St. John's University Athletics
Quotes: NCAA Tournament First Round vs. Princeton
Postgame quotes from Dr. David Masur, Luka Gavran and Brandon Knapp
St. John’s Head Coach Dr. David Masur
Opening statement...
“It was a tough game. We played Princeton earlier [in the season]. They have a great team. They had won eight in a row. Jimmy [Barlow] is a great coach, and they have some very good players. They’re talented, and we knew it was going to be hard. It was a very aggressive game, particularly in the first half. I thought we did well after the first 10 or 15 minutes to settle in and create some opportunities going forward, especially in the last 20 to 25 minutes of the first half. It led to a great goal from Brandon [Knapp] and a great ball from Atila [Ashrafi], who slipped the ball [through] and Brandon was able to get it on a half-turn and hit it first time. In the second half, I thought we created some chances and maybe could have had another goal or two. It was a little unfortunate. Luka [Gavran] did really well in the goal to control things both with his feet, his reading of the game and capturing some corners and tough plays at the end. I think Brandon has done a great job at playing a bunch of different positions for us this year. I actually dropped him into midfield as the game went on. He went up front today, and we scored. He made me look bad because I didn’t play him there in the BIG EAST Tournament, so that’s how it goes. It’s a credit to the team because we have had a lot of different guys jump in and contribute this year. People have had to come in and out of the team, and they’ve done so with a little bit of grace, which isn’t always an easy thing to do. We have a difficult task at hand, and it’s good to see us get some results to go with that as everybody jumped in and contributed.“
On preparing for Princeton...
“We had a week before we found out if we were in. We had to take a couple of days off and train hard. We kind of had to regroup our focus, having the fundamentals of being competitive, being focused, trying to push ourselves hard at practice and turn that into earning a victory here tonight. We’ve got to make sure that we’re prepared and in tune with those things that we need to do to win the game. There’s a lot of little, important keys that go into each match, and we have to be ready for the next step. Seeing Princeton again was a little bit worrisome because we won the game down there, but they kind of got the better of us. It was somewhat of an even game. Tonight, we had a little bit better showing than them, both in possession and in generating a lot of attacks, so I was proud of the guys for that.”
On Brandon Knapp’s goal...
“It’s a difficult thing to get a half-turn and make sure you hit low and hard. It clicked in my mind that we needed to have somebody there that’s got the quality to finish if we get those opportunities. We hadn’t scored in the last couple of matches against teams that were playing with three in the back, so it becomes a bit more challenging.”
On the importance of set pieces...
“Set pieces are huge in the game of soccer. We try to make sure that we are in tune to defend and be good with our set pieces. We would still like to be better with our service and our ability to attack the ball on a more regular basis. It was nice to see us create a little havoc in there. [Matt] Chandler had one; we had a couple of other ones that were pretty close. Set pieces are certainly big. We have had a couple of goals off set pieces this year, and it’s made a big difference in us winning games. It’s something that we have to do. One of the things going into this game, we didn’t want to give away too many corners, which we didn’t. [Princeton] has scored a bunch of different corner kick opportunities this year. I think they have three or four goals off corners, so we were cognizant of that.”
Senior captain Brandon Knapp
On the game winning goal…
“I was aware of where the goal was, I was also aware of where the two defenders were… Right away, I thought turn and shoot, located the loose ball and found the bottom corner [of the net].”
On his goal-scoring instinct…
“Being able to find the ball in the right spots when I’m in the attacking third, I think I’ve done really well at that. I’ve been able to get in front of guys, being able to finish crosses and finding loose balls in the box like I did today and finish my chances.”
On meeting the No. 1 overall seed Oregon State in the next round…
“We saw that when the bracket came out, it’s very exciting. Our eyes were on Princeton first, they are a great team and played a great game out there tonight. Now we look forward to a fun game at the top seed. It will be an awesome experience, it’s a great opportunity for us. We have to stay focused over the next few days and go out there and try to get a result.”
Redshirt-junior goalkeeper Luka Gavran
On how the defense has been a catalyst for his success…
“We have a great backline. We have built a lot of chemistry throughout the season and they have played a big part in my clean sheets. I have to give it up for [Matt] Chandler, Lucas [Bartlett], [Rafael] Bustamante and everyone who has been in the back. We have had to rotate a lot due to injury and everyone deserves the credit.“
On his focus this season…
“I think I have matured a bit over the years. Mentally, in training and during games, I’ve been more focused throughout warm-ups which has helped me.”
