DEFENDER?GÇ£I think it is good because we play really well in the back together. I love playing back there with her (Nikki Marshall). It is really good having her back there with me because she brings a lot of power, talks a lot and I need that. She has been really good back there because she knows what she is doing; sheGÇÖs played in the back with the National Team so she hasnGÇÖt struggled with that. It really helps me out, and helps the defense out because of her communication and having her on one side and her on the other.GÇ¥
Junior Midfielder Alex Cousins
ON GETTING A SECOND CHANCE?GÇ£We all just see it as a second chance. We want to build on what other teams have done and this is really because of them that we get this opportunity. At practice last night everyone was running around and we had crazy energy because we have second chance and we want to prove that we can do what weGÇÖve been working so hard to do.GÇ¥
ON EXPECTING A BID?GÇ£I didnGÇÖt expect it at all. We all went over to a friendGÇÖs house and I saw Samford go on the screen and I thought there was no way weGÇÖd get in. I know there are a lot of things behind the scenes that go into the selection like RPI and those things, but like Michelle said Bill has a great reputation and so does the Colorado program. We come out and work hard, regardless of who weGÇÖre playing.GÇ¥
ON OFFENSIVE PROGRESS?GÇ£I think that we played really well in the Big 12 Tournament, as far as offense goes. We had a lot of chances and we were playing against one of the best defenses in the country. We just practiced last night and that is really the first time weGÇÖve practiced since the Big 12 tourney but we still have it and now we know what we can do and how good it can get, so I donGÇÖt think weGÇÖll have a problem with it. As long as everyone is working hard, weGÇÖll get the chances because weGÇÖre all good players.GÇ¥
ON THE TEAMGÇÖS STRUGGLES?GÇ£I think that is the problem because there really isnGÇÖt an answer to it, it is so hard to figure out what is wrong. I think it could have something to do with the youth of our team, we have so many new girls and that could be a part of it. I think the girls realized late in the season that we had to start doing well and I think that was big for us. There really isnGÇÖt any real answer to why things werenGÇÖt working but everyone is working hard.GÇ¥
ON EARLY SEASON STRUGGLES?GÇ£I think that is something a lot of teams struggle with, realizing that the early season games matter and if you win those it puts you in a position where you donGÇÖt have to worry about it at the end of the season. We talked about that at the beginning of the year, but it is just hard for various reasons but it is just a new mentality at the end.GÇ¥
ON HAVING TWO ALL-BIG 12 SELECTIONS ON DEFENSE?GÇ£The team is able to do so much more knowing that we have those two back there because they are two of the best defenders, I think, in the whole conference. We are able to have more confidence in what weGÇÖre doing, and weGÇÖre able to do a lot more things up front when we know we have that strong of a foundation in the back. It really helps.GÇ¥