Head Coach Lisa Miller Quotes
2007 Syracuse University Women’s Lacrosse Media Day
January 21, 2007
Quotes – Head Coach Lisa Miller
On the team’s ability to play a fast tempo…
“I think we’re going to play good defense and we’re going to get up and down the field to mix it up. Once we get in the attack we’re going to be able to score a lot of goals with a lot of different people. It’s a different style from what we’ve done the last couple of years where we would slow the ball down because we’d throw it away. But this year we can push and push the tempo of the game, and it’s more fun to play that way. It’s more fun as a player, more people are involved, the defenders are overlapping from behind and putting points on the board so everybody gets into it, including the crowd.”
On the members of the team’s attack…
“Well Gaddy (Fortune) and Katie (Rowan) come back from last year and they’re our leading scorers. But Bridget Looney and Kristin Brady both went to Australia and played all summer and they’re ready to go. Jill DePetris is sneaky and crafty and can score a lot of goals. We also have some freshmen that we’re going to plug in and they’re going to put a lot of points on the board. I’ve been pleased with the way the defenders have responded and said, ‘Well, I’m going to go forward and I’m going to score.’ So it’s the way I like to coach. Sometimes you have to limit it, but this year we can go back to that style.”
On the team’s experience level…
“It’s almost a trend right now in women’s lacrosse where I feel like teams are perpetually young. I think our senior class is doing a great job right now. They’ve matured and they’ve gotten better over the years. We have six seniors and I consider that to be fairly old but we do have an influx of great freshmen and sophomores on the team and our junior class has done well. Actually I think this is the first year we’ve had four fully funded classes because we’ve phased our scholarship money in over time.”
On replacing the two lost starters from last season…
“I think they were good players but as a good program you sort of march on. Athletes sometimes start in one role and move into another or a freshman comes in. You can’t spend a whole lot of time looking back you have to move forward.”
On goalkeeper Amber Pardee-Hill…
“I’ve been pleased with Amber. She played all summer long and came back dramatically improved. She’s doing a great job. She takes up a lot of room in the cage, she’s cutting the angles on the shooter right now. We sent her home last summer saying that if she wanted to compete for this job she needed to do a few things and she went home and did them. She’s gained the trust of her defensive unit and I think she’s only going to get better as the season goes on.”
On Gaddy Fortune’s leadership…
“I think she’s been quick to assert herself. In the past, little things get away from you whether you drop a groundball or a pass you thought you might have been able to catch, that can spiral on you. I think one of the things Gaddy and the seniors have been good about this year is saying, ‘No, we’re going to pick that up, we’re going to catch that’ and that trickles down. There’s a higher standard. They’re pursuing perfection and that comes from the seniors and works its way down.”
On hosting the BIG EAST tournament at the Carrier Dome…
“It’s exciting. We’ve talked about it and it’s nice to have it in the Dome for the first one. I think it’s going to be a great event so I hope the Central New York community gets out and supports it. The BIG EAST obviously has some of the best lacrosse teams in the country and that’s the kind of setting this team is going to enjoy playing in.”
