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UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN SOCCER MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 19, 2015

Paula Wilkins

Madison, Wisconsin

THE MODERATOR: Women's Head Soccer Coach Paula Wilkins is here. We will have some opening comments and take questions.

COACH WILKINS: Thanks. I'm happy with the results this weekend against Michigan and Michigan State. We were down Friday -- Thursday night, dramatic fashion they come back and score three unanswered goals in the second half to come back and beat Michigan, who was a very good team, and then to turn around and come off that emotional high to beat a very good Michigan State, who doesn't give up a lot of goals, on our Senior Day was a great experience this weekend. Very excited to be home for a couple days and get a little bit healthier, rested up and, like Kelly said, to get back in and get some training in and to prepare for Maryland, so it's going to be a good test for us on Saturday.

Q. Back to the Michigan game. You hope something like that can happen, but do you really think something like that can happen?
COACH WILKINS: Yeah, I think that's true. I think when we got the first goal back, I thought it was a little bit of a turning point. One of the biggest things in soccer is the 2-0 lead is the worst thing to have, because once the other team gets a goal back, then there is momentum shift their way. I think when you have six seniors on the field, and they see the end of their season coming, it becomes a little bit more real to them, and if you look at our stats, all six goals were scored by seniors.

So they were able to do that. I looked in my coaching career of being an assistant coach and head coach, and I don't know if it's ever happened to me in my 21 years of coaching, which made me sit and think, really? I haven't done that before? So I'm really happy with their effort, and that's all we talk about all the time is what's your effort, and at the end of the game, or in the second half, they didn't give up. And that was, I told them, the true test of their resilience.

Q. It doesn't seem that long ago that you were sitting up there kind of trying to figure out how to score goals, and a month later you guys have won seven in a row. What's the biggest take-away from this run you guys have been on?
COACH WILKINS: I think the biggest thing is we have become better at defending, and I know that seems sort of weird, but we've defended higher up on the field, which able to win the ball higher, closer to our goal, and cause some goals in that fashion. I think we found the right combination of players, and they got played in with one another. Victoria Pickett was a late add, and it took her a couple of games to get played in. I think she has been a serious offensive threat that's caused some problems for other teams, along with Rose Lavelle and Kinley McNicoll and McKenna Meuer. They've all kind of contributed, so our midfield has been pretty outstanding in that. And then also set pieces. We have spent some time on those, and people have really been focused -- people -- our players have been really focused on that, and it's been exciting to see them get excited for these opportunities.

Q. I've got to imagine the confidence is pretty high right now in the locker room. What's it like inside there with your team right now?
COACH WILKINS: It's fun! Winning is obviously fun, but I think there is a little bit of a confidence about them and a belief, and I think that's -- if you talk to any coach, that's half the battle, and I think right now, I would have to say they're very focused. They are doing all the right thing, and all we keep talking about is getting better in each game and they have and it's -- there is an energy among them right now.

Q. Paula, you won six Big Ten regular season titles at Penn State. Is there anything similar with this team right now that you can draw from with regard to your time with the Nittany Lions?
COACH WILKINS: I would have to say the defending aspect, and maybe that's my forte, but they have done a great job defending as a team, and we have talked about some of the goals that we're scoring now, but we are also getting some shut outs. And it's not just the defenders, the back line, and the goal keeper, it's everyone from front to back, and they're willing to defend together, and that's been something very similar. Then you have a couple of special players who can do some special things, and that really kind of makes a difference in the season.

Q. The team kind of talked about last year changing the culture, and that was the key focus, and now you're right in the chase again this year. You won the Big Ten Tournament last year. You just surpassed 100 career Big Ten wins. What's it been like to establish the culture here and bring it from Penn State now to Wisconsin and find consistent success?
COACH WILKINS: Um, it's been fun, because it's always been based on the players and their decisions. They have to decide what they wanted out of this program, and in two years they did that. But it's now nice to know as a coach you have leadership in spots, where you don't have to worry about certain things, whether it's where the balls are, the cones are, and I know it seems like a small thing for a coach, but it's -- it means that they're focusing in on the details, and that translates to the field, and that's one of the things we talked about in the middle of the season is that the details weren't getting taken care of.

And each player needed to step up in their role, and that's part of the culture, whether it's a player that plays 90 minutes or a player that doesn't play any minutes, they all have a special role, and they need to take care of all their details.

Q. Looking at the Big Ten standings, you guys are at the top, and you have four teams behind you ranked in the top-25. What do you think of that?
COACH WILKINS: Um, I think it's great. I think that the beginning part of our season wasn't the greatest, we put ourselves behind the eight ball a little bit. Everybody else in the Big Ten did great, and after our loss to Penn State, the team -- I said to the team they had to decide what type of a team they wanted to be, and they put all the stuff behind them that think couldn't control anymore. They couldn't control any of those losses, and they said they could only focus on the next game, and that's all we've been focusing on since that game.

Everything will fall where it needs to be, but all we can do is take care of the next game.

Q. When you get this close and you know what you can accomplish and you can win a conference title, do you think about it, talk about it, or you try not to let that enter the mind-set too much?
COACH WILKINS: Um, you know, I think it would be naive not to talk about it and make the players aware, and obviously through social media, they basically know everything before I know it. They knew that Penn State was -- had lost at halftime of our game, so I don't know how that happens, but it does, and I think it's naive to say you can't talk about it, but I think you have to recognize it and realize what we say all the time is you can't control the other team, you can't control the referee, you can't control the weather, you can't control any of that. The only thing you can control is what you can do and that's our week of preparation and our focus and our work rate.

And so we start with those, and then we build off of that. So there is some excitement, but the one thing with this team is we talked about sometimes they get a little bit tight because they're worried about losing something, and I said you have to look at it as you are gaining something, and so they don't have it, and it's something to go get. And, um, it's exciting. It's exciting for them to be part of this, and either way, this team has shown a lot this season, and I'm very proud of them for that.

Q. The next one is at Maryland. They haven't won in the Big Ten yet does that make you nervous at all? I suppose no matter who you play, though, but Maryland, really?
COACH WILKINS: Someone asked me about this today and I said they are probably the best last-place team in the conference. They haven't lost any game in the Big Ten by less than 1 goal, and they have been in four games of overtime in the Big Ten.

So, yeah, it makes me a little nervous. They have a special player up top in Alex Anthony, and I've been watching film on her already. She is the leading scorer in the Big Ten and it's -- it's an interesting game to go into, but I'm really excited because it's an opportunity to be great. And that's how I look at it with my team, and they can only control what they can control, and they go from there.

So I know people look at it, going, wow, you're playing the last-place team; it's not that easy. They're well coached. I watched them today. They're organized, and they have the ability to score on you, so we're going to have to be great.

THE MODERATOR: Anything else for Paula? All right. Thank you, Paula.

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