May 27, 2000

NCAA SEMIFINAL - Virginia vs. Princeton May 27, 2000 - Byrd Stadium (College Park, Md.)

PRINCETON HEAD COACH BILL TIERNEY ON RETURNING TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: "Before the game I told the team that we have had a lot of great victories in the last 10 years. But because of this team's perseverance, because of the injury to B.J. Prager, because we were not supposed to be here, and because of the attitude these guys have had, this win ranks right up there with the best."

SEAN HARTOFILIS ON HIS GOAL THAT STARTED THE PRINCETON RUN: "Matt Striebel had just kicked it forward to try to get the ground ball. The defenseman tried covering the ball, but I just got ahold of it and picked it up. I saw (Virginia goalkeeper) Derek Kenney run back in the goal. He didn't seem too ready to take a shot. So I decided to shoot it and luckily, it went in."

COACH TIERNEY ON HIS TEAM'S EFFORT: "These guys were out there against one of the top offenses in the country, if not the best. We just challenged our guys to stand up individually, which is not our style. I can't say enough about these kids. It was a phenomenal effort on their part. For a coach, with every move you make, you look good if you win and you look bad if you lose. We tell every kid who comes to Princeton that there are no superstars. Every day somebody different has a great game, and that's what makes me most proud."

HARTOFILIS ON GOALKEEPER TREVOR TIERNEY: "Whenever Trevor makes a save, it's good for us. Trevor played great today. He always does. We've become spoiled. He is definitely underrated. He was third-team Ivy League, but honestly I don't think there are two goalies in the country ahead of him. A lot of credit goes to our defense, but he's in there stopping shots off stickside and he makes them look normal."

COACH TIERNEY ON COACHING HIS SONS: "Thank God they have their mother's composure. When you coach your sons, you try so hard not to be too hard or too soft. It's hard to put into words just what this means. It is every coach's and every dad's dream."

VIRGINIA

COACH DOM STARSIA'S OPENING STATEMENT: "It's very difficult to be here and have this end like this. We picked an inopportune time to play poorly. I give Princeton credit. The better team deserved to win .. and did win today. I hate it to end, certainly. We just never got in the flow of things the entire day. I never felt comfortable. I thought we were getting good chances offensively early in the game, (but we) didn't cash in too many of them. I never felt comfortable in the defensive end of the field. We just seemed careless at times and we weren't doing the things that we've been doing well all season long. I'm at a little bit of a loss to explain it."

GOALKEEPER DEREK KENNEY: "I thought I did a really lousy job getting the ball out of our end. That's usually one of my strong points, getting it up and out. Today I just played terribly getting it out, and I didn't make big saves or clear the ball when I had to."

ATTACKMAN CONOR GILL: "This is awful. Going into this game, I never thought we'd lose to Princeton. Its' not just losing, my time with this team is over. You can't take for granted coming here and playing in the final four. I just never thought this would happen."

COACH DOM STARSIA ON FACE-OFFS: "Certainly I was disappointed that we weren't able to win the face-offs when the game was being decided in the fourth quarter. But my two most solid, rock-steady human beings on my team are (face-off specialists) David Jenkins and Jason Hard. So, it was not for lack of effort on our part. Give the Princeton kids credit, (but) our kids were battling out there."