University of Minnesota Athletics
UMD/Wisconsin Quotes
3/5/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
2017 WCHA FINAL FACE-OFF – Quotes
WISCONSIN
Wisconsin Head Coach Mark Johnson
Opening Statement
“I’m excited. Excited for the players. It certainly was a team effort. We threw a lot of pucks at the net today. We tell the players not to get frustrated, and the puck will, eventually – most times – it will go in. Obviously the goal to start the third period really helped, and Sarah’s short-handed goal – I don’t want to call it a back-breaker – gave us a little bit of room to breathe.”
On if it was a bit of relief in the third period…
“We were creating opportunities in the second period, a lot of grade-A, quality opportunities. The four games we’ve played against them (Minnesota Duluth), Rooney has played exceptionally well. We saw it last night in the game against Minnesota for five periods, and certainly saw it today. As a player, the easy thing is to get frustrated and grip your stick a little tight. That’s my message to players – keep creating puck pressure, keep creating turnovers and quality chances. Starting the third the way we did got us to the finish line.”
On preparing freshmen for key roles in the NCAA Tournament…
“It’s in the body of work; it’s really about the process. How we prepared today is the same as how we prepared for the first game of the season in St. Cloud. Our players have been through a lot this year, but on the ice and, we’ve had some situations off the ice that’s helped everybody grow personally. I don’t look at is freshmen. They’ve played 35 games, won a couple championships and they’re seasoned now. It’s an exciting time. I won’t do anything different, our coaching staff won’t to do anything different as we prepare for our next opponent. It will be business as usual, and that should provide the players with a comfort level.”
Wisconsin Forward Sydney McKibbon
On winning the puck battle in front of the net and poking in a rebound…
“Jenny Ryan made a really nice play, got the puck to the net and I just tried to deflect it, get my stick on it, and then spun around and luckily it went in the net.”
On season goals winning a national championship…
“I think this was just another box we wanted to check off obviously. Being regular season championship was something we wanted to accomplish and then this tournament was our next goal, so we'll enjoy this for tomorrow and then get back to work on Tuesday and try to reach our last goal.
Wisconsin Forward Annie Pankowski
On if there was any surprise on the third-period goal just 33 seconds….
“Yeah, it started with a really great rush from Sarah and she just spun around there and found Jenny wide open in the slot. I think when you can connect on those little plays it opens the game up a lot and we talked about going to the net between periods and I just put my head down and Jenny put it right there.”
Wisconsin Forward Sarah Nurse
On if frustration was setting in getting past UMD goalie Maddie Rooney…
“Yeah, throughout the season we have worked really hard to not get frustrated and we have had games like this before. We have played her before and I think she has given us pretty good performance in the past so I think as we went to the third period it was kind of funny, because we knew one was going to go in eventually. But we definitely try to not grip the stick too hard.”
On scoring the shorthanded goal…
“I saw Channell pick up the puck and Syd got herself open. She got into a great space and I knew that if Syd got that puck she could chip it in and I'd be gone. She did a great job on the wall to chip the puck to me, and I ended up putting it in.”
2017 WCHA FINAL FACE-OFF – Quotes
MINNESOTA DULUTH
Minnesota Duluth Head Coach Maura Crowell
Opening Statement
“Great game by Wisconsin today. They certainly earned that championship. I think we played pretty well for a part of that game, unfortunately not enough. When you play against a good team like that, they take advantage of opportunities and (goalie) Maddie (Rooney) kept us in it for a long time, she played fantastic again. Props and kudos to Wisconsin for getting it done.”
On scoring the first goal of the game…
“We tried to stay in the moment, obviously, we were excited to get that goal. Another power play goal which is great to have that happening at this time of year. Unfortunately, it didn’t end up holding. That’s the way it goes. We felt good about a lot of the things we did today, but it was just like I said before, Wisconsin played better. They deserved to win.”
On putting Lara Stalder at defense…
“Against Wisconsin back in November when we beat them at our place, that was her first time playing “D” this year. We haven’t done it since as a starter until today. Just knowing that Wisconsin has a high-powered offense, and knowing that Stalder can do some pretty special things from the back-end. We felt pretty good about our offense being able to put the puck in the net when they needed to. It just kind of balanced our team out and it was for Wisconsin specifically. This morning when we found out we had an injury to the “D,” it seemed like the logical decision to move her back again.
On Rooney’s confidence…
“I would say knowing it’s her net, and having that not monkey off her back, but we went back and forth a lot last year with a senior and freshman. This year it was clearly her net from the beginning, and I think she thrived knowing that. That’s what gave her confidence as well as playing so many games and so many minutes last year and growing as a person and goalie.”
On why the team is significantly better this season…
“I credit the senior class with a ton of our success. When you have excellent leadership like we do, both on and off the ice, I think you set yourself up really nicely to have a great season. They’ve been great role models to our young players and they’re getting it done on the ice, too. Those five kids are critical to our success out there. That’s been great. Maddie, I think, leadership, goaltending, she keeps us in games. Sometimes things aren’t going that well out there but she gets the saves that we need, calms us down and allows us to play our game. Great goaltending, and I think we added some good depth this year. Syd Brodt on offense, Brooke Schugal, really fast forwards that helps. Jalyn Elmes on defense has been fantastic for us, she’s a regular top-four “D.” All year long. You add those pieces, great leadership, great goaltending, and I would say some consistency. New coaches, new everything last year. This year they’re familiar with us, so it’s all come together.”
On quick revival of UMD program…
I wasn’t expecting us to be in the WCHA Championship today, no.
Minnesota Duluth Forward Lara Stalder
On the Wisconsin short-handed goal…
“We know they can score. We wanted to bounce right back but I thought we kind of lost it from there. Our legs were a bit tired after that, but that’s no excuse.”
On the second period…
“It’s tough. They played really well today. (Goalie) Maddie (Rooney) kept us in it a long time. In the last period, they scored that shorthanded goal and another one. It’s sad to lose that game but we are looking forward, we have enough to play.”
On playing defense…
“They told me before the game, we had a “D” that couldn’t make it in the lineup. I’m glad to step in, I felt great as a “D.” I was aggressive back there, I took some risks, tried to help our team.”
Minnesota Duluth Goalie Maddie Rooney
On fatigue playing today after a double-overtime semifinal…
“Obviously we were pretty wired after last night but we did all the right things to recover. It just didn’t go our way today.”
On making a big save…
“In the previous Wisconsin game there was one off the post and I caught it behind my back. It was something.”
On being named tournament MVP…
“I’m really honored. This is just all an experience; we look forward to the national tournament. Our win yesterday was huge and that’s going to take us into next weekend.”
