Nov. 12, 2006
Santa Clara, Calif. -
Stanford Head Coach Paul Ratcliffe:
Opening Statement: "It was a hard-fought victory. USC is a tremendous team. They're from the Pac-10 so we knew it would be a hard game and it was a hard game. We scored two fantastic goals and then we remained strong throughout the entire game."
(On advancing) "It feels good to go to the Third Round. You never want to lose, but once you get to the playoffs, it's winners stay, losers go home. It feels great."
(On the impact of the first goal) "I think USC and Stanford are both really talented teams so if you get the first goal it gives you a lot of confidence and momentum. That's what made the difference in the game. That goal gave us the confidence and the momentum. Then we scored again which gave us even more confidence and momentum."
(On the Stanford offense) "Individually, I think we have some really talented players, and good pace on the wings. I think we're getting behind the ball on the wings and causing a lot of trouble."
Freshman Forward Kelley O'Hara:
"It was a good game by both teams. Both of us battled it out and it was intense the whole way through. We put away two goals and then just kept our momentum the whole game. I think that's what gave us our edge."
(On making a difference as a freshmen) "It's a lot of fun. I just want to win for the team and help us go as far as we can and keep on playing well."
(On having U-20 World Cup experience). "International competition always helps. Just seeing different styles of play helps. Anytime you can get international competition it's good, and big games like that always help."
Freshman Forward Ali Riley:
"It felt really good to beat SC after tying with them in regular play. Everyone just fought so hard. We had so much energy out there. At halftime, we felt so confident. Everyone was together the whole game. It just felt so good playing out there. I had a lot of fun the whole game."
(On having a young team) "It's really exciting knowing that so many of the players who are playing out there are young and I feel like it only gets better from here. We're doing so well right now. It's just really exciting."
Senior Defender Rachel Buehler:
"It was a great battle. USC is a very good team. We definitely fought and showed a lot of desire. We came together as a team and got a couple of good goals and it just worked out in our favor."
(On the impact of the freshman class) "Our freshmen have definitely brought a really good offensive threat to our team this year and great spirit. They're young and energetic and it really helps our team in every aspect, so it's been great having them."
USC Head Coach Jim Millander:
Opening Statement: "It's just disappointing. At the end of the day, there's only going to be one winner. I'm disappointed with the way we came out. I think we started slow today. I think we gave up a soft goal and that, obviously in a big, high-tension match, got our kids down a little bit. Second half, I think we came out and started playing a little better in the final 25-30 minutes. It was too little, too late. There were some great chances there at the end to equalize. It's just disappointing, as everyone is, when the season ends. It's hard to talk to players, because there's not a whole lot to say. Everyone knows what the recourse is and we're all going home. I'm proud of the effort. I'm proud of the result against Santa Clara. I thought if we would have played as hard as we did the final 30 minutes, we could have won the game, but Stanford's a great team, represented the Pac-10 and hopefully they will do very well."
(On being fatigued from the First Round game) "I think we were. We tried to remind the kids to get through this first weekend. Then you get a break and are only playing one time a week. It took a lot out of us. Obviously, we thought Stanford had a little easier time with Nevada but it shows me one thing. If we could play as hard as we did the final 30 minutes, with as much urgency as we did, there was still juice in the legs early on in the match. I don't want to make excuses and say that we were just tired. We play Friday-Sunday every week, everybody does, and it's a grind. When you get to this part of the season, it's a real grind and we try to really manage our minutes during the course of the season. I thought we came out flat today, for whatever reason."
(On the effect of the first goal) "Anytime you play in a big game like that, we always tell our players the emotions of the game and the change of the tide when somebody scores a goal and how momentum changes. It changed the momentum of the game. If Stanford would have taken a goal, they would have been down a little bit. We took a goal and we went down a little bit, but it's a long soccer game, 90 minutes. I told our players at halftime `I'm not that disappointed. You're down a goal, but you're doing the right things. We need to execute a little better in the final third and finish some chances.' I thought the second goal really took it out of us. We fought to get back into in, but we just couldn't get the ball in the back of the net."
Senior Midfielder Jocelyn Hein:
"We came out a little slow, but in the second half a lot of people came out on our team and just tried to take over the game and make things happen. Rosa Anna Tantillo played one of the best games I've ever seen her play in the second half. Amy Rodriguez, Stacey Strong, just everybody was trying to keep our season alive. It was just really awesome to be part of that team."
(On the effect of beating Santa Clara in the First Round) "I think that when you have a big win like that, you have to remind yourself that that's one step in the process. We've won big games before and the thing with the tournament is it's one step at a time. We made it to the second phase but we needed to be more prepared. As the game wore on, we realized what needed to be done. Things happened but it was a little too late. Psychologically, I can speak for myself and most of my teammates, we knew what needed to be done. We were ready."