NCAA Women's Lacrosse Championship – Coach and Student-Athlete Quotes
National Championship
Princeton vs. Virginia
Sunday, May 18, 2003
Carrier Dome, Syracuse, NY
Princeton Coach and Player Quotes
Coach Chris Sailer
On winning the national championship:
"It will probably sink in tomorrow or on the bus ride home. I'm so proud of everything that our team accomplished all season. We lost seven seniors from last year. It took us a while to get it going, but it really came together for us down the stretch. I give Virginia a lot of credit. They stretched us to the limit. They came out really hard, but I couldn't be more proud of what our kids accomplished."
On being the second team in history to repeat:
"It's not something we really focused on. We knew we had a long road ahead of us this year. Our goal was just to try and get back here. The whole key to our season was losing three in a row early because it took the pressure off of us. Obviously, stepping back and thinking about it now, it feels great."
On trailing 3-0 in the first half:
"I thought we were too cautious offensively. We got to a point where we were getting wide-open opportunities and we weren't passing the ball out front. Sarah Small, one of our seniors that started most of the year, but not so much down the stretch, we put her in to feed the ball and she got two assists in a row. That was huge. In the second, opportunities started opening up for us because we were much more aggressive and played with more confidence."
Junior midfielder Theresa Sherry
On her game-winning goal:
"I saw some space to my right and she cut me off, so I spun back to my left. I saw a lot of players, but I tried to focus on the goal and it went in."
Senior defender Rachael Becker
On playing defense in the final minute of overtime:
"I knew there wasn't a lot of time left and she was going to try and score the game-winner. I tried to play solid defense. I knew there wasn't a lot of time left, so I tried to stay strong and play tough defense."
Virginia Coach and Player Quotes
Coach Julie Myers
On the play of her team:
"I'm proud of the girls for the effort they put in on the field. I was excited with how we started the game, and I'm impressed with how Princeton was able to come back. Our team had a wonderful season which got us to this point. It came down to little things in execution – it didn't come down to heart or effort. I don't think our kids could have given more of themselves to put themselves in a position to win today."
On utilizing a stalling offense:
"Last year we ended our season, also in an overtime scenario, because we weren't a good stalling team. From September on, we've been working on the stall. It's pretty hard to hold the ball for three minutes against a championship team. "
Senior Midfielder Tiffany Schummer
On Theresa Sherry's game winning goal:
"She's very quick. She snuck one through – she's a great player. I'd have to commend her. That's a big play – it's a National Championship winning goal."
