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Wake Forest postgame Women's College Cup press conference after semifinal win over Stanford
Dec 7, 2024
Deacons coach Tony Da Luz and players Valentina Amaral and Emily Morris after their 1-0 win over Stanford. #WakeForest #Stanford #Women'sCollegeCup
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0:14
thank we're now joined by the W Forest
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Demon Deacons we have with us head coach
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Tony Delo along with players Valentina
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Amal and Emily Morris we'll have an
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opening statement from coach followed by
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questions for the players and then
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questions for coach
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um yeah thanks for uh for having us um
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you know I can't say too much about our
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team I'm so proud of our team um they've
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performed really high level all year
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long uh and to beat a good team like
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Stanford and National semi-final is an
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incredible uh result and um I have faith
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that we can get to Monday and and close
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the deal so looking forward to
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Monday questions for the student athlet
1:00
coach congratulations um I guess the
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first thing you're probably going to do
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after this press conference is go
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outside and do some more scouting how
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much of of an advantage is that that you
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get that extra game to just kind of
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watch these two teams that are really
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good one of them better are taking you
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on um I mean it's more of a relief for
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me really to be honest to get this early
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game over with and and uh watch these
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guys battle through it um uh yeah I mean
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we know these teams we've seen them a
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million in time so you know us watching
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it it's it's really not uh that big of
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an advantage uh it's just uh a relief
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that we're done and hopefully they'll
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play overtime and penalties and wear
1:42
each other
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out just a reminder questions for the
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players first in coach Valentino the
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first half they had a set piece
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opportunity great scoring chance and you
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were able to deflect that off the post I
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think a lot of people didn't realize in
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real time you were able to through what
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you saw in that moment and how you were
2:02
able to make play yeah I mean it it was
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pretty crowded in there but um we we
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were bit ahead it out and um
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unfortunately there's um nowhere to get
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the second ball but um when she kicked
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it it was very much just a reaction save
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I was just able to um get a few
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fingertips on it and I'm just happy that
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I had one of my Defenders to just get it
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out of the goal
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area so so You' scored two goals against
2:31
the defended national champions another
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go n tournament and a game winner today
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what is it about
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game that um I don't know I just just
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happens I guess my teammates set me up
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in like really good positions and yeah I
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just get lucky I
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guess back Emily is it sun in yet that
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you know by getting this game winning
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goal and get to their first ever
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national title game you're Forever part
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of history with this program um no not
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really I mean I sometimes still feel
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like we're in ACC season so I don't
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think it's actually hit me that we have
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one game left of my college
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career Valentina so sit in the stand
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when the ball's played to you I'm
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getting nervous here what's going to
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your head how are you so composed in
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those moment fast even as pressure ising
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down I mean I think one of my um main
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impacts in the game is just staying
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comfortable on the ball even um through
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stressful times or
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situations um and I have full trust in
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my center backs um to be able to play
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out of the back so um I don't know I
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think I just stay comfortable and just
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try to play around them that's really
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it this for both players do you have a
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preference of who you face out of these
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two teams
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no I I think we're ready for either
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either one to be
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honest for either one of you just the
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celebration your fans were awesome
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tonight cheering you guys on all game
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long what was it like when the clock hit
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zero and seemed like the whole team was
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over there right in front of the F were
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you able to interact family what was
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it um well we have a lot of Alum here so
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especially when I was a freshman a lot
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of the seniors came tonight so it was
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amazing seeing that and our families and
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basically everyone that was here tonight
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came to California so they travel in a
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packed yeah your question
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questions I recognize our alums with the
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Harry Potter
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scarves see no questions
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congratulations
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Monday feel free to go thank you thank
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you
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stay good luck
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sure you can ask all you want now in the
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back for Coach JP the first time I'll
5:06
try this time what does it mean to you
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that for the first time not only you
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guys go into the national championship
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game but for the first time since 1992
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you have two North Carolina teams
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playing for a
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title yeah I mean it's a little
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overwhelming really I mean this to have
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four ACC teams in this thing and you
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know we won the first round of the ACC
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tournament tonight so like it's just uh
