From the Bench... Oct. 23, 2002 – Fullerton, Calif.
Coach Al Mistri:
"We're proud to have No. 1-ranked Indiana on our schedule. It's a
tribute to where our program is and to the Big West Conference that they
would come all the way out here to play us and UC Santa Barbara. Plus,
it gives us an opportunity to straighten out our season. Our players are
aware of this and even those players who are injured are doing everything
they can to get ready to play this match.
"By my recollection, this is the ninth time we will have played a
No. 1-ranked team and we are 4-4 in previous opportunities, including
beating Indiana when they were No. 1 in 1994 at the UCLA Tournament.
"Our team played well enough to win last night (0-0 tie with UC Irvine).
We were not an inspired team in the first half, but I think we clearly
were the superior team after that. We were unfortunate in two areas --
the number of times we hit the post, which is as close as you can get
to scoring, and the erratic and difficult way the match was officiated.
It was hard to measure what you could and could not do in the way of tackling.
And we certainly deserved more than a shrug of the shoulders on what was
clearly a foul in the penalty box in the final minute. I don't think we
caught the referee on his best day.
"But we had enough chances that should have enabled us to win the
game. The post just got in the way."
