Nov. 1, 2006

North Carolina Quotes
UNC 3, NC State 0
11/1/06

Head coach Anson Dorrance:
Opening comments
"Obviously we are excited that we advanced and at this time of the year it is all about advancing with as few injuries as possible. It was great to get Robyn Gayle and Whitney Engen back in the lineup as they hadn't played in awhile. From the stats alone you can tell how much better we are with those kids playing."

On NC State
"I feel sorry for NC State. I think they are a team that should get a bid and they are a quality team. I think the league is so good this year that we should be sending eight teams and I think NC State should be one of the ones selected. They gave us an excellent fight but I'm proud of our kids and excited to be in the semifinals."

On health of the team and the lineup today
"We are a little banged up, but not crippled forever. We need some time off to get fully back together. It is nothing A-typical it is just that all teams this type of year are in the same situation. We have some bumps and scrapes but we aren't any worse than anyone else."

On the goalkeeper situation
"If Anna (Rodenbough) had gone down early in the season we would have used Elizabeht Guess, and that is no joke. She is so good in the field but she would have been our option at goal. But now, the way Ashlyn Harris is playing in goal I would not hesitate to put her in if something happened to Anna."

On the season so far
"We are so excited with what has happened so far. I think we have over achieved. I thought we would be a good team at this point in the season, but early on I think we played better than I expected."

Whitney Engen (Freshman midfielder)
On corner kicks
"We go over corners before each game and the coaches tell me where to make my runs and they are always right. I get to where I should be and you hope the ball gets there too."

On going into halftime with the late second goal
"We know that any team can come back from a 2-0 lead so we stayed focused through halftime. At halftime we understood that, and we try to come out of the lockerroom as pumped as when we went in."

NC State Quotes
UNC 3, NC State 0
11/1/06

Head coach Laura Kerrigan:
Opening comments
"In the first half we played more of a defensive style of game because we felt if we kept the game score low we could be in a good position. Unfortunately, we gave up nine corner kicks in the first half and that ended up hurting us in the game as we gave up two goals off of those. I'm proud of the way our team played. We had chances and if we converted one or two chances then it would have been a stronger game. All credit goes to UNC, they are a very good team."

On chances of making NCAA field
"I think we have a chance to get in. We will find out on Monday. We had a solid season and didn't have any bad losses. We had a schedule against good teams and obviously a win today would have helped our chances of getting in [the field]."

How can the team improve off of today
"I think that it was great we didn't give up any goals off of the run of the game. We had to move players forward late in the game so I wasn't surprised that they scored late in the game. What we wanted to do was relive the pressure early and then find the player on the weakside early, but we didn't do that enough to make a difference."

On playing and defending against North Carolina
"The fight that my players have while defending against one of the top teams in the nation was strong. We can't give up as many corner kicks and then we need to win those first balls off of the corner kicks. With two goals off of the corner kicks, that was the difference in the game today."