New Mexico 2, UWM 2 (2OT)Nov. 23, 2005
UWM Head Coach Louis Bennett on the fast start "We thought they would come out and try to run us off our feet using all of the elements, using the altitude, using the very boisterous crowd. I mean, the crowd was virtually on the field. It was like Engelmann with 2,000 more people. We had a specific plan to press them a little high and take the sting out of them, which may have taken our legs away a little bit later on in the game. But, it was the plan we decided to go with, and it proved unbelievably successful. They were two well-executed set pieces in second phase and I thought they were two wonderful goals. It definitely silenced the crowd, it definitely took people out of the game. It took their fans out of the game and it took some of their players out of the game. Until the flow of the game started going up and down and back and forth from each team, I thought we had a reasonably good handle on the game." Bennett on playing much of the match with the lead "They are going to have a lot of the possession because of the nature of the way we had to play away from home, and the way you cannot go 100 miles per hour for 90 or 110 minutes simply because of the altitude. But, in the second half, for large sections the game was going the way we wanted it to go. I was hugely disappointed about the opportunities they were given by the set pieces. Obviously the crowd was a little intimidating for a lot of people." Bennett on play being even in the two overtime periods despite thoughts coming into the match the altitude would slow the visitors late in the match "I thought that showed the resolve and the strength and the character of the kind of people we have at UWM, and the kind of players. At the time everyone thought we would cave, they just came out and said, OK, play our game and let's go back to what we did at the beginning of the game if we have it in us. People who were tired were dragged through by people that had some wind. Then, when they got tired, other people dragged them through."
Bennett on the Panthers' exceeding expectations of some coming into the season "I think I said earlier, no one was really expecting a lot from this team, certainly not to go further than any other UWM team. They did it the hard way this year. They had to take some early knocks and early criticism. But within our camp we were positive and they matured. At the beginning of the year, we weren't expected to do anything without (Antou) Jallow and without eight seniors. We were not expected to do this, so their hard work and the coaching staff's hard work put this together. But we're not happy, we've got guys in tears in there. We're not happy about getting knocked out and not going to the Sweet 16. And if we would have advanced here, I would have challenged anyone to have stopped us. Let's face it, for us to advance, we have to do it the hard way. And, tonight, we nearly did it the hard way." Bennett on the Panthers nearly beating second-seeded New Mexico in the second round of the tournament this season after losing at top-ranked UC-Santa Barbara in overtime in the second round last year "This is the second-best team in the country and we go to penalties and no one is satisfied. No one in our camp is satisfied about going and nearly doing this. We weren't satisfied about not getting a home game. We can't control what people think of us. All we can do is control what we do on the soccer field. And, what we do on the soccer field, I must say even though I'm the coach saying it, it's quality, and it's bloody exciting." |