Opening statement...
“It was a tough game. We played Princeton earlier [in the season]. They have a great team. They had won eight in a row. Jimmy [Barlow] is a great coach, and they have some very good players. They’re talented, and we knew it was going to be hard. It was a very aggressive game, particularly in the first half. I thought we did well after the first 10 or 15 minutes to settle in and create some opportunities going forward, especially in the last 20 to 25 minutes of the first half. It led to a great goal from Brandon [Knapp] and a great ball from Atila [Ashrafi], who slipped the ball [through] and Brandon was able to get it on a half-turn and hit it first time. In the second half, I thought we created some chances and maybe could have had another goal or two. It was a little unfortunate. Luka [Gavran] did really well in the goal to control things both with his feet, his reading of the game and capturing some corners and tough plays at the end. I think Brandon has done a great job at playing a bunch of different positions for us this year. I actually dropped him into midfield as the game went on. He went up front today, and we scored. He made me look bad because I didn’t play him there in the BIG EAST Tournament, so that’s how it goes. It’s a credit to the team because we have had a lot of different guys jump in and contribute this year. People have had to come in and out of the team, and they’ve done so with a little bit of grace, which isn’t always an easy thing to do. We have a difficult task at hand, and it’s good to see us get some results to go with that as everybody jumped in and contributed.“
On preparing for Princeton...
“We had a week before we found out if we were in. We had to take a couple of days off and train hard. We kind of had to regroup our focus, having the fundamentals of being competitive, being focused, trying to push ourselves hard at practice and turn that into earning a victory here tonight. We’ve got to make sure that we’re prepared and in tune with those things that we need to do to win the game. There’s a lot of little, important keys that go into each match, and we have to be ready for the next step. Seeing Princeton again was a little bit worrisome because we won the game down there, but they kind of got the better of us. It was somewhat of an even game. Tonight, we had a little bit better showing than them, both in possession and in generating a lot of attacks, so I was proud of the guys for that.”
On Brandon Knapp’s goal...
“It’s a difficult thing to get a half-turn and make sure you hit low and hard. It clicked in my mind that we needed to have somebody there that’s got the quality to finish if we get those opportunities. We hadn’t scored in the last couple of matches against teams that were playing with three in the back, so it becomes a bit more challenging.”
On the importance of set pieces...
“Set pieces are huge in the game of soccer. We try to make sure that we are in tune to defend and be good with our set pieces. We would still like to be better with our service and our ability to attack the ball on a more regular basis. It was nice to see us create a little havoc in there. [Matt] Chandler had one; we had a couple of other ones that were pretty close. Set pieces are certainly big. We have had a couple of goals off set pieces this year, and it’s made a big difference in us winning games. It’s something that we have to do. One of the things going into this game, we didn’t want to give away too many corners, which we didn’t. [Princeton] has scored a bunch of different corner kick opportunities this year. I think they have three or four goals off corners, so we were cognizant of that.”
Senior captain Brandon Knapp
On the game winning goal…
“I was aware of where the goal was, I was also aware of where the two defenders were… Right away, I thought turn and shoot, located the loose ball and found the bottom corner [of the net].”
On his goal-scoring instinct…
“Being able to find the ball in the right spots when I’m in the attacking third, I think I’ve done really well at that. I’ve been able to get in front of guys, being able to finish crosses and finding loose balls in the box like I did today and finish my chances.”
On meeting the No. 1 overall seed Oregon State in the next round…
“We saw that when the bracket came out, it’s very exciting. Our eyes were on Princeton first, they are a great team and played a great game out there tonight. Now we look forward to a fun game at the top seed. It will be an awesome experience, it’s a great opportunity for us. We have to stay focused over the next few days and go out there and try to get a result.”
Redshirt-junior goalkeeper Luka Gavran
On how the defense has been a catalyst for his success…
“We have a great backline. We have built a lot of chemistry throughout the season and they have played a big part in my clean sheets. I have to give it up for [Matt] Chandler, Lucas [Bartlett], [Rafael] Bustamante and everyone who has been in the back. We have had to rotate a lot due to injury and everyone deserves the credit.“
On his focus this season…
“I think I have matured a bit over the years. Mentally, in training and during games, I’ve been more focused throughout warm-ups which has helped me.”