Rich Manning Quotations

He is a very reliable defenseman who is physically gifted. He can recover and play a lot of minutes.

He was our best player tonight. It could have been 3-0, 4-0 in the first period. He had an OK game versus Hanover (a 5-4 tournament win last Saturday). To go out the way he did, he should be proud of himself.

Kelly and Jena bring with them so many positives for our soccer program. They're talented soccer players with good experience. They will be ready to contribute right away. They fill needs for our team. They demonstrate great teamwork. They are positive people. And, in due time, they will be good leaders.

I think we got some good experience and learned some valuable lessons on the day. I was very pleased with our ball movement and speed of play. I also thought we had some periods of good understanding on the field. We showed some signs of rust in our transitions and our defense. But we got some great feedback on where we are at the moment.

Jena has great qualities for a defender. She is fast, tough and good in the air. I also love the way she communicates in the back. She has a forceful, but positive tone that helps organize the defense. Jena has been to our soccer camp in the summer and we have seen tremendous improvement in her game over the years. She is a great find and her best soccer is ahead of her.

Playing a team of UCLA's quality was great for us. We played some good soccer. We moved the ball really well, especially in the second half. Even in some tight spaces, we were able to create some rhythm and be threatening in the attack. They forced us to be alert on defense and to make some quick decisions. We gave up some soft chances and it cost us. But we found some things we can go back and work on.

Our objectives during the spring season are quite different than during our fall championship campaign. We are focused on helping each player improve her game and trying some new things. I felt we were successful on both counts last weekend.

The Academy is a great way to improve yourself and your game. Our goal is to challenge each player to be the best she can be, on and off the field. We have coaches that will push you out of your comfort zone while interacting with you in a positive way. At the end of the camp, we want you to be more... more educated on the game, more confident in yourself and more inspired to play your best. We welcome players of all abilities to come and join us for some great soccer and some great fun!

We battled our butts off. I'm proud of the way we came back. We pushed them as far as we could, even though we didn't bring our 'A game' tonight.

This was a great trip and a good way to finish our spring season. We got a couple of good games under our belt. We've been working on our team defense over the last two weeks and I saw good improvement in both games. Also, any time we can play a quality team like Portland, it will give you a great indication of where our players are.

T.J. was at his best in the third period. He didn't have good success in the first two periods.

This was Jeff's best performance of the season. He has great speed and hand strength. I am just glad that he is on our side.

The team played with much better rhythm and purpose during the last game. Some of the rust looked like it was coming off. I was pleased with the progress. We have several players returning next fall and we have high expectations for the level of soccer that we should be performing at. Hopefully, we'll build on this during the coming weeks.

The Utah State game was a great lesson for us. They always play with such great energy and passion. It is hard for us to play with any rhythm. We've been working on our speed of play and we were too slow in our skills, reading and running off the ball. It shows that we still have significant work to do in this area.