University of Minnesota Athletics
Mercyhurst Pre-Tournament Press-Conference Quotes
3/18/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
Mercyhurst Pre-Tournament Press Conference Quotes
Mercyhurst Head Coach Michael Sisti:
Opening Statement: "
It's an interesting year for us. We have somewhere around eight new faces (on the team). From last year we lost two future hall of famers from our lineup, we have one senior. We've been growing and maturing throughout the season but the good news is that we've been winning also, so we'll see what happens this weekend."
On playing Cornell earlier this season...
"It was a real good week in college hockey and you could tell the potential in his team. I actually told (Coach Derraugh) that we'll probably see him later on this season if both of our teams keep progressing. It was obvious that the two teams were not playing the best hockey but were playing well. We got them during their first two games of the season but you saw that their talent was there. They have a great mix of veterans and a couple of great young defensemen. It was a real good weekend for us, we had to work hard to win games and that's been the story of the season. We've won games in a lot of different ways. Certainly, it was a nice weekend and a good challenge. It supports the case of playing teams from all different leagues and trying to play the top teams so you can improve. We got better that weekend in ways that challenged us in trying to defend some of their strengths. I think we did the same for them and that's why I think it's so important to have the cross conference games and teams reaching out and playing other teams so they can be challenged early in the season, midseason, and putting those tweaks in so your team can improve."
On morning skate...
"It was probably the worst practice of the season. It was a mix of jitters, excitement, a little bit of everything. The good news is we got it out of the way and hopefully we have our best hockey ahead of us. We've been playing really well and the good news is throughout most of the season we haven't been playing our best hockey. In the past few weeks we were challenged and really came together as a team nicely and we're starting to reach our potential and play really well. I guess our expectations are so high and today was a day where if anything could have gone wrong it went wrong. Hopefully we got it out of the way and it's uphill from here. It should be a fun weekend."
On feeling pressure as a number one ranked team...
"Right now it's just about whoever wins two games is the national champion so you just throw the rest of the year out the window. We're very proud of what we accomplished this year because we did lose a lot of key pieces in our lineup last year and I think a lot of people didn't give this team credit to be able to have the season we had, both in league play and nationally. I think it's a testament to our team's pride and the character of our team. We told our team that earlier in the year and they took that to heart. They've battled all season so now, I think that's why we had a tough time at practice today. People were buzzing around with their heads cut off because they were so excited. I think it's good we got that out of the way and we're certainly looking forward to the challenge tomorrow."
On the team's preparedness for tomorrow...
We'll be ready because what's great with our team is their resilience and also the focus when it's time to focus. I think again, with some of the maturity there are days where we won't have every single person dialed in on every day but when it's time to play I think it speaks to the pride of the players. Tomorrow, they'd be nuts not to show up ready to play. They know what's at stake and I'm just excited to see them play. The thing I've been fortunate enough in my 11 years of coaching at Mercyhurst is that our teams play hard. Our staff does a great job of preparing them and helping them get ready but when you put that jersey on, they play with great pride and passion. I think tomorrow will be the same."
On getting over the hump of losing in the championship game last year...
"I think it's a totally new year. Bottom line is the first thing you need to do is play a great game and beat a good Cornell team. I think if we're fortunate enough to do that, we'll see who we play and put in whatever tweaks you have to in order to beat them. The biggest challenge for us and all four teams is that we have to play our best hockey this season right now. It's what we've worked for and what we've prepared for. If we do that we'll be fine. If we don't, in all honesty, we don't deserve to win. I think that's the challenge for the four teams and that's what it will take for us or any team to be successful."
Junior Forward Kelly Jesse Scanzano
Opening Statement:
"We've obviously worked hard all year and it's good to be back. I think we have a lot more confidence this year to be able to play and we're just looking forward for the tournament."
On expectations for the weekend...
"I think that coming in here, we know that all four teams deserve to be here. They're all great teams so I think, yes we're excited but we're definitely nervous because you never know what can happen in that one game."
On what was taken from the matchup against Cornell earlier this season...
"They're a good team, they move the puck well. They have a good defense and they put a lot of pressure on you. They're a great team overall, I think they were the best team we played all year."
