Head Coach Gary Gait Quotes
Syracuse Women’s Lacrosse
Syracuse vs. Boston University
March 4, 2009
Carrier Dome/ Syracuse, N.Y.
Gary Gait, Head Coach
Opening Remarks:
“I thought today was a great opportunity for us to rebound after our weekend performance (against Virginia). I think we saw a little bit of the after effects in the first half of the way that we were playing against Virginia. We were a little hesitant, we weren’t real fluid and we were not all in sync. All of the things that we have been working on all week came through in the second half. The team really stepped up and started playing with confidence, and we started playing lacrosse again. I was very proud of them. That is a very good BU team, ranked in the top 10 in the country and well deserved. I think our team just stepped it up to the next level. I am looking forward for that to continue as we move forward.”
On if it was a relief to win this game:
“I feel good, not so much relief. I just feel good that we played well. It was nice. We were just in the locker room talking and there were players that were tired. That was a big difference from when we finished the UVa game. People did not leave it on the field. They did not leave everything they had out on the field. Today, in the second half, they did. They were up and down the field, they were hustling, they were re-defending and they were breaking out, creating transition. But they were running and they were leaving it all on the field and that’s what I’m happy about. I expected to win that game, so I don’t know if it’s relief, it’s more expectation. I thought if we played well like we did in that second half, then we can beat anybody.”
On the slow start in the first half:
“I think there was a little bit of self-doubt left over from Virginia and what we are really capable of doing. I don’t think we had a great second half against Virginia and it just carried over and we were a little bit hesitant in everything that we did. We did a little bit of watching someone else trying to get it done and it just looked like we were a step behind. The players turned it around and made that mental change and stepped on the field and it was a different half.”
On what he said to the team after the first timeout:
“We were down 4-0 and we just had to relax and play our game and step it up a notch in the hustle area. That is what I have been talking about all week. What you can control is how hard you work and the effort that you give. That was really the key, the shots and that will , but you have to outwork the other team. We battled back and made the game close again and that was great.”
On how nice it was to play the second half with the ball:
“It was great. In the entire game, we did much better on draw controls. I was talking to their head coach prior to the game and they just won an overtime game against William & Mary and they said they had a similar draw control scenario that we had against Virginia. But they were able to fight back and win that game. Draw controls are important when you play a very good team. We have a chart that shows all the hustle plays – draw controls, ground balls. I’m pretty sure if you look at the wins for most teams, they are going to dominate those stats, so it was very important for us to maintain the ball and really focus on those draw controls and build some confidence that we can come up with those ground balls and we did.”
On how the momentum changed after Dove scored the first goal in the second half:
“I think it allowed us to come back and we just kept getting the ball back and getting opportunities. I think that was the difference. Even though we weren’t putting the ball away in that first 10 minutes, the players felt that if BU did get the ball, they were going to get it back, and we did. I think that gave our attackers a lot of confidence, running down knowing they were going to get the ball back. It created some transition and we started finishing our shots and our opportunities.”
