From the Bench... Nov. 3, 2003– Fullerton, Calif.
Coach Al Mistri:
"Even though our season really started back in February, it all comes
down to the next three games (vs. Fresno State, at UCSB and home vs. CSUN.).
Our destiny is in our hands. It would take some very unlikely scenarios
for us to win the Big West Conference championship, but I think it would
be hard to keep us out of the playoffs considering that we would have
beaten two nationally ranked teams twice in succession. The fact that
after we beat Northridge, they beat Rutgers, is very significant. And
Tuesday night we have Fresno State, which would prove we could handle
the fourth or fifth-place team from the Pac-10. If the top three teams
from our conference make the playoffs, and the other two are the teams
we just beat in a very short time span, it would look very good for our
case.
"What I'm most proud of has been the effort the team has given. They
could have packed it in a couple of weeks ago, but they kept playing and
maintained the effort they were giving and we got some people healthy
and now we have some momentum. I can look back and find only one or two
games all season where I didn't think the maximum effort was there.
"We had a very good week, beating Northridge and tying UC Irvine.
We certainly would have liked to have won the Irvine game, but that game
could have gone either way.
"The only bad situation is our personnel this week. Gordon (Kljestan)
must sit out the Fresno State game due to an accumulation of yellow cards.
I think he has played every minute this season. And Marco Rodriguez is
tentative after getting hurt Saturday. Jason Clifford has a charley horse
and is questionable. Omar Bywaters is definitely out."
