University of North Carolina Athletics
Post-Game Quotes From ACC Semifinal Game
April 21, 2012 | Men's Lacrosse
April 21, 2012
Recap |
Box Score |
Photo Gallery 
NORTH CAROLINA QUOTES
Head Coach Joe Breschi
On overall win:
"I feel great, I'm so happy for the players. They work so hard. We've really stuck to the plan. We didn't feel like we executed that well last time we played Virginia and they're a great team and a great talent. You just have to bring your A game and stick to the team efforts and stick to the game plan."
On entering the game tonight:
"Well defensively it was to play nice and tight and force hands a little, but Stanwick's a terrific player and he'll get his points no matter how you play him. Also to really try to make the midfielders beat us more, more so than last game. Offensively I wanted to just continue shooting the ball well and I thought we cleared the ball well. Once we got in the second quarter we started to take our time and work the ball and sometimes lay up, which was nice, and then we just started to can them."
On ground balls:
"We knew we were 8-0 on ground balls, and I'm excited that we fought like heck for them."
On Duke on Sunday:
"Beating Virginia up here makes me certainly proud of the team, but now we're playing for a championship. Duke is a terrific team and they're loaded with talent. We're excited to just be playing on Sunday. I told the guys that we're not staying at the hotel if we lose, we're packing up and going back to Chapel Hill. You know we're eight miles apart and now we're in Charlottesville playing, so it's exciting."
North Carolina Player Quotes
Junior Marcus HolmanOn his late-game penalty:
"I'm happy, relieved to be honest. My teammates had to bail me out there at the end. I made a huge mistake and it's not acceptable for a player on this team, especially a captain. I'm just glad we got a win, Virginia's a good team and glad to get a win."
On what it means to beat Virginia:
"It definitely means a lot, I'd say this is probably one of the nicest venues in college lacrosse so, anytime you play in Klöckner you want to play well especially like against I said, a good team like UVa. It means a lot for the guys in this program no one's ever beaten Virginia and it's definitely a monkey off our back but, we didn't come up here to beat Virginia, we came up here to win a Championship and we have Duke on Sunday so, we're excited about that."
On playing Duke on Sunday:
"We're really excited, we've got to rest up and go over our game plan and come out and execute again on Sunday."
Junior Steven Rastivo
On win:
"It's just a great win. We've been working hard all week, offense stepped up and the defense worked their butts off for the whole sixty minutes, and they really helped me out in the goal. Like I said it was a huge team win, Virginia is an unbelievable team, you never know we might face them again."
On playing Duke:
"We're excited, they beat us earlier in the season and they're on a hot streak right now. It's going to be another battle, it's like every ACC game, it's going to be a battle. We're just going to have to bring in the same mentality and hopefully things will go our way."
VIRGINIA QUOTES
Head Coach Dom Starsia
On what went wrong:
"I thought we played really hard. It was a great effort overall. We made some great plays to the very end. We never stopped battling. It is a lot to be proud of there. That's really all you can ask of your team. At the same time, against a high caliber opponent, we made too many mistakes and didn't cash in at the opportune moments in order to give ourselves a lead and breathing room. It feels like we have been a little bit unlucky but you make your own luck at the same time. We are struggling a little bit right now, but if we keep working the way that we have been, then I think we will punch our way out of this and be fine."
On moving on:
"It is a great group. There is not a reason to be discouraged. Again, you are looking for a team that is willing to fight. I thought we played smart at the end, but we just couldn't get a key goal when we had to have it. It just seemed that they were able to get one when they needed it." On who is to blame:
"There is no blame to be assigned. Again, all you can ask of your team is to make an effort like they did out there. I thought it was a great lacrosse game. Both teams battled the whole way. I thought we made a lot of smart plays in the last five minutes of the game to get the ball. We never stopped battling. We just need to shoot a little better and be a step quicker on defense. There were a couple little things that hurt us tonight that we need to clean up. We are struggling a little bit right now, but I have confidence in this group. They are a great group of guys. How we played tonight is how we work every day, and that is all you can ask for."
Virginia Player Quotes
Senior Steele Stanwick
On the overall game:
"We played hard and North Carolina played great. We gave a great effort, but we just were not sharp enough and had too many turnovers early on. We were not sharp enough on the offensive end."
On accomplishing goals:
"We can still accomplish everything that we want to accomplish. We will get into the tournament and give it our best shot. We just didn't put our best foot forward the last two games, but no need to panic."
On what was different tonight: "I think they just made a couple more plays than we did, and they were able to capitalize on a few more and we just weren't sharp enough."
Senior Colin Briggs
On tonight's game:
"It is another reality check that we are not good enough to play sloppy and come out with the win. The good thing that we have taken away from this is that we made a lot of mistakes, but we are still in the game. We haven't faced a team that we don't think that we can beat. We just have to keep playing and sharpen up the edges, and I think we will be fine."
Senior Matt Lovejoy
On the games ahead:
"Unfortunately we lost, but we have to take away the positives. We get two days of rest, and then show up on Monday with our helmets strapped and ready to go play some blue collar lacrosse. It all starts with us winning ground balls and getting back out there and having a great week of practice."
