San Diego State Athletics

San Diego State Men’s Soccer Press Conference Quotes

August 29, 2017

SDSU head coach Lev Kirshner

Opening Statement:

“We’re excited to be back here and getting the season going. Obviously a lot of us know how we did last year. We have a very similar team returning: A lot of experience, great leadership, a very driven group, a lot of buy-in to what our program stands on and the weekend proved it. We had an emotional, difficult loss in overtime in the last 45 seconds of the first overtime (at Army West Point) and to turn around on a hot Sunday afternoon -- it’s very difficult to play Friday-Sundays -- to come back with a performance that got us a victory in overtime (against Vermont), again, was a testament to the character of what we have inside our program.”

On if his team’s success last weekend revealed anything about the team:

“The bottom line is, what they did over the weekend was not surprising but it was nice to get cemented into what we believed. This is a team of great character. It’s a driven team, it’s a motivated team, it’s one that is mentally resilient and very tough and obviously that result on Sunday illustrates what they are. There are a lot of intangibles in this group, let alone the quality of soccer players and athleticism, and the things that are necessary to play our sport.”

On how this year’s team compares to last year’s team:

“Last year was probably the most successful year I’ve had in my career so it’s very hard to say that this group can eclipse it. I will say that everything that made us last year is in this team. The talent is very similar, if not a little bit better, just because the depth is a little bit different. The leadership is absolutely there. That was probably our biggest concern during our spring season and coming into the fall. The bottom line is, it’s not standing on the laurels. It’s the knowledge and the motivation of what we did last year and what we want to do this year. To try to beat the No. 1 team in the country, you don’t always get that opportunity. Can we eclipse that? I don’t know. Can we get into the Top 10? I don’t know. Those aren’t things that we have control over, other than getting out and playing on the next Monday night. What we do want to make sure is that we’re doing everything in our process to extend our season from last year. If we can accomplish that, I think we surpass what we did.”

SDSU senior forward Jeroen Meefout

On how the team’s success last year will impact this season:

“These types of wins against (then-No. 1) Akron, they get you through the summer. We worked super hard during the summer. We worked on our fitness and thinking about how those moments can be in our near future, it really helped. Thinking about the fans and scoring the (game-winning) goal on the Sports Deck, that gets you through the summer.”

SDSU men’s soccer senior midfielder Thom Van Den Berg

On how the team’s success last year will impact this season:

“Last year was phenomenal: the games we played, the wins we had, our overtime wins, our big games, it was fantastic. We’re taking that with us right now. Most of the guys have seen us play or played with us. We are all taking these moments with us and are looking at how we can build from here.”

- SDSU -