Head Coach Gary Gait Quotes
Head Coach Gary Gait Quotes
Women's Lacrosse Media Day
February 12, 2010
On replacing the players lost from the previous season:
"Losing Katie Rowan is tough. She's the all-time leading scorer at Syracuse, but we brought in some young talent. We have a great freshman group coming in on the offensive end of the field. We will just change the style of play that we are going to execute on the field. It is simply going to be more of a team concept, getting the ball behind the net a little bit more, feeding from behind, as opposed to doing everything from in front of the goal. We're looking to make a difference; stick to a team game, with a very balanced offense. I think that has been proven time and time again to be very successful."
On having a veteran goalkeeper:
"We have a very experienced goalie (Liz Hogan). She is really focused on stepping up this year and reaching her full potential. I think we haven't seen the best of Liz Hogan yet and hopefully we will see it starting next week."
On having more depth on the team than in his first year:
"Recruiting is everything. You have to build a player base of talent and you also have to put together the pieces of the puzzle - defenders and types of midfielders you want. You have to be really focused on your needs and filling those needs. We have been able to do that the last couple of years. I think that this freshman class really shows that and hopefully that will continue the next few years."
On how he feels about the team's progress towards the first game next week:
"We are ready to play somebody. We have been practicing a while now. I think that everyone is excited about having the opportunity to get on the field and play an opponent. This year we decided not to scrimmage and just go right into the season and we will see how that goes."
On who from the freshman class he thinks will really step up this year:
"I think you can look at a few different players. On the attacking end you are going to see Michelle Tumulo. She is a dynamite player, a blue-chipper who is going to be great for us. In the midfield we have Tegan Brown from Australia, who has some international experience. She is a mature player. Bridget Daley is really going to help us in the midfield. Then we have other players stepping up that maybe weren't starters last year who have really gelled and progressed and will get the opportunity this year, and."
On how much he thinks about playing Colgate two years ago going into the opener:
"I have watched it once and I will watch it again, just to get to know their style. We played them in the fall. We are really still focused on what we need to do for the season, how we need to prepare, types of offense-defense, just fine-tuning all of those strategies. Just give us another week and we will be sharp and ready to play Colgate."
