University of North Carolina Athletics
Post-Game Quotes from NCAA Women's Soccer Match
November 18, 2001 | Women's Soccer
Nov. 18, 2001
Carolina Coach and Player Quotes
Coach Anson Dorrance:
"They looked like they had energy and we didn't. I think part of it is 5 games in 9 days. I think right now the ACC tournament is going to hurt the teams that are in the final with the two game format in the first weekend. I also think it's tough for any team in this region to escape a rival."
"To play one of the two teams that gave us the best run this past fall, it was a challenge for us. But having said all of that the greatest challenge was Duke having come off of overtime play."
"I am very excited about the teams streak of holding other teams scoreless because scoring is so variable. What you can rely on though is your defense playing well. And if we can put ourselves in a position where we are shutting out opponents, I think we are always going to score at least once. So I think the key for any championship run is to have a great defense."
"Well last game she had some incredible saves. We know her potential and we were expecting that. She proved that again today she stopped a lot of shots and made some key saves. Duke all around is a great team and I am just thrilled that we came out with a win."
"We take each game for what it is and do not rely on the past."
"I think going into the game whether you are playing Duke or any other team you have to have the mindset to stay focused."
"It's nice to play at home with your home crowd. At the same time, when you go into a game, you can't just rely on the fact that this is our home field and we have won games here before. We know that every game we go out it could be the last game of our career so we go out and play with all of our heart."
Duke Coach and Player Quotes
Coach:
"The first thing I want to say is just how proud I am to be the women's soccer coach at Duke University and how proud I am of these girls and for all of the stuff they have been through this season. They have worked extremely hard and for them to play 150 minutes of soccer Friday night and come back out here and give a performance like that is unbelievable. We played as hard as we could and we would obviously like to congratulate the University of North Carolina. I thought they played very well. Another great North Carolina team. Well Prepared, well coached and we will see what happens from here."
"I felt early in the game in the first 20-25 minutes we were really playing well and we were staying with them and marking them well. I was a little disappointed in our intensity once they scored their first goal. We dropped after they scored their first goal. Then the second goal came because we had dropped our intensity too early. We made two mistakes. The ball that we set up for them earlier and we didn't push out of the corner kicks. And when you play a great team like Carolina they are going to punish you when you make mistakes. We played as hard as we could but we just didn't have enough legs to keep up with them."
"Playing Carolina was in a sense an advantage for us because we would find something really deep down and we would push it at that point."
"We could not strike a ball at the end, and the legs were just going. I just thought well I've got to get her (Helgadottir) on the field because she is such a competitor and she is going to strike a great ball."
Sarah Pickens:
"Coming out of halftime down 2-0 basically the feeling was that it was the last 45 minutes of our season or we would push it to continuing our season to next weekend. We just wanted to try our hardest."
"I think North Carolina is the most effective team at double teaming that I have seen. Their forwards would drop back they all just know how to combine on the ball."
Thora Helgadottir:
"North Carolina is well organized as a team and focused on what they are doing."
"We are going to do better next year there is no question about it."
"On playing the forward position at the end of the game I didn't see it coming. They caught me off guard. I love playing on the field. I am prepared to do whatever it takes."
