MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -  West Virginia University women’s soccer head coach Nikki Izzo-Brown and seniors Kadeisha Buchanan and Ashley Lawrence, 2016 Rio Summer Olympic Games Bronze medalists, met with the media on Friday, August 26, at the WVU Basketball Practice Facility Media Room.

 

PHOTOS

 

Nothing can make me happier than to have my two medalists back in Morgantown. They couldn’t wait to get back home to their U.S. home. They first took a stop to Toronto to see family and friends. They’re real excited to be back, and their West Virginia family is really excited to have you both back, too. So welcome home.

 

It’s definitely all about recovery such as hydration, ice baths, massages, foam rolling and just rolling out your legs. I think that’s all you can do, and even in practices, managing how much you run that day.

 

Yeah. I think the World Cup and the Olympics are very different in their set up. We had a lot of time in between games where as the Olympics it was such a quick turnaround. It was like two to three games, so again like Kadeisha (Buchanan) said, high performance behaviors, getting recovery in, making sure we’re sleeping and hydrating, which will allow us to play at the optimum level every game consistently.

 

Yes. Our last game was on that Friday, and we flew in the next day to Rio, so we were there for the closing ceremonies. We were able to celebrate the Bronze medal with our team. Then a day later we flew back home to spend time with our families.

 

Well our first game was on August 3, and the opening ceremony was August 5 in a different city. Unfortunately we didn’t go to the opening ceremony, but we went to the closing.

 

It was amazing. The closing ceremony is always fun, but to have a medal around your neck makes it that much better. Again, we had that opportunity to celebrate with our team - just walking with other Canadian athletes and seeing other athletes was an overall celebration. It was really fun.

 

Always when you find yourself in your down time it’s like that self-reflect. Even when you wake up you glimpse at yourself in the mirror and you’re like, ‘I’m an Olympian, and I’m a Bronze medalist.’ That feeling you get is definitely amazing, and I know we’re both looking for more medals to come.

 

Four out of our six games were played out in São Paulo. Every game we played, whoever the opponent was, it was always a sold-out crowd and crazy atmosphere, but against Brazil, the host nation, it was just that much more intense. It was so loud. For us, you could hear a pin drop when we scored. Whereas any type of move they moved, like Marta when she had the ball, they were just going crazy. They had that energy behind them, but we kind of used that to our motivation, just to silence the crowd and get those goals in one at a time.

 

We’ve been up against Marta quite a few times. I think for me, maybe my fifth, but we played them three times this year before the Bronze medal match.

 

For me it was a bit different. We had played Brazil, but I was in midfield. In this game I was left back and I was directly defending her, so that was a bit of an adjustment. I knew it was going to be a challenge, but it was like a battle between me and her.

 

There’s so many moments, but I think about how we started the tournament, our first game how we went down a player early on, and I think about our resilience to fight to the end whistle and get that result. That was big for us. I think that just speaks volumes of our team character, and at the end, again, it was a crazy atmosphere. We knew it was going to be a challenge against Brazil, but we stood up. Everyone had their role. I think for me just that first goal when it went in, it was just a relief for our team, and then you knew we had that momentum to win this game.

 

There’s a lot of moments. I think for me the biggest one is when in the semifinals we lost against Germany, and obviously we were devastated about the loss because we wouldn’t be in the final, but the way the team managed to overcome that and win a Bronze medal, I think that was one of my most memorable moments. The team came together to achieve a goal that we wanted.

 

When you’re at the game you get to see the whole game and you get to see where everyone’s movements are. That’s what I miss. I miss seeing what they are doing off the ball, but also what they are doing on the ball because obviously, I’m their biggest fan, next to their families. I just miss the flow and the feel of the game, as well as to be there and to support them. I got to see a lot, and I already told them I had to re-watch the games because it’s important for me to just watch them. I wish I was there to see the whole field and not different moments.

 

I’m just cheering really loud because I know their strengths. I know when Ashley got that incredible assist in the Bronze medal game, we just know that she is so capable of that, and when she plays free and does those things it’s incredible. When Keisha is running down an attacker, I feel sorry for her, because she has such closing speed. Both of them have such great strengths. I am definitely cheering because I know what they are going to do, and I just hope that they are capable of playing and enjoying what they are doing and playing to their strengths. 

 

It was pretty active. Throughout the tournament they were always sending messages. We may not have always communicated directly, but I definitely felt them, just their support and encouragement, some individual players, or even as a team. We have a group message, so I think overall the support has been incredible. Even online from random people from West Virginia, it was amazing just to see and feel their spirit there in Brazil.

 

I think Ashley said it for us both. Different athletes from here and people from West Virginia, messaging us on social media and telling us good luck and that we are making our state proud. It’s definitely cool to see the messages, obviously, from our teammates - they said a few words. All around I think we had a lot of support from here. 

 

I will say too, right before the Penn State game, both of them sent us a video wishing the girls well, so that was real special. Even though they shouldn’t have been on their phones. It was a hard time for both teams and both individual players because their focus is a little bit different. I do think the state of West Virginia definitely was cheering for you guys, too.

 

It was all ups for me. I don’t know the situation in Rio, but we weren’t in Rio, so I think we had our own nice little area in different cities. I can’t really comment on Rio itself, but overall my experience, like logistics and everything, was great.

 

We were just in hotels because we traveled to different places like São Paulo, Brasilia, Belo Horizonte and then Rio. We were mostly in hotels.

 

I know for me, I don’t have mine here because I wanted it to be at home. I think in a secure place where it’s just protected, and I don’t have to walk around with it.

 

Same, it’s definitely going to be in a safe place.

 

Not as much. In Brazil, they mostly played Brazilian sports. We all missed Canadian sports that we wanted to watch as well. I kept following her - it’s amazing. I want to meet her, so when that time comes, I will definitely congratulate her.