University of Minnesota Athletics
Cornell Postgame Quotes
3/21/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
Minnesota Duluth 3, Cornell 2 (3 ot)
Cornell Postgame Quotes
Cornell Head Coach Doug Derraugh
Opening Statement: "It was a great game. I want to congratulate Shannon and Minnesota-Duluth. They went out, and they took it. They deserved to win. I'm also very pleased with my team. We talked a little bit after the game; you know it's not always about the outcomes of games. It's about the effort, about showing heart and playing your best. I thought my team did that tonight. Unfortunately, Duluth was just a little better. I've said it before, but I just want to say it again - thank you to the University of Minnesota and the NCAA for putting this own. We've had a blast here. They've treated us really special, and we've really enjoyed this whole experience. Thank you very much to both of those parties.
On what was said after the game...
"I told them I played myself for 14 years professionally, and I said I've never been prouder to be involved with a team in my life. I said this is a really small group of players, and I don't know if I've ever been involved with a tougher team than this one and a team with more heart. We talk a lot all season long about the journey and the process and about us being our best, not so much whether we win or lose the game. I told them, in my heart; even though they aren't the NCAA champions they should still hold their heads and consider themselves champions this year."
On Melanie Jue...
"She's somebody who has come up with a lot of big goals for us all year long. If you look back at a lot of our games - at the very start of the year we had a big game with Harvard, looking to win the Ivy League as well - and she came up with two goals in the third period of that game. She's come up with a lot of big plays a lot of big times this year. It's just been a real great year for her as a senior to end on."
On fatigue in overtime...
"I don't know if you really see it. I guess as a coach, you're trying to avoid that topic and trying not to look at that. I think one of the big things we really tried to stress was just stay mentally tough. When your legs start to go, that's when your mind starts to wander a little bit. I talked to them a lot about just staying believing in what we were doing. Try to keep putting the puck on net, and let the puck do as much work as possible, so you don't have to skate as much."
On the locker room during overtime...
"You just try to bring a lot of energy into the dressing room - keep the energy up. We talk about a few different things that we maybe need to do better or things that we are doing well. I just kept telling them to play the way we had all year long...we just kept trying to plug away I thought. Playing aggressive and doing the things that have made us successful all year long."
On the overtime goal for UMD...
"I saw (Lauriane Rougeau) coming across the ice, and I knew she was thinking about trying to get a change. I was yelling at her because the puck was right at the point, and she was right there. Actually, I think it kind of helped them (UMD) because she (Rougeau) got her stick underneath the girl's stick, and when she went to shoot it she didn't get full wood on it. That's why it kind of went where it did, and that's why they got the tip on it. It wasn't a normal, typical play, and obviously it worked to their benefit."
On his tenure at Cornell...
"It's been a lot of hard work. I have to give my assistants a lot of credit. They really worked hard recruiting, and that's taught me a lot as well. Like Liz Zorn said, we've had a lot of great captains and great leaders that have passed on the culture that we were looking for to get to this point. It's very satisfying to get to this point now and to see the fruits of the labor of not just the people working within the program but our athletic directors, everyone across the board, our alumni. Right now it hasn't really sunk in completely, but it's very satisfying to see us getting to this point."
Cornell Senior Forward Liz Zorn
On the tension, emotion, and fatigue as the game went on...
"Obviously, the adrenaline masks fatigue for awhile. So it's just stay hydrated, stay focused, keep doing what we're doing, and keep battling. Don't let the mental side of the game get to you. Keep doing whatever you can out there."
On whether or not she has ever played in a game this evenly matched and hard-fought...
"No. This is going to be one I'll remember for the rest of my life, obviously-once in a lifetime opportunity, and we're really proud of how we responded to that. As a team, we'll remember this for the rest of our lives."
On the team's improvement over the past few years...
"Like you said, coaches can say whatever they want-'This is going to be the turnaround.'-but it comes from the team believing that it's really going to happen. I couldn't have picked a better team to end on my senior year. It's been a lot of people, too...There have been incredible people along the way, too. Our last years, it's been a joint effort. We've had some great leadership in the past that helped teach this senior class what it takes to lead a team and to get us through the tough times, too."
Cornell Freshman Defenseman Laura Fortino
On Minnesota Duluth's first goal...
"It just was a one-on-one with my other defense player. She blocked it and I was just skating by it and she got the rebound and scored."
On the final play...
"I just saw (Lauriane) Rougeau come out of the box...She took a shot, and there was traffic in front of the net. There's not much you can do about that. We just tried clearing sticks, and it went in."
Cornell Sophomore Goalie Amanda Mazzotta
On whether or not she could see the puck well in the game...
"Yeah. The defensemen did a really good job moving people so that I could get sight of the puck. If I couldn't see the puck it normally meant that our defensemen were blocking it. Defense has a great job all year of doing that."
On the season being over...
"We worked so hard all season. Obviously, no one likes to lose. The group of seniors that we have, they're four people that you can't replace. I don't know who's going to wear 24, 14, 6, and 12, but they're going to have huge shoes to fill. They did amazing things for us this year. When you see where they came from their freshman year to where we got them to now, it's too bad we couldn't get the win tonight, but it's been an incredible team and an incredible season. I'll never be prouder to be part of any other team."
