Media Day Player Quotes
2011 Syracuse Men's Lacrosse Media Day
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Manley Field House - Syracuse, N.Y.
Jovan Miller, Senior, Midfield
On losing in the NCAA Tournament and the motivation that created in the offseason:
"More than anything is that you can’t take anyone lightly. We want to make sure that it doesn’t happen again. If we have a lead on somebody, we’re definitely not going to relinquish it."
On the senior class:
"This is definitely the year for redemption for our class. We’re like brothers now and after we lost to Army we were really saddened by the way our seniors went out last year and we want to make sure that doesn’t happen again."
Stephen Keogh, Senior, Attack
On being ranked No. 1 in the preseason:
"Being ranked No. 1 is nice but, the past couple years we’ve been the targeted team, winning the national championship. I think we have a little revenge on our minds. The loss to Army (in the 2010 NCAA Tournament) I think is going to help us because we can’t take anything lightly. We’re going to keep working hard and hopefully come out with a lot of victories."
On replacing Chris Daniello:
"I think JoJo Marasco can feed. You saw it last year with flashes of brilliance. He’s back this year fully healthy and it’s not just going to be one guy. Last year we saw a lot of guys step up each game and I think that’s going to continue during the season. It’s going to be someone’s time to shine each game."
On the seniors leading a large freshman class:
"When we were freshmen we had some great guys to look up to. We just have to help them out. I know they are freshmen and they will make some mistakes, but you just have to help them out along the way. We have some great players that will help us this year and we’ll see what happens."
On the importance of the BIG EAST Conference:
"The BIG EAST means a lot to us. Every game does. When we play teams like Notre Dame and St. John’s we are going to bring our “A” game and we want to play every game our hardest and take it one game at a time."
Joel White, Senior, LSM
On the motivation created by last year's season-ending loss to Army:
"Yeah, it absolutely does motivate us. This is a new team, a new season and that’s the one big thing we need to focus on. We have our own agenda this year, but at the same time you have that bad taste in your mouth. I know the guys that were on that field last year didn’t like the feeling. We were fortunate enough our first two years to be able to run around on the field at Foxboro (after winning the national championship). At the same time we may have looked past them, but Army beat us that day. It’s over. It’s done with. We’re back here. We’re the 2011 team. We are ready to go."
On being from Central New York:
"I know for me, my family is always here and the other guys' families are always here. Actually, our families have become very close over the four years and this Syracuse family has come real close, not just the CNY guys, but everybody. For us personally, it is great to bring something to CNY and being a local guy, being lucky enough to be at Syracuse and being a part of everything that goes on here. For me, it has been amazing and I want to go out in the right way."
On the returners from 2010:
"We do have a lot of the guys back, but at the same time we brought in 19 freshmen. It’s great. You bring those guys in and they worked so hard to be a part of this team and we are happy to have them and we hope that they are stepping on the field with us. Yeah it’s great to have a senior class coming back to be able to bring the freshmen up and lead the team. We look forward to see what those underclassmen are going to do and how they are going to help us out but, it’s always good to have the upperclassmen to fall back on."
On having nine home games as a senior:
"It’s great to play in the Carrier Dome nine times my senior year. It's really amazing. After last year, being on the road all the time, it was fun for me personally because I love being on the road. It is a good time to get some team chemistry in with the guys and I think it helped us out a lot last year, bringing the team together. But there is nothing better than playing in the Carrier Dome and having all of our fans there. I look forward to seeing how many people come out and we have some real good games in the Dome. Hopefully we get a good crowd."
