Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak Breaks Down UCF's Season-Opening Win Over Florida
UCF women's soccer coach Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak speaks with the media following the Knights' win in their season-opener against Florida, 4-3.
Video Transcript
So coach, obviously down 2 to 0 beginning the first half.
Your team rallied back to win 42, sorry, 4 to 3.
How does it feel?
How do you feel about your team's ability to handle pressure and adversity?
We're showing that we can handle it.
I'm really proud of them because it is hard to be down 2-0, but we had a great talk at half.
I think we switched that momentum.
And we just wanted to put them on the back foot.
They took information really well, so it wasn't just about rallying the team.
It was about information and how we can be better on the field tactically and you know they were very coachable, so they responded really well under the adversity and they were highly coachable and.
What I told them in the huddle was that it really took every single player today to get that win, and from the bench to who was playing on the field , the rotations, everybody mattered today, and I love that about this team.
How did this team look different in the second half versus the first half?
Well, we were just a little bit.
Sitting back a little bit early on in the match, I think, I mean we gave up a goal right in the beginning that wasn't normal, you know, and so I think that's hard for any of us to recover from, right?
You make a mistake and it's a killer.
But again, like making mistakes , Maria's response to it.
I saw her, she's a leader, aren't she?
She's our captain.
She said my bad and she overcame that.
Like I love that.
Um, but yeah, beyond the brace from Naomi, what have you seen in her in terms of leadership that has really turned things around for you guys tonight?
Yeah, I mean, Gabby, I mean, um, Nay, we're talking about, right?
Naomi is, is a leader.
She leads by example.
She leads by energy really well.
She's a really positive, like happy person.
Um, she is a great teammate.
Um, she's everything you would want in a player for your team, helping with the culture and, uh, putting a lot of responsibility on herself to be the best for her teammates.
You had about less than half the amount of shots that Florida took tonight.
Just talk about what, what would the offensive strategy for you guys on this one when you have a team that shoots like that.
Well, I thought our defending in the box was really good tonight.
I thought that was, it's really hard when you're getting pressured like that and they're getting into in our box so often for us to defend the box the way we did.
So I'm really proud of the way that we defended our box this early in the season.
Our tenacity, but also our structure was very good .
Um, but yeah, I mean, I think we had, I mean, we scored 4 goals.
I'm happy about that.
We had a great attack tonight.
What can Kyle learn from a game like this?
What can Kayi learn from a game like this?
I mean, every, I think I may have said in the press conference, but Kai's going to grow in every game, you know, she made a great save there at the end that mattered, um, and with every game she's going to gain more confidence.
She's going to get to know her teammates more.
Her teammates are going to get to know her more.
Why is it so important for the Knights, even though they're up 3 to 2, to go ahead and put that pedal to the metal and get that 4th goal?
Yeah, I mean, because it's football and anything can happen even with 30 seconds left, even with 10 seconds left.
I mean we scored goals last year in the last 8 seconds of the game, so we don't take anything lightly.
We don't take things for granted, and yeah, we just want to, you know, take care of games.
Speaking of scoring in the last 8 seconds, that opponent you did that to LSU is your next up for you guys going on the road to face them.
You like how I set you up there?
Yeah, going on the road against them to face them.
They ranked 16 in the preseason rankings.
What do you want to take from tonight as you go over to face another SEC team?
The main thing is the competitive.
I mean, like we competed.
It felt like a championship match in our home opener, really.
So the expectation is that we come out to compete from the very start of the game.
That is the expectation.
And this is an SEC opponent, very tough, very gritty conference.
What can you say about the terms of, you know, Big 12 players?
How that lines up when taking on an SEC opponent.
Yeah, I mean, the Big 12 is a top league.
So is the SEC.
Love playing, you know, great programs like LSU, like, like UF.
So it is going to prep us really well for the Big 12 when that when that time comes.
When did you first learn about Naomi's celebration and the backflips, and what did you think when you first saw it?
We saw it in the exhibition match, so yeah, I was not surprised this time around.
She deserves it.
You good?
Alright, thank you guys.
Thanks guys.