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it's unreal and it it raises the level
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it makes you be better like it if you're
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not improving in our league then you're
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falling behind and it's hard to catch up
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so um I'm I'm excited about it obviously
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we we've been there in we were there in
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2011 it's been a long time and we lost
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to Duke in that game um so if it happens
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to be Duke again then uh you know I'm
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I'm definitely
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G to try to send Robbie on a sad
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retirement yes so coach been at this now
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for almost three decades practically
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built the program from scratch what does
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it mean to finally reach this stage work
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so
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hard yeah it's um you know I'm I'm just
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you saw all of our alums you know in the
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stands and that that's the most
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gratifying thing for me is that our our
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alums and our fans are so
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um there they're just so invested in our
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program and so faithful to our program
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in all ways uh the way they support us
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um so that means more to me than
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anything right the you know we're in the
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final and it's absolutely incredible
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it's
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fantastic I'm super proud of this team
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because this team started in January in
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January they really locked in and from
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then on the entire year they've been
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completely locked in um so it's just you
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know it's our 30th year uh of the
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program and uh this would be a great way
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to commemorate that that year um with a
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national championship so we're going to
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come back on Monday and try to win
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it CLE off off the line yeah I mean
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Valentina has been different level uh
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since we got her back into the lineup
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you she's been out she was out all last
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year with her knee injury and um she's
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beenin different level and like you said
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we can play out of the back with her um
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and we train that a lot because we know
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that she's capable um of of playing out
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of the back um but Christine Johnson
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unbelievable last week in the
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quarterfinals she scores the winning
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penalty um and then tonight she clears
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one off the line so so everybody's
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contributing um love the kid she's just
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you know she doesn't have a pulse that
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kid she's an Icelandic Viking
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so um there to
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compete yes we saw you get a little
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emotional that ESPN
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yeah
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um it's really hard to say um you know
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in this this time days times of this
8:30
portal situation and teams you know
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there's a lot of programs that are
8:35
getting rid of kids and bringing in new
8:38
portal kids you know in mass and we we
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don't do that we try to develop players
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at wake and and this this group is
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Testament to that we've had them for
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four years and we've added a couple kids
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um through the portal specific needs
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that we wanted um but they've been
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together and we've developed them and
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some of these kids didn't play as
8:59
freshman they didn't play at all um so
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I'm you know it's just uh gratifying to
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see that they stuck with it that these
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are kids that um are tough mentally they
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don't give up and you know in this age
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of hey I'm not playing I'm going to
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leave we don't we just don't have that
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so um I'm really proud of our kids for
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for sticking around and and believing in
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what we're
9:27
doing coach a little bit of a tactical
9:30
question here so in a game like this a
9:33
lot of teams can have to play more
9:35
safely your players who still connec Z
9:39
passes 18 just how long did it take to
9:42
build a group that was that confident in
9:44
the game
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this yeah I mean I I don't know how to
9:51
do it any other way so I could our kids
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couldn't hit long balls if if we told
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them to so we we know know one way to do
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it and we believe in it and we train it
10:03
a lot like I
10:04
said um the first game against Stanford
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uh during the year it was very similar
10:10
the first half was pretty even they had
10:14
the ball a good amount in the second
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half we wore them down and we kept
10:17
playing and I showed our team those
10:19
clips last night of some sequences in
10:22
the first game that we were just
10:23
absolutely fantastic uh from end to end
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building out and you know that's what we
10:28
do that's our identity and that's what
10:30
we believe in so our players come to
10:32
wake because they believe in it and that
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that's the way that they want to play so
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um you know it is
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stressful but uh you know it's it's it's
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part of the game so that's what we want
10:45
to
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do we touched on Robbie Church being his
10:50
last season and you know before the
10:51
season we saw decid to step away is
10:55
there kind of that like Tom last one
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standing like you're kind of excited
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that you know be the the veteran and the
11:04
sucess
11:05
the yeah I I mean I'm I'm the oldest guy
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in the in the league now I me Robbie was
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there for 24 years I think and I'm at 28
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and uh he's still older than me though
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um but uh yeah I
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mean you know those guys have they're
11:23
Legends in the league um you know it's
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sad to see them go both of them um
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Robbie and I are very good
11:31
friends um but you know I could to win
11:36
the game you know it's part of my job so
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um yeah he's a quality guy I just I love
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the guy to death he's we we talk almost
11:44
every day you know um and he's usually
11:48
the one initiating the text or the call
11:50
you know um so it's going to be I'm
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going to miss him a lot for sure um but
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you know I got to put that aside on
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Monday if if they get through uh
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regardless um of which team gets through
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we got do do the
12:05
job
12:09
questions app all right thank you thanks
12:12
a
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lot oh yeah
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