Post Game Quotes
11/23/2008 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Nov. 23, 2008
Wake Forest Demon DeaconsJen Averil, Wake Forest Head Coach
Opening statement...
"I thought my kids came out with a lot of energy and a lot of excitement and unfortunately we just were not doing a good job of possessing inside the attack. And that seemed to be the difference between the two teams. And I have to credit Maryland - just brilliant with their execution in the second half. I thought that the two ways they were going to attack us was rolling around the right, they got a lot of that started. They capitalized on some great opportunities and we didn't. I kept telling my team, my goodness we had one shot going in the half. The score was at 2-1, so I felt like if we had a way to get to the keeper, then things were going to change. But we weren't able to sustain and get back in rhythm."
On playing Maryland for the third time...
"Yes, I think this is more indicative of the first time we played them. And the second time, we played them in the ACC Championship was how you would like the conference to go a little bit back and forth. It was much more wide-open, high tempo, fast breaking in the ACC Championship and this wasn't. They put us back on our heels in the 2nd half."
On Maryland pressure...
"That has been our nemesis all season long. We flirted with it on Friday night against Syracuse. We created a lot of habits for ourselves, and it's just one of those things on the sidelines that you're taking a mental note of. We have to do a better job. We talked about it at halftime, how we needed to do a better job of getting more pressure on our backfield so they weren't open and getting those fast breaks, but initially stopping the ball between the twenty-five so that we didn't have our heels at the edge of the circle, trying to defend. We're just not good at that and Maryland did a good job of exploiting that."
Hilary Moore, Wake Forest F/MF
On the field...
"No the field wasn't any different, and the team is about the same. We played with a lot heart. We made a few technical mistakes that the other team capitalized on. We have to take away that we did a lot of great things this season, we have to kind of focus on that instead of focusing on the loss today. But right now it hurts a lot."
On both goals...
"The first goal I didn't even see it coming and I just laid it out because that's kind of my job just to get a touch on the ball in the circle. And Eliza doesn't usually unload from that distance, and then when she did I just had to dive and go for it. And I thought it went over the goal, but then everyone was cheering and so I was like 'oh it must've gone in'. So that was how that one happened. And the second one, I think there was some confusion with the whistle. I just decided to keep playing until they called it back because that is what you're taught to do. So I just decided to rip the shot once I got in the circle, and it went right in between her legs. It didn't really feel that great to score because we still were down two goals. But we were trying to chip back away at the score. So that's what I was trying to do."
On Maryland...
"I think they have a lot of great athletes on their team. They're fast. I think they are a little bit faster than us, faster than our defense maybe. I think really they're athletes just have a high caliber, and that makes a difference, sometimes in a National Championship game. They also have a mentality about their team, because when they step on the field you know Maryland is on the field. We try to adopt that mentality too, because it is a really great mentality to have."
On playing Maryland throughout the season... "I think both teams have a lot of opportunities, and they capitalize on them more today than they have in the past. But I don't think there is a big difference in the play, versus each team. I think we're two top teams, and it was a really close game. And the score doesn't really show that but I think they capitalized really well on their opportunities."
