May 29, 2000

NCAA DIVISION I MEN'S LACROSSE CHAMPIONSHIPS POSTGAME QUOTES

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP - Princeton vs. Syracuse

May 29, 2000 - Byrd Stadium (College Park, Md.)

SYRACUSE

HEAD COACH JOHN DESKO ON HIS TEAM'S DEFENSIVE EFFORT: "They did a terrific job today. I thought (goalie) Rob Mulligan was unbelievable. He took away a lot of good shots they had that I thought were goals, (but) all of a sudden, Robby stepped up. He was really seeing the ball well. Defensively, early on, I think we did a nice job individually as well as team-wise. I think our defensemen did a good job of stopping their players from beating us one-on-one, and as a result, we didn't have to slide as much."

SYRACUSE SENIOR ATTACKMAN RYAN POWELL ON TYING HIS BROTHER ATOP THE SCHOOL'S ALL-TIME POINTS LIST (287): "I think that's what I wanted to do all along. I mean, if I could write a storybook ending, that's how I wanted it to be. I said (if Casey and I were tied and) we were up by five or six goals and it came down to 10 seconds left and they had a 10-man ride and the goalie was out, I'd pull the ball out and not shoot it."

RYAN POWELL: "It's a great day for our family. It's a great day for two brothers from a small town, going a little bit south, brought here by Coach (Roy) Simmons, Jr. He believed in us and Coach Desko took over and believed in me and got me the opportunity -- and Coach Simmons gave the opportunity to Casey - to go out there and showcase our ability. I've got to credit the two coaches for our success here."

LIAM BANKS ON HIS CAREER-HIGH SIX GOALS: "I think I got off to a good start in the beginning. I had a lot of easy looks at the goal today, being set up by other people. So, I think that throughout I moved (Princeton goalie Trevor Tierney) around as opposed to going in the same spot all the time. And I think that that confused him a little bit, going high a couple times and low a couple times. So, I was right on the doorstep, and it's really hard for a goalie to make a save right there."

PRINCETON

HEAD COACH BILL TIERNEY ON THE GAME: "I'd like to thank the Lord for this opportunity to be here today. It was a great thrill for us. The Maryland staff did an outstanding job taking care of a field that was in horrible condition. The field was as good as it could be and it had no effect at all on the game. Syracuse is just a great team. In 1992 a philosopher named Roy Simmons said that we didn't come here to win the silver, but if you have to win the silver, you want to do it to a great team and we lost to a champion out there today. They were fabulous."

TIERNEY ON SYRACUSE: "They're just a really quick, highly-skilled team. Usually you can deal with one or the other. But they are just awesome. They have great face-off guys. You can't get a run on them because you can't get the ball back. Everything is just work, work, work to try to get a good shot and then when you do, a kid like (Syracuse goalkeeper) Rob Mulligan makes a good save and it's going the other way."

TIERNEY ON HIS TEAM: "We're getting better athletically. We had a system in place and this weekend we proved we can play defense in a little different style than we're used to. When you play with the big boys you have to. This was a good weekend for us. We did things a little differently with not much time to prepare. In certain cases it worked and in some cases you saw what looked like easy goals. That wasn't the kids' fault, we just didn't have the time to prepare for what a team like this does. Certainly, it's a challenge and we feel like we've taken a giant step with a bunch of young puppies and we'll try to be back here again."

GOALKEEPER TREVOR TIERNEY ON RYAN POWELL'S GOAL OFF THE REBOUND: "That was a tough one. It went off my leg and rolled back to the middle of the field. They picked it up and there were two defenders right in front of me. They threw it behind my back. Those are plays that a great player like that makes. Rebounds like that are always tough. Ryan Powell is a great player and he got a great shot. Ryan is really slick around the pipes. He takes an extra step and he always puts it right in the corner. I tried my best but their shooters were just better."