University of North Carolina Athletics
Post-Match Notes
April 24, 2009 | Men's Lacrosse
April 24, 2009
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Men's ACC Lacrosse: Final UNC-16, Maryland-10
Maryland Head Coach Dave Cottle:
Opening Thoughts:
"I give Carolina a lot of credit. I thought they played great offense today. We knew we had to go into it and we had to stop players like Ben Hunt and Sean Delaney. They did a great job today and we just couldn't stop them. I thought the first half we played pretty well offensively, but we just couldn't keep up."
On Bryn Holmes:
"I thought Bryn Holmes did great. The stats say 50-50, but I bet you there were 5 or 6 face-offs that started going possession one way that ended with possession the other. He was going up against a tough senior face off opponent, but I thought Bryn was as tough as anyone was."Getting Frantic at the End:
"We tried to shoot our way out of trouble a couple of time. We had a three on two a couple of times and we'd shoot it. 10 goals wasn't enough to win this game but I felt as a whole in the first half we played better offensively then we've played all year. At the end I think we were a little frantic, trying to come back and there were some opportunities that I thought we could have taken care of that we didn't. "
Scoreboard weighing on them: "We just didn't have the ball as much in the second half. I think the scoreboard weighed on us a little bit. We kept looking up and noticing that we were trailing and trying to make things happen. We were getting frantic, we are not used to having our defense not being able to control somebody so that affected us a little bit, giving up goals pretty easily."
UNC Head Coach Joe Breschi:
Opening Statement:
Proud of seniors:
"I'm just really proud of the seniors, I'm happy for the seniors and how much effort they've put into getting an ACC win over the past four years. One of the things the coaching staff wanted to focus on was not dwelling on the past and getting better each week. I think there's more conversation about the ACC losing streak from others that care about it more than we do. It's just how do we get better as a team and as a program and continue to work hard. And I think these guys, this senior class, did a great job. "
On second half: "It was a well played game on behalf of both teams. It was hot as heck out there. I mean 6 on 5 in the first quarter, it seemed like we settled down in the second half. We had more possessions in the second half and were able to wear their defense down. We shot the ball well. We tell these boys all the time `if you hit the cage good things will happen 50% of the time.' We did a great job of hitting the cage. Just a great overall effort. Maryland's a great team. We are thankful for the opportunity to play on Sunday and it's a credit to this senior class and the rest of the team for fighting through it. "
How does it feel?
It's been four years in the works, we've had close games and we haven't been able to get it done in the past but today we stepped it up and we got the win. We're just excited to move on and get ready to go into the playoffs, it's a big win going into the playoffs.On Injured Goalie Grant Zimmerman:
Ben Hunt: Our fifth year senior Goalie Grant Zimmerman had ACL surgery today and we knew how much he wanted to be out on the field. We had that in mind the entire game; we wanted to win it for Grant.
