Nov. 21, 2010

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Maryland Head Coach Missy Meharg

Opening statement:
"A fantastic result - really exciting game - great athletes at the end there, 14 of them just gutting it out to become national champions. Great Carolina team as always, just a really fitting finish for us after last year."

On the game-winning goal:
"I think one of the best things about the shot was it was a really well-officiated call. I think the game has become challenging to officiate with the material of the stick, the speed of the athletes, and the speed of the game. I think the held whistle was great, she could have given a penalty corner, but it was well held and that's basically what happened. She [the ref] held a good whistle and gave us an opportunity to shoot the ball and the far post is always great."

On tactical moves:
"One of the biggest things was to mix up our pressing lines. We had two very distinct waves of pressing whether we were going to press from the inside out or bring the wingers and press against the fullbacks. I think we did well with that. We came up with some good counter-attacks in our front third. The deal for us was we were going to have to mix it up in the circle and frame the goal cage really well so that we could get deflections and knock the ball in. We had some great opportunities at that and just fell a little shy in regulation. With both teams so gassed in that environment, one error and you can find yourself losing the game and thankfully we were fortunate."

On gaining the momentum back from UNC:
"We took our timeout in particular very early. It's not something that we've done typically, but I felt the energy and we couldn't go down by two [goals]. So we shifted our system and Katie [O'Donnell] plays in a diamond sometimes in the midfield and I think that gave us some momentum. I think that's probably why we had more opportunity and space in the midfield and we maintained attack for that period of time and got back on the board."

Senior attacker Katie O'Donnell

On defeating UNC:
"They beat us with 11.9 seconds left [last year]. To this day and forever I will always remember that time, but this year I know that we won with 2:10 left in overtime on an amazing shot, on an amazing field, in an amazing environment. I took a moment and I just looked around the field today. People were standing all the way up to this building watching the game. It couldn't have been any better to win and especially against people that we are definitely rivals with, so it's amazing."

On the game-winning goal:
"I actually had a really good angle. I think I was still laying on the ground thinking please go in because I don't want to get up. It was just a sweet shot like backboard height and it was a rocket. I don't think anybody in the nation could have saved that."

On setting up the game-winning goal:
"I really didn't have much energy left at the end of this game. I saw her looking where she was going to pass it and I just ran five steps really hard to intercept it because I knew if it got past me I'd be running all the way back to the end of the field. So it was either give five steps or give 100 yards and I think that was a no-brainer. I really gave everything I had to intercept the ball and then Fraz [Megan Frazer] was wide open. I trust every one of these girls on the field that when I give them the ball, they're going to do what they can do. I had no problem handing her [Frazer] the ball and saying, `Go score.'"

On her career:
"I've had an amazing four years here. I think I picked the best absolute school for me hockey-wise, social-wise, and academically. I couldn't have asked for a better four years and let alone a better senior year. I think the team we have here is the best meshing team I've ever played on and I've played on an awful lot of teams. We get along so well off the field and I think that's the thing that actually made us win this year."

Sophomore defender Harriet Tibble

On her goal:
"It just happened. I just got it and you see the ball, just swing, and it went in and hit the backboard and I just screamed. It felt great."

On climbing back into the game:
"I think we just kept giving it what we had. We had the ball in their third for a fair amount of time in the beginning. We just kept playing our game, passing it around and playing as a team. The way we were going to win was by getting it, giving it, getting it, and passing to each other and that's just how we play Maryland hockey. It worked for us."

Sophomore midfielder Megan Frazer

On the game:
"After last year I just have a picture in my mind of them [UNC] winning last year and I just wanted it to be us so much this year. We did it, so I'm happy."

On her game-winning goal:
"I'm kind of blank on it. All I remember is connecting with the and seeing it hit the backboard. I don't know what happened. I don't know how I got the ball, where it came from, or where in the circle it was. I just remember feeling it hit my stick and seeing it hit backboard and not having to run anymore."

North Carolina Head Coach Karen Shelton

Opening statement:
"Congratulations to the University of Maryland on winning the National Championship. I think both teams fought extremely hard. Once again, I think like the semifinal, the game was very exciting. The crowd enjoyed it and I think the players enjoyed playing it. It was two good teams going at it, as you would hope in a National Championship. We just fell a little bit short at the end. We were kind of hoping for 2:10 [to run off] to get to the penalty strokes. I was confident in our stroking team, but they [Maryland] were very opportunistic at the end in the overtime and of course both teams were extremely exhausted."

On defensive strategies:
"I'm very confident in our entire defensive group, in particular on penalty corners, but we've got Jackie Kintzer in goal and she's the secret weapon. She [Kintzer] was magnificent today and obviously kept us in it, especially in overtime."

On the nerves of overtime:
"It's part of the game. I think that there's no bigger thrill than being in a national championship game and go into overtime. I enjoy that kind of stuff and I think the players do too."

On tactical strategies:
"We knew we had some depth and some balance, but we felt like the key was to control Katie O'Donnell. You can't necessarily stop her, but you can control her and I think we did succeed at that. It was a classic battle between our defense and their offense. Usually defense wins championships, but just not today."

Goalie Jackie Kintzer

On the overtime:
"I knew we were tired and we were having trouble generating some offense. I was just trying to keep us in it and try and spark anything in our forwards. We kept trying to get it out and it kept coming back at us, so I just tried to stay strong and keep the ball out. Sometimes if I can make some big saves it fires other people up. I was just trying to get people excited."

Defender Meghan Dawson

On guarding Katie O'Donnell:
"Sometimes it doesn't fall your way. I tried, but she's a great player so she made the plays."