UNC-Virginia Postgame Quotes
May 17, 2014 | Women's Lacrosse
UNC Head Coach Jenny Levy
Opening Statement
"Congrats to Virginia. They have been a team that has been battling, and I thought that in the second half they made some plays, their goalie made some saves, and they made some plays offensively and on the draws to give them an advantage, but obviously we are heartbroken. Especially for our senior group who has done just such a great job leading. There's Abbey and Sloane, but luckily we get two back next year in Margaret Corzel and Brittney Coppa. Obviously we hate to see our senior class leave ever, whether it's this time of year or a week later. I'm very proud of them and of their leadership this year. They definitely left a legacy at Carolina that I am very proud of."
On the second half
"Well, our rules allow you to stall the ball ... If we don't have the ball, we can't score. I thought my defense did a pretty nice job of turning the ball over during the second half and we got some good looks on cage that we just didn't put away. I thought our shooting could have been better in those moments, but it's part of the game unfortunately. I don't think it's fun for [the fans] to watch, but it's just a way to control tempo. I thought our defense did fine on it. It wasn't a big deal."
On the second-half draws
"I thought it was a scrum. You just have to be tougher and focused, and I thought a couple of times the ball rolled in our sticks and we just didn't hold on to it. That came up with some great possessions for them. You have to credit their team for getting possession on the draw, and if you have the ball, you can score and obviously we didn't for stretches in the second half."
On having to overcome injuries
"I don't know ... We had what we had today, and we had what we had when we started our season. We fought all year and had tons of courage. We aren't going to use it as an excuse of why we aren't headed to Towson next weekend. I think every team goes through injuries and obviously we had a lot this year. I think it does put stress on the team just because you care about the people that you're with every day. When someone else goes down, I think emotionally it takes a little toll. We had a steady stream of [injuries] in the fall from all different sorts of stuff, but it's certainly not why we lost today. We obviously had a great season. Going into this game today, we were 15-4, finished ranked with a top three seed in the country. There's nothing to hang our heads about with what we have accomplished with this group this year. We don't even entertain if we would look different if we had those athletes on the field, because it wasn't a reality and that's just how it goes. We don't know what that means, but maybe in the future I can answer that question."
On the switch in goalies
"We have done it all year. We have a lot of confidence in our goalies, and I thought they both played fine. We are just really lucky. We have two really great goalkeepers, they work really hard and have a passion for the game, and one is a freshman and one is a sophomore so the future is bright for us."
On Courtney Waite's performance
"Well, Courtney Waite has been on the field all year for us. She is an amazing defender. She is someone that we have watched grow for the past three years. She has worked extremely hard to get to where she is. She was on Swan today and did a great job on her. And quite honestly, most of the goals they got until the last two, I think, were off of grub stuff. We hurt ourselves today. We turned the ball over in the first half. Of the four girls they scored in the first half, two were off of turnovers, one was off the 8-meter, and one was off a grub goal. Those are their kids making plays in those situations. Those aren't set plays. Second half, we had a really great effort with Aly Messinger down the field. She gets a check on the kid's stick and we get unlucky and it goes back to them and they get a walk-in goal. There was another where we hit the ball onto the ground, they pick up the ground ball and score off of it. So, I congratulate them. Their kids made plays on unsettled situations in which they are good at. Had those balls gone the other way, they don't score ten goals. I think Liza Blue had a goal coming down the right-hand side. That's one. Three of their ten goals were not grub, or not off a turnover on our half. I think we hurt ourselves in a couple of areas in transition in the first half, and then just got some unlucky bounces with just not picking up ground balls, which they picked up and stuck in the back of the net. So, credit them for being alert, aware and making plays. That is what it comes down to this time of year. You have to make plays."
On Virginia's slow offensive tempo at the end of the game
"Well, it's a 30 by 65 [foot field], and so they stalled the ball in that space, and they passed it around, and around, and around. Basketball went to Four Corners, and think about how small that space is, and people had to make a rule and a shot clock to not have that happen on the basketball court. We are still in the 1990's right now in our game because we have refused to put a rule on the field for stalling. That has nothing to do with why we lost the game, but there should be a stall rule for the betterment of our game.
