May 10, 2008

2008 National Collegiate Women's Water Polo Championship

Consolation Semi-Final: Michigan 7 Marist 4

Michigan Head Coach Matt Anderson:
'It's always interesting to come back and play in a game that you didn't come here wanting to be in. That first half we had 19 aggressive shots, we countered really well, and only three went in so credit to Davis the Marist goalie. We were kind of forcing some passes and some shots but we were playing well. It was just one of those, it took them a while to get going and we ended up having I think 31 shots, so we were staying aggressive which is good. We just had a little bit of a problem finishing our shots, which is going to happen, but fortunately they focused on the defensive end and as Marist competitively stayed in the game and made us work. We kind of clamped down on our 5-on-6 and especially our half court.'

'Were in the fifth place game and that's a good consolation game to be in versus not making what we wanted which was in the top-4. I'm proud of the girls they battled back against the champion of the MAAC, and now hopefully we will get it done against either Pomona-Pitzer or San Diego State.'

'We knew what Marist's game plan was and we didn't let them do it. That's important because from the get go Marist is trying to look at what they've done successfully to get here and we just didn't let them do it. They stayed focused the whole game, there's probably only two or three times where we forgot what we were supposed to be doing, and gave Marist an opportunity to get a good shot on goal.'

Junior Driver Carrie Frost:
'I really just had a lot of heart going into the last game. It was difficult after losing last night and I just didn't want to feel like that again. Going into this game I think my teammates and myself, I think we were angry and really wanted to win.'

On getting a four-goal cushion after halftime: 'Every time you put a goal in the back of the net, it's just a reminder that we can finish it. I think all of us knew we were going to win, there was the confidence among all of us, I think finishing those goals it was nice to finally get that cushion.

Marist Head Coach Ashleigh Jacobs:
'The game came down to 6-on-5s and when you go 1 for 10 we did not come out on top. Once again I don't feel like the girls rose up to the challenge again, unfortunately. For whatever reason the things we did well all season long they slipped away at the NCAAs.''Basically we created lots of opportunities for ourselves but we just needed better shot selection. That's what it came down to.'

Junior 2M Katelin McCahill:
'I think the last two games outside shooting wasn't working for us. If we get the ball to the inside it creates openings outside, that's what we were trying to do.'