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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Matt Mott Weekly Press Conference
11/12/2018 | Soccer
Ole Miss Head Soccer Coach Recaps Clemson, Previews Stanford
Ole Miss Soccer Head Coach Matt Mott met with members of the media on Monday as part of his weekly press conference. Coach Mott recapped last week's NCAA Tournament win at No. 25 Clemson and looked ahead to Friday's second round game at top-ranked Stanford.
Opening statement…
"It was an exciting match for us Saturday night in Clemson. I thought our team had great energy. They came out playing some of the best soccer we have played all season in the first half. We had a really good goal from Mary Kate Smith, set up by Maddy Houghton and CeCe Kizer. Maddy played a realy good diagonal ball to CeCe, who dribbled through their back line and as it has happened all year, the back line collapsed on CeCe. She played it perfectly where she could pass it to Mary Kate, Mary Kate took a touch and had a great finish. So, we went up one to nothing and it was one to nothing at the half. I thought we kind of dominated the first half. We came out in the second half with a good game plan. They made an adjustment and served in a good ball and scored 30 seconds into the second half. This put it at one to one. It kind of put us on our heels a little bit but I think our team really responded well. About ten minutes later, we had two consecutive corner kicks. On the second one we had a great service from Haleigh Stackpole, who has really been doing it for us all season, and Grace Johnson just jumped up over everybody and headed the ball in on a great finish. The lead was now two to one and really solved the game out. We had a couple of very good chances but a really complete game by our team. It was probably our best performance of the season at the perfect time to keep our season moving on. Now, we head to California to play Stanford who is the number one team in the country. I think they have a 44-match unbeaten streak. They won the National Championship last year, so certainly a tall task, but something we are looking forward to. We have played good teams all year. We have great teams in our league. It is an exciting game to go out and compete against the best. When you are at this stage you are going to play a good team, everybody has good games left when you are in the round of 32. Every game is a tough game, so I am excited about that. The other two teams out there are Wisconsin and Hofstra, so they will play before our game and the winners will play on Sunday."
On what it is about Clemson that brings out the best in the team...
"I don't think it is anything about Clemson. It was two totally different teams for them and two different teams for us. Our seniors were there as freshman and so were theirs. We just played really well on the night and we played really well four years ago. I just think we were comfortable since the game started. We have a team that didn't want the season to end on that night. They came out and played like it. Morgan McAslan had a game-saving save where she had to fully stretch to save it. Our backs played really well, it was just a total team effort for sure. The bench was great. It was a really good performance."
On if the win over Vanderbilt is something to build on for this match...
"I think so. I think it gives us confidence. We played really well against A&M, Arkansas and all these guys that are still playing. There are seven of us in the SEC still playing. We played every one of them outside of South Carolina. Seven performances against teams in the 32, I think we can draw on that experience. We are not scared of Stanford, they are very good team and it will be a difficult game, but they are not going to scare us. There are eleven of them and eleven of us, so we are going to lace them up and go after them for sure."
On Stanford's Strength…
"The toughest thing for us, I think is just going out to a new environment. We have never been to Stanford. We have never been to California. That idea of getting out there and getting ourselves comfortable on the field will be important. We are going out early, we've got a couple days out there. I think getting ourselves adjusted to a nine o'clock kickoff for us, which is certainly later than we are used to. I think our team really needs to go out and focus on the first 15 minutes of the game. So, just getting ourselves into the game and comfortable. I think if the score is zero to zero or we are up a goal in the first 15 minutes, we will be in a really good spot."
On the difference in the team's focus following the SEC Tournament
"I think we were totally focused, we were focused at the beach too. I think Arkansas just really got an early start with the momentum. Then, we got back on our heels. I think this game (against Clemson) we got out on the front foot. We were sprinting all over the field and getting good touches on the ball. Clemson's style is much different than Arkansas's. It was a very good soccer game, a lot of passing and moving, the things you don't necessarily see against Arkansas. That kind of environment, that kind of game, I think led to the way we played."
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Rebels by following Ole Miss Soccer on Twitter at @OleMissSoccer, on Facebook at Facebook.com/OleMissSoccer, and on Instagram at Instagram.com/officialolemisssoccer. Also follow head coach Matt Mott on Twitter at @CoachMattMott.
