Nov. 14, 2009
2009 NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament Second Round
Stanford Quotes: 11/14/09
Head Coach Paul Ratcliffe
Opening Statement...
"It was a hard fought victory against a strong BYU squad."
On Rachel Quon's header that saved a goal late in the game...
"That's not something you train. I just think it was great instincts by a fantastic player. Rachel played for the youth national team and has had a lot of great experiences. She also has the athleticism to jump up and find the header."
On the play of BYU...
"I was very impressed with BYU and how they handled it. Most teams drop a little bit when they concede a goal that early. I give them a lot of credit. They fought hard and maintained their tough mentality."
On the physicality of BYU...
"I think they really pressured us hard and we had a few little mistakes that caused us to panic a few times. We had to be safer especially in front of our goal, trying not to pass too much. They put a lot of pressure on us up front."
Freshman Rachel Quon
On her goal-saving header late in the game...
"Coaches always say when the keeper is out to guard the goal. I saw Kira [Maker] go out, so my instincts were to just go to the goal and I was there thankfully."
On BYU's offensive pressure...
"We knew that when we got the ball in the back that they would be pressuring us, so we wanted to clear it out, but we also wanted to stay composed and find a midfielder."
Sophomore Lindsay Taylor
On playing more midfield instead of forward recently...
"Attacking midfield is a little different. It is more distribution of the ball, but I feel like it is pretty much the same thing. I am still going forward and trying to get shots off. It hasn't been too much of a change."
Junior Christen Press
On getting the tough win against BYU...
"I think that this is a great game to have because this is how the playoffs are. Every game will be close. We do like to play pretty soccer, but I feel like there are times when we need to play a little bit tougher and get this type of win. It's not always going to be 10 passes and then a goal. Sometimes it will be off the kickoff and then scrap one in at the end and I think that is what it is going to take. It was a great team win. We all put in a lot of effort and played together."
Jennifer Rockwood, BYU Women's Soccer Head Coach
On the NCAA second round match against Stanford...
"Well it was an honor to be here today to play against Stanford. Obviously proving to be the best team in the country. We knew that we were going to have our hands full today. I'm really proud of the way our team played, competed. We wish Stanford all the best as they move on in the tournament. They're just truly an outstanding team. But again, I'm proud of the way our players played. I thought we came out strong. We gave it everything we had. It's always hard in the last game to say goodbye to your seniors. They've been such an integral part of our program for the past four to five years."
On whether BYU had the speed to compete with Stanford...
"We're a high pressure team. That's kind of what we've been doing all year long. We didn't want to change anything that has helped us get to where we are. We thought that we were playing our best so we were going to give them our best. So we wanted to go out there and put pressure on them. I know that a lot of teams have put pressure on them in the past and we just thought that would be our best opportunity. We certainly had a couple of chances to try and tie it up and we felt that if we could get that goal that the momentum might shift in our favor. We were close, but it just wasn't close enough."
On the first goal by Stanford in the first minute...
"Well I think it happened so fast that we didn't know what hit us. Within a minute, those kinds of things happen. Again, I was proud of our players. They bounced right back. We knew that we only needed one shot for the tie and that's what we were going for. The last 15 minutes we dropped one of our defenders and tried to push even more one of the three forwards and create a couple of chances there. Obviously they went up there at the very end. But again, Stanford is a tremendous team and we wish them the best."