Nov. 11, 2011

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PENN STATE 1, ARMY 0

Penn State - Quotes

Head Coach Erica Walsh

Opening Statement:
"I just want to start out by saying how impressed I was with Army tonight, in particular with their goalie, Monica Lee, and their hard work and desire to stay together as a unit. I thought that they absolutely worked and worked. They were relentless and it's no mystery why they are Patriot League Champions this year."

How do you think the team adapted during the game?
"I thought we played well and had good variety in our shots. In the first half, we had to test the goal keeper, and in the second half we did a much better job with it. The goalie showed that she is good. We certainly felt that we were getting our opportunities and thank you to Christine for putting one away.

What do you think is the X-factor to winning this game?
"I would say that crowd. They were phenomenal, especially when it got late in the game. All the student athletes and the parents were on their feet. I felt a tremendous energy in here tonight, positive energy, which willed us to win this game.

Forward Maya Hayes

Maya, were you getting frustrated with all the shots that were saved tonight?
"Yeah, it was definitely frustrating. But, it is great to be surrounded by teammates that you can count on."

On Army's Defense:
"They dropped pretty quickly on us in the middle, forcing us to go wide, which the keeper was snatching. I think it was the combination of compacting the midfield and their keeper playing big today.

On being undefeated at home:
"It means everything. We made promises to one another at the beginning of the season. We have had great leadership in our captains, which led us to where we are today. We knew that a championship team, whether it be a Big Ten or a National team, they don't lose at their home field. We protect our home field, and that has been our goal all season, no matter who we are playing.

Midfielder Christine Nairn

On scoring the only goal in this game:
"I think it was Bri's pass, one of her signature crosses that helped. Last minute Maya was going to take it and I told her to leave it, and thank God she did. In my head, I was just saying `put it on goal.' As Coach said, their goalie played awesome. She was saving everything we were throwing at her. We were very impressed and lucky to come out on top tonight."

On shooting 10 shots:
"We always have confidence in one another and knew one of us would step up. We were just trying everything we could, varying it up a little by shooting up close. Fortunately we were able to put one away, a little late. Hopefully, we could do it a little earlier next time so we don't give Coach gray hairs.

Army - Quotes

Head Coach Stefanie Golan

What was your game plan coming into the game?
"Our game plan was to be us. Being Army was good enough to get us to this point and we weren't going to change who we were just because we were playing a quality opponent. We scheduled to open are season at Duke so that getting into the tournament it wouldn't be the first time that we saw this caliber opponent. We went into this game fully believing that we could win. It was what we do best, defend, and what they do best, which is attack."

What challenges does Maya Hayes present?
"She's a phenomenal athlete. In terms of the soccer piece, she has some developing to do, she's young. She had a few opportunities that she put straight to Mo, (GK, Monica Lee) and Mo did a great job, and she's not the one who beat us.

Was there anything you did with your offense? Did you feel like you could beat them with a counter?
"We were hoping. Once you play beyond their front five, there's room to play. I thought in the first half we did a better of trying to get on them more so then we did as the game wore on."

Goalkeeper Monica Lee

What was the key to stopping all of these shots, one after another, coming at you?
"Just keeping my composure. Knowing that they try to play those slot balls. I played off my line a lot more than I usually do and I was able to intercept them."

Defender Molly McGuigan

What was the key on defense?
"We just had to play as a unit. Each defender couldn't defeat Maya by ourselves so we had to play as a unit and cover for each other the entire game."

Did you feel like you were able to give up the kind of shots you wanted to? It seemed like they had a lot of shots from distance.
"Definitely, as a defense we prevented them from getting behind us a lot. We made them take shots from father out, which gave Mo a better chance, and she did amazing with those shots."