Opening statement…
"It was an exciting match for us Saturday night in Clemson. I thought our team had great energy. They came out playing some of the best soccer we have played all season in the first half. We had a really good goal from Mary Kate Smith, set up by Maddy Houghton and CeCe Kizer. Maddy played a realy good diagonal ball to CeCe, who dribbled through their back line and as it has happened all year, the back line collapsed on CeCe. She played it perfectly where she could pass it to Mary Kate, Mary Kate took a touch and had a great finish. So, we went up one to nothing and it was one to nothing at the half. I thought we kind of dominated the first half. We came out in the second half with a good game plan. They made an adjustment and served in a good ball and scored 30 seconds into the second half. This put it at one to one. It kind of put us on our heels a little bit but I think our team really responded well. About ten minutes later, we had two consecutive corner kicks. On the second one we had a great service from Haleigh Stackpole, who has really been doing it for us all season, and Grace Johnson just jumped up over everybody and headed the ball in on a great finish. The lead was now two to one and really solved the game out. We had a couple of very good chances but a really complete game by our team. It was probably our best performance of the season at the perfect time to keep our season moving on. Now, we head to California to play Stanford who is the number one team in the country. I think they have a 44-match unbeaten streak. They won the National Championship last year, so certainly a tall task, but something we are looking forward to. We have played good teams all year. We have great teams in our league. It is an exciting game to go out and compete against the best. When you are at this stage you are going to play a good team, everybody has good games left when you are in the round of 32. Every game is a tough game, so I am excited about that. The other two teams out there are Wisconsin and Hofstra, so they will play before our game and the winners will play on Sunday."
On what it is about Clemson that brings out the best in the team...
"I don't think it is anything about Clemson. It was two totally different teams for them and two different teams for us. Our seniors were there as freshman and so were theirs. We just played really well on the night and we played really well four years ago. I just think we were comfortable since the game started. We have a team that didn't want the season to end on that night. They came out and played like it. Morgan McAslan had a game-saving save where she had to fully stretch to save it. Our backs played really well, it was just a total team effort for sure. The bench was great. It was a really good performance."
On if the win over Vanderbilt is something to build on for this match...
"I think so. I think it gives us confidence. We played really well against A&M, Arkansas and all these guys that are still playing. There are seven of us in the SEC still playing. We played every one of them outside of South Carolina. Seven performances against teams in the 32, I think we can draw on that experience. We are not scared of Stanford, they are very good team and it will be a difficult game, but they are not going to scare us. There are eleven of them and eleven of us, so we are going to lace them up and go after them for sure."
On Stanford's Strength…
"The toughest thing for us, I think is just going out to a new environment. We have never been to Stanford. We have never been to California. That idea of getting out there and getting ourselves comfortable on the field will be important. We are going out early, we've got a couple days out there. I think getting ourselves adjusted to a nine o'clock kickoff for us, which is certainly later than we are used to. I think our team really needs to go out and focus on the first 15 minutes of the game. So, just getting ourselves into the game and comfortable. I think if the score is zero to zero or we are up a goal in the first 15 minutes, we will be in a really good spot."
On the difference in the team's focus following the SEC Tournament
"I think we were totally focused, we were focused at the beach too. I think Arkansas just really got an early start with the momentum. Then, we got back on our heels. I think this game (against Clemson) we got out on the front foot. We were sprinting all over the field and getting good touches on the ball. Clemson's style is much different than Arkansas's. It was a very good soccer game, a lot of passing and moving, the things you don't necessarily see against Arkansas. That kind of environment, that kind of game, I think led to the way we played."
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Rebels by following Ole Miss Soccer on Twitter at @OleMissSoccer, on Facebook at Facebook.com/OleMissSoccer, and on Instagram at Instagram.com/officialolemisssoccer. Also follow head coach Matt Mott on Twitter at @CoachMattMott.
Players Mentioned
MF/D
/ Soccer
D
/ Soccer
F/MF
/ Soccer
GK
/ Soccer
D/MF
/ Soccer
MF
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