University of Minnesota Athletics
NCAA First Round Quotes
11/13/2010 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
Minnesota
Coach Mikki Denney Wright
Opening Statement...
"Give a lot of credit to Creighton, I thought they gave us a great battle tonight...It's a typical NCAA game, never say die. I think what makes this team special is their resilience and their character. They've been in these moments time and time again, and they just never give up. That's just the character of this group. It doesn't matter where they are at, they're going to bring it."
On second-half adjustments...
"We didn't change a lot. That's what we've done all year. We really just challenged them (the Gophers) to believe and to fight. And I thought that's exactly what they did. I thought they doubled their effort the second half, which was amazing."
On the versatility of the Gophers....
"It speaks to their character, but certainly they've sacrificed themselves for the team. I'm very proud of that. They don't play for stats, they just play for the team and the win."
On rebounding in the second half...
"We knew that we were down 2-1, and we knew that we had to come out and put away goals early and often. I think our mentality in the second half was great - pretty much the same as it was in the first half at Indiana. We knew that we had to score goals, and once we were up we just kept going at them."
On team chemistry...
"This was just one of those nights when everything was clicking...I couldn't have asked for better teammates tonight than what I had. Everything was clicking at the right time."
Creighton
Coach Bruce Erickson
Opening Statement:
“I’m really proud of my team. It wasn’t enough tonight, but we played hard. To score two goals in a game is usually enough, but tonight it wasn’t. But my hats off to our team. I thought we played very well, very hard, and it just wasn’t enough.”
On mentality going into halftime with 2-1 lead:
“We felt like was important to get the next goal. At times it was obviously a very wide-open game. [Minnesota] had over thirty shots. We felt that [it was important to] stop them on the counter, and be able to get that third goal. We couldn’t get equalized about ten minutes [into the second half], and they took over from there.”
On losing offensive momentum in the second half:
“They did a good job. We didn’t have enough of the ball. We had a couple of opportunities, but we weren’t as dangerous as we were in the first half. Both goals were good, but we didn’t quite have enough of the ball in the attacking third.”
F Macy Mauer
On shadowing Steph Brandt:
“They’re a really fast team. So it was key just knowing where to go, just listening to each other in the back, and start trying to listen to our center backs, and just trying to work together. . . . . For the most part, I thought we did well. . . . Obviously, getting four goals scored on you is not what our defense is proud of. But we are proud of the small things that we did, and not letting them get some of those chances.”
On starting both halves slowly:
“That was one thing I saw in the first half coming out. The NCAA Tournament is new for more than 50 percent of our team, so I think maybe there were some jitters. But once we settled down and played our game, it was [much] better.”
F Claire Zach
On playing a Big Ten team on the big stage:

“Hats off to the Big Ten. I think they’re a great conference, but I think the MVC is a good conference too. Minnesota has had some great games this season, but so have we. Every conference game that we have [has injuries]. I think the MVS is one of the most physical conferences in the country. [Tonight’s game] was a different playing style for us. They wanted to play more [athletic], but I think we did well. Hats off to Minnesota – they’re a good team. But it doesn’t take away from our season.”