"Once we went down, we caused two turnovers on the defense that we popped in to. One led to a goal by Abbey and the second one, we ended up getting the ball with 30 seconds left and unfortunately just didn't finish the play. But when they stalled, we had three different opportunities offensively, one of which Abbey scored, the other we missed an open cage shot, and the last one we threw away in transition. So, your kids have to make plays in this type of game, and I credit Virginia because I thought their kids did. They were unconventional, but that is what wins these types of games."
On the possibility of gaining a shot clock
"I think we will eventually get there, but did you see how long it took us to put restraining lines and boundaries on the field? Eleven years. We are 20 years deep into this situation right now, it's all on the coaches and the problem is you have got an elite few coaches who want to see the game played, and played at a high level where kids are forced to play offense and defenses are forced to play. There are also a majority of coaches that don't want to see that because then they can't stall. Again, it has no implications on today's game [versus Virginia]. That is just my opinion on it and I have had it since 1995."
On supporting the defense while playing attack
"It's obviously tough just to feel like you don't really necessarily have control of the situation being an attacker. Just continuing to support them. I know Molly and Taylor George were doing a really good job, so communicating with them and saying things like, "You got it!" or reminding them of their hands, or whatever it is just to keep them focused and patient. Like Jenny said, I think they did a good job in the stretch controlling the multiple minutes of them stalling the ball. Our defense did a good job."
On her mindset after the game
"Just that the four years are done too quick, and obviously this isn't the situation that we want to end with. But I think the seniors did a really good job all four years, and I wouldn't have wanted to graduate with a different class. I think it was really nice to have a group of 37 girls that you love to death and I think that you can see that everyone is equally upset, and I think that shows how much they truly care about us as a senior class, which always makes it a little better, I guess."
On what the season meant to her
"Just being a senior and wrapping up the entire four years. I had the opportunity to play as a freshman and have amazing seniors that were able to guide me and teach me everything that I learned growing up. I'm just trying to do the same thing for [the freshmen] and know that they will be stepping up and probably breaking my records, which I'm okay with. I hope that I was able to do that for them as well."
On the impact of the senior class this season
"Just watching people like Abbey on the field, it's inspiring. You just want to get to that level because she's a senior and we want to be like her and follow in her footsteps. 6:30 in the morning workouts, Abbey is always coming in with a smile on her face, ready to get better that day. She's just really inspiring and it makes you want to be around her all the time."
On the difference between halves on the draws
"There wasn't anything that was much different. Just loose balls come up either way, it's a 50/50 ball and it was going their way more in the second half."
On the impact of the senior class this season
"When we came in here, they didn't just treat us like freshmen. They brought us in and played just like we were any other senior on the field. They didn't treat us any differently. All of the seniors, on the sideline or in the game, all showed so much leadership and they taught us a lot on the field and off the field. We are really going to miss them next year."
UVa Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Julie Myers
Goalkeeper Liz Colgan
Attack Casey Bocklet
Attack Liza Blue
Opening Statement:
Head Coach Julie Myers- "Obviously I am really proud of our entire performance but in particular the second half. We made big plays all over the field, whether it's a draw, or in transition, or a goal. Carolina is a fantastic team. They made us work really hard for it, and I feel like we got the momentum at just the right time in the game. I couldn't be more proud of how hard the girls have worked, how we played today, with us coming off with the win and taking us to the Final Four. You couldn't script it any better for Virginia, so we're super excited."
On Virginia losing three times to Carolina in the past four NCAA tournaments:
Head Coach Julie Myers- "The road to the Final Four seems to always go through Carolina. Obviously they've been in (the semifinals) the last few years, which means they have been at the better half of it. But I just think this was a determined group of fourth-year players that led the charge and a talented third-year right behind them. They kept their focus right and blocked out any extra noise. They really started to bond together and believe and earned the right to play next weekend."
On 12 minute stretch with control of the ball:
Head Coach Julie Myers- "That was great. It was not scripted by any means. I knew we wanted to take our time to get the goal, but one of Carolina's strengths is how good they are at defense. It took (12 minutes) to get in and get a good shot off. Their strength ended up hurting them a little bit because it was so hard for us to get a shot off. We ended up having the ball longer than we thought we were going to have it. It resulted in them not having it, then us winning the next series of draws. So I think one of their strengths is their defense, and they're incredibly hard to beat and get around. It worked in our favor today because we shot and scored just enough to win in the end."
