Fresno State Athletics
No. 5 Santa Clara 5, Fresno State 0- QUOTES
11/11/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Nov. 11, 2005
Head coach Steve Springthorpe:
"Tonight represented a good opportunity for us to see how well we stack up against a team like Santa Clara. They are a well-organized team and should challenge for the national championship. Of course, we would have liked to see our season end on a different note because I believe we accomplished quite a bit. That being said, I am extremely proud of our team. To win the WAC and advance to the NCAA Tournament for just the second time in school history, I am very pleased with our season."
"This (advancing to the NCAA Tournament) is a great building block for our program. I certainly think we established ourselves as one of the premier teams in our conference and qualifying for the postseason was a good experience for our seniors and younger players. We are a young team and heading in the right direction. Our goal was to win the WAC and make the NCAA Tournament. Those will continue to be our expectations in the future."
"I thought they (Santa Clara) were hungry tonight compared to the first time around playing them in October. Give credit to Santa Clara; they put pressure on our backs all night and were locked in as a group. Then again, they always seem to be clicking on all cylinders come tournament time. Every year they put forth a good effort when it counts."
Senior Kortney Lewis:
"Soccer has been a big part of my life for so long and now the season is over. It hurts right now but I'm glad I was able to experience the NCAA Tournament. The coaching staff did a great job of bringing us to another level this season. Winning the WAC and making the NCAA Tournament is a good way to go out."
"Santa Clara