April 30, 2008
SAN DIEGO -
San Diego State News Conference Quotes
Aztec Athletics Center
Head coach Carin Crawford
Opening Statement:
"I am really thrilled that we have earned our second consecutive at-large bid to the NCAA championships. People ask me how we can finish fifth at our conference championship and still make it into the NCAA tournament as the fourth seed, but it is a result of a season of tough games against ranked competition. We have put together 29 wins so far and I think the committee looked favorably upon what we had done all season long. We finished out the (Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) championship with an overtime win against California and I think in the committee's minds we had a strong enough showing to warrant getting the final at-large bid. Again, we are thrilled to be going back and to do it two years in a row is really a wonderful thing for our student-athletes and for our program."
On the doubt of receiving an at-large bid:
"We knew we had a great record going into the MPSF championship, but we also knew we had to do well in the tournament itself. We were in the quarterfinals against the University of Hawai'i and we really felt like if we could win that game, it would be a for sure ticket to get the final at-large bid. But when we lost that game, we were faced with the proposition of having to finish out the tournament with two more wins to try and place as high as we could in the consolation bracket, which is not an easy thing to do in the MPSF. So, we had to beat San Jose State, which was a competitive game, to get to the fifth-place game against Cal, who also felt like they were a contender for the final at-large bid. Both teams were playing for their last hope to get into the tournament and to win that game in overtime was a big factor in getting the nod."
On coming back from a tough loss against Hawai'i:
"It is really hard to lose in a quarterfinal game when you are the fourth seed in a championship like the MPSF tournament. You want to finish no lower than your seed. We had an opportunity to do that and we felt that if we got into the top four, we would have another shot at UCLA, which would not only help us get into the NCAA tournament, but would also prepare us for it. Our team has a lot of heart and character to not get down after a tough loss like that. To come back with two wins against teams who were trying to ruin our chances of getting the at-large bid shows how much we wanted it. Cal is a very strong and dangerous team, and they were really thinking that a fifth-place finish could make a case for them. I am just really proud that my team had the resilience to come back from a tough loss and respond by winning out the bracket."
On the emotions experienced throughout the weekend:
"It has been a rollercoaster. The loss to Hawai'i was a one-goal game and the game itself went up and down. We could never quite get enough momentum to pull away. We didn't shoot the ball particularly well, so it's hard to lose when you feel like you could have done a few things better. Friday night was tough and we were all feeling pretty sorry for ourselves, but I put a limit on that. We needed to move on and I think it's just really a great statement about our strength of character to be able to come back. I felt like we were in control against San Jose State, so that game allowed us to get back on track and set us up well to play the fifth-place game against Cal, which was a battle in itself. (Cal) actually scored the first three goals in the game, so we had to claw our way back out of that hole, but we started to get some momentum and match them goal for goal. That was our first overtime game of the season, and overtime is a really different pace because you have two three-minute periods as opposed to an eight-minute quarter. It was a very intense game and we were getting it done with a lot of the players who normally play a reserve role for us. It was great to come out on top of a well-played, hard-fought match."