May 29, 2010

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Notre Dame coach Kevin Corrigan

Opening Statement on the NCAA semifinal victory over Cornell
“I thought our defense played very well again. I thought Scott was terrific in the cage. Offensively, we were very opportunistic. I don’t know if we played very well offensively but we made plays very well offensively. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to play on Monday.”

On first appearance in the NCAA national championship game and being a program outside the East Coast to make the title game
“I feel like we have been knocking on this door. I am excited that we are in the championship game. I am really hoping if we can win a championship I can stop getting questions about lacrosse outside the traditional areas. The game has been growing. There have been a number of teams, ours included, that have played very, very well in the NCAA tournament.

On the 4-0 first quarter run and holding the lead
“I was happy with the 1-0 run. For the first seven minutes of that game we were lousy and we were just kind of holding on hoping that we didn’t end down three at that point. So getting the one [goal] everybody was able to take a deep breath…and think that we are going to be okay here. With a team that plays as patiently and smart as they do it is always better to play with a lead against a team like that.

Notre Dame senior goalie Scott Rodgers

On the first Cornell goal and making the first save
“I thought it was going to be a long day when they first scored. But it’s definitely good to make your first save when you get out there as a goalie because you want to get in a rhythm and you want to feel out the shooters. So I definitely think [making that first save] helped.”

On the Notre Dame defense
“I thought Kevin Ridgeway did a great job, as he has done all season. He always gets the No. 1 guy. I attribute [the win] to our defense. They did a great job and I got lucky on a couple [saves].”

On being in the national championship game
“I would have said that if we got the opportunity to make the playoffs we would be a dangerous team. I just thought we had the talent all year, we were just a little inconsistent. I believe in this team and I knew we could do this.”

Notre Dame senior attackman Neal Hicks

About the Notre Dame attack

“Nick (Beattie) and Sean (Rogers) have both done a really good job and it’s been a lot of fun playing with both of them. Obviously, Sean had a really big game. He’s been really solid the last couple weeks. We’ve heard a lot of the talk that Notre Dame’s attack is a little bit soft and I’ve been trying to tell the guys let’s go out there and prove to everybody that we can play, that we’re good players.”

Cornell coach Jeff Tambroni

Opening statement on the NCAA semifinal loss to Notre Dame
There is no loss that is easy to swallow over the course of the season, but there is nothing worse than a season-ending loss knowing that your seniors have worked so hard the last four years and put in everything they possibly have to put in to get to this point right here. I give a lot of credit to Notre Dame and congratulate them. They played great today and they’ve played great all year and certainly in the playoffs.

On the mechanics of Notre Dame’s defense
“It is a blend of a lot of different things. Number one, they take care of the ball on offense. If you keep the ball out of your defense you hold guys to less goals just by definition because you have the ball on their end of the field. Put that in conjunction that they have goalie that’s a senior and that he’s a leader of that team and he plays very well and he gets eight saves in the first quarter alongside a defense that’s very athletic, very long, they have great range. They do a great job of coaching that defense but I think if you add the way they play offensively and the goalie that plays behind them, I think that’s a formula of success for them.”

On the first quarter by Rodgers and Cornell’s shot selection
“Coming in here against Rodgers, we didn’t want to be overanalyzing his technique or his size. We just wanted our guys to shoot and shoot confidently when they had the opportunity because of our success in the past few weeks. To his credit he really played well, but I just know that when you take nine shots on cage and only have one goal you’re not going to come out feeling all that good about yourself.”

Cornell senior attackman Ryan Hurley

On the play of Notre Dame goalie Scott Rodgers

“In the first half [Rodgers] had 10 saves and credit to him for playing great, and doing his job and keeping those guys in it. We were getting great looks. We didn’t hit some of the shots we needed to or would have liked to early. The momentum never seemed to go our way.”

On the defensive play of Notre Dame
“They had great execution [today]. We took advantage at some points and other times they covered up very well and executed. We couldn’t really find a way inside to get good looks.”

Cornell sophomore attackman Rob Pannell

On the play of Notre Dame goalie Scott Rodgers
“Scott Rodgers did a great job of making saves. We were shooting at places that we thought were going to go in. Credit to him for doing a great job, he had 16 saves on the day, so it’s just a credit to him and the defense around him.”

On playing with senior Ryan Hurley for two seasons
“It was great to play alongside Ryan for two years. It kills me that he’s leaving. I was kind of happy we were able to end that game on the right note with me feeding him for a goal. It felt good to have that happen. I’m going to miss him and some people are going to have to step up next year.”