On Goal Keeper Liz Colgan's saves:
Goalkeeper Liz Colgan- "I think our defense as a whole studied them pretty heavily, but for me I try not to get too reliant on film. I just like to focus and see the ball. You can't guess where it's going."
Head Coach Julie Myers- "She's super competitive. A pivotal moment was on an eight-meter by Carly Reed when (the score) was 8-4, when she already had three great shots and goals. After the game, Liz told me 'I said to myself she's not scoring again'. I think that was a pivotal moment. It was a big save and we went down and scored. We took off from there. But give credit to Liz's competitiveness."
On possessing the ball in the final minutes:
Head Coach Julie Myers- "When you have good hands on the attack side and midfielders who can run all day, it lends to being able to do that a little bit. It is an incredibly tough skill to be able to possess a ball. I'll tell you that in the second half, we weren't trying to possess the ball or take time off the clock. We were playing catch up and trying to get a goal as quickly as we could knowing that we would rely on our stick work and some gritty performances and determination."
On Virginia's comeback:
Attacker Casey Bocklet- "We just believed in ourselves and we thought 'we have to do this. We can win this game' and that's what we went out and did. We fought hard and it showed."
On beating Carolina:
Attacker Liza Blue- "This is the biggest win I've been a part of in four years. Carolina is always a very tough opponent. They're very athletic, and they fought really hard today. Some balls bounced our way in the second half and we grinded away. This win means everything to us and it propels us into the final four."
On playing Syracuse in the next round:
Head Coach Julie Myers- "Our thoughts are on graduation tomorrow and enjoying the bus ride home (Sunday). We will start thinking about Syracuse on Monday. I think we just need to enjoy the moment and how much work has gone into this point, not just from the starters, but our entire time has really stuck with it. It was not an easy season in the beginning, but they just grinded it out and pounded away. So at least for right now, I would like to breath and enjoy a pretty fun bus ride home with maybe some dancing. Syracuse will come on Monday."
On strategy in the second half:
Head Coach Julie Myers- "Going into half-time, we had the ball with about a minute and 30 seconds left and we called a timeout. We had the ball and we said 'we're going to go down and take our time and look for the last shot'. At that point, it was a close game. We ended up getting chased into a double team and turning the ball over before we could hold it. They went down and scored, and then they went down and scored again. The next time, we again tried to force it. At halftime, we just emphasized trusting the structure right now. Colleen Shearer (attack coach) said, 'trust it, go with it', then our defensive coach said, 'please, go with the structure because our defense does not want you to fast break and score too quickly right now. We need you guys to take some time and be deliberate'. I think hearing those two messages and knowing the first half did not end very well for us because we went off of our game plan. I think it made everyone reinvest in the structure and trust it would bring success."
On playing "keep away":
Head Coach Julie Myers- "We definitely wanted to limit them. We say 'keep away', but we were trying to manipulate the defense. We were trying to get a good look, and trying to get our hands free. Again, (Carolina's) defenders make that really hard to do. It may look like "keep away" but really it's super hard work getting banged around and pounded and checked. So I would not call it 'keep away'."
On defensive mindset in the second half:
Goalkeeper Liz Colgan- "With about 15 minutes left in the second half, we came together as a defense. Initially the draws weren't going our way, and we decided as a defense this was going to be the type of game where we have to make a stop before we get possession. I think we just kept coming together as a defense and calming each other down. Sometimes at the end of games things just get crazy because you want to have a big turnover or takeaway, but then usually that's when a mistake happens. So we just kept coming together and saying we need to stick together and play our game. It felt calm when Carolina came back down, which is kind of chilling, but I think that we all believed. Every time we scored or they scored, we just all looked at each other on the defense and said, 'We believe. We're going to win this game'."
On an open net situation in the final moments:
Goalkeeper Liz Colgan- "Our defender got a great check off. Then Morgan Stephens and Daniela Eppler ran really hard after that ball and things just kind of fell our way towards the end of that second half."
On beating Carolina to advance to the final four:
Head Coach Julie Myers- "At this point, there were eight great teams playing today. I don't take any more pride in that it was Carolina. I take pride in the fact that we beat the defending national champion and a great team and an opponent that we hadn't beaten. I couldn't have more respect for a team than for Carolina. I think they do a great job on and off the field. They're tough. So we're just proud."
