April 27, 2006

ACC Women's Lacrosse Championship
First Round - Thursday, April 27, 2006
#4 Maryland vs. #5 Boston College

Maryland Head Coach Cindy Timchal
Opening Statement:
I'm happy for Maryland on a great victory against Boston College. We knew how tough they were, having just played them six days ago. We had a decisive victory today and we certainly have a lot of respect for them coming into their first season in the ACC. It was great to get an opening victory in the ACC tournament and we look forward to our game tomorrow against Duke.

On the difference in today's game as opposed to the first game earlier this season against BC:
It was a commitment on the player's part to compete for every ball and play with pride on offense. Defensively, I think we made some adjustments that helped us from the last time we played. I think everyone made a commitment to step up today.

On what she said to her players at halftime:
We have had some decisive leads throughout the season. We felt that we had to keep control of today's game and not allow the easy goals we had in the past. I think we really rose to the occasion today.

On the momentum carried into tomorrow's game against Duke:
We were ready for today's game. We didn't want to look ahead because of how tough BC played us last week. Its not everyday you get an opportunity to not only play the No. 1 seed in the ACC tournament, but the No. 1 ranked team in the nation without getting past this game. Our players are ready. We are well conditioned and trained and so say it might be difficult to turnaround the next day but we've been waiting a long time for this opportunity. I don't think anything is going to get in our way in terms of going out there and putting it all out on the line.

Sophomore, Midfielder - Kelly Kasper
On the domination of possession in the first half:
We worked a lot on that in practice this week because in last week's game we had problems keeping possession. The focus this week was on handling the pressure and having confidence in our self to possess the ball for an extended period of time.

On the start the team had in today's game as opposed to the first game against BC:
Watching that game on film last week just gave us a lot of energy. We came out so slow which fired us up to come out and play hard today. We knew we are better than that, we have so much talent, and we came out focused to win.

Junior, Defender - Becky Clipp
On the play of the defense today:
Our focus on practice this week was on composure and pressure. Our game plan was to put pressure on the Eagles and to not let them get open passes. We went out and were disciplined with our body, no checking, no swinging. A team will give it up to any one when you play good body on them for a long period of time.

Senior, Midfielder - Delia Cox
On what the team is going to do differently this time around vs. Duke:
We need to stay composed throughout the entire game. In the first half of our game earlier this season with Duke, we were doing really well with possession. We sort of led up and let them dictate the tempo of the game which took away our confidence and our belief in our self. And I think that is one thing we need to take into tomorrow night's game, believing that we can go out there and do it.

On her success as a freshman in the ACC Tournament:
That was so exciting, especially with it happening during my freshman year. But I have to say that the team I'm with now is so talented. We are so close. I am very thankful that I am with these girls especially with this being my senior year. It would be nice to finish strong at the ACC Tournament with this being my senior year.

Head coach Bowen Holden
Opening statement:
I think the biggest thing for the Eagles today is that we know where we need to be. It's a building process, that's what we're doing. None of these kids has ever been in a game like this, in an environment like this, in a situation like this, and for the most part, they showed some true character, especially at the end of the game, and those are the little things that go a long way towards building a top program, as Maryland clearly is.

On the difference between this week's game against Maryland and last week's:
I think we came into this game with confidence. We had to make some adjustments from the last game, but I think the biggest thing is that we went into the last game knowing what we were capable of and Maryland went into that game knowing what we had done against the other top teams, which is get killed. I see it day in and day out at practice and see what these kids are capable of accomplishing. We went into that game with a sense of what we could possibly do. And we just went all-out from the very beginning to the very end, and that resulted in a 13-11 game because I think Maryland just wasn't expecting it from us. Obviously, they knew what they were going to get this time around and they are a very good team. There's no question about it, from one end of the field to the other, we just couldn't go for it today. I wouldn't say that we didn't come in here with confidence or that it was one specific reason that we weren't able to hang with them today. There were a lot of factors, and most importantly, a lot of lessons learned, which in the end is going to be the most important thing for us.

On why there are so few people on the team:
I actually can't answer that question because I showed up in August and was given the 22 kids that I was given, and I couldn't be happier with the 22 I have. I don't want any others right now, these 22 have given absolutely everything to this program, and have worked unbelievably hard from the day I had them in September to now. My assistant coach was just saying to me that unfortunately, what all of you see isn't what really is. This team has come so far, and has done so much, and has accomplished so much in just a few short months, and has weathered a lot of storms too, but they keep fighting. In terms of numbers, absolutely I would love to have a bigger team down the road, but this year I want these 22, and that's it.

Sophomore defender Catharine Saylor
On the environment of the game:
We actually counted our steps before we came on our home turf, goal line to goal line, and she (Coach Bowen Holden) told us to remember that number. We got here, we counted our steps from goal line to goal line, and it was the same number. So, it's not that we were overwhelmed. Like coach said, it is a situation that none of us has ever played in before, but there's no doubt in my mind that we'll get to that level. I don't know if you know how closely we were to them last week. It was 13-11. We're there. We'll get there.

On whether the size of the team hurt defensively:
It's tough, but like Bowen said, that's our defense, and that's how we play. We don't know it any differently. Maybe we will, and maybe it will change, but that is the way it is right now and we like it.