From the Bench... Oct. 27, 2003– Fullerton, Calif.
Coach Al Mistri:
"The men certainly did well on Saturday night vs. UC Santa Barbara,
and that victory has certainly buoyed our spirits. The guys are now convinced
we can still do something with this season.
"Finally, we were operating on all cylinders. We were able to start
with the older guys and then bring in the younger guys off the bench.
Marco's (Rodriguez) knee was good so he was back at sweeper until he got
his "bell rung" late in the match, but there's no concussion
so he should be fine. Hector (Orellana) is back to reasonably good form
and he got a goal. (Ignacio) Cid is a little healthier.
"It's my understanding that it wasn't just a win, but a decisive
one, and everyone is feeling better about themselves. They believe in
themselves again. It's easy to lose your heart when "stuff"
happens to you and your team. Like the game before, at Irvine, where our
giveaways led to their two goals. But Saturday was a solid win over one
of the top-ranked teams in the nation.
"This week we hope to have our match at Northridge. I understand
there is a lot of smoke and ash in that area, so hopefully we won't have
to make a trip up there for nothing. And then Saturday we have a chance
to redeem ourselves for our loss at UC Irvine. We have to take them one
at a time, but the opportunity is in front of us. We have two matches
with Northridge, one more with UCSB and also one with Fresno State, which
has beaten Stanford twice. Our conference is doing so well, it could be
ranked as good as the Pac-10."
