Postgame Quotes
November 18, 2007 | Field Hockey
Nov. 18, 2007
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North Carolina Postgame Quotes
HEAD COACH Karen Shelton
On winning the national championship:
"We're absolutely euphoric to have won the national championship. We started this campaign a long time ago. From the first practices preseason until now, I've had a team that's remained remarkably focused and hard-working. I couldn't be prouder of the seven seniors that led the way, co-captains Rachel Dawson, Laree Beans and Jesse Gey, Alli Tanner, and our three Chapel Hillians, who were basically walk-ons. To have them lead the team that becomes the national championship team is a great treat for me as a coach. I think, also, what we are delighted to do is to represent the University of North Carolina. It's just a privilege and an honor to have the chance to bring distinction and I think it's incredibly special.
On today's game:
"I thought the game was hard-fought. I give all the credit to Penn State. We played them earlier and there was a different team out there today. They're remarkably scrappy and hard-working and really put a lot of pressure on us. They really had a wonderful turnaround to their season and should be congratulated for giving us a real hard run in the championship game."
On her senior leadership:
"It has meant the world. We have a lot of talent on this team - we knew that coming in - but you have to have that leadership. We have incredible leadership every day. This wasn't just the kids that were leading on the field. This was Liz Morris that you didn't see very much of. She gave in practice every day. She got in at the end and I'm so delighted that we were able to play every single player on our squad. We didn't talk about that, but I thought about it. I really wanted everyone to play because everyone contributed."
SENIOR Rachel Dawson
On winning a national championship in her senior year:
"It meant the world because there's always that doubt in your head that says, 'Maybe you're just not able to, maybe you're just not cut out to do it. Maybe it's just not meant to be.' That's going into the season and through the tournament. Those things go through your head. The fact that it did feels good."
HEAD COACH CHARLENE MORRETT
Opening Statement:
"I just want to reiterate how proud I am of the team playing in the National Championship game and also the effort they put out today. You get to this level and it's going to be a battle. I think we started out possibly a little nervous and then settled in a little bit and had a great effort towards the last 20 minutes of the game. I give Carolina a lot of credit, they are a good team."
SENIOR MALLORY WEISEN
On maintaining morale throughout the game after UNC's first goal
"We have been in that situation before; we've been in almost every situation, being up, being down early, and tying it up. I don't think we really played down after they scored because we were in that situation before, so we were confident."
JUNIOR JEN LONG
On UNC's defense
"I just think it was more that we had to possess the ball a little bit better inside the 25 and just connect on passes more. I think that was just a breakdown we had early on, but towards the end of the half we just kept on attacking and we kind of broke them down eventually."
On the aggressiveness of both teams
"It's a championship game out there so its going to be hard-fought. Both teams are going to go hard for it and I think we were just playing the best we could and just being aggressive and going out there to put pressure on the other team. It was part of our game plan early on to put pressure on early and hard, so I don't think it was more physical than anytime before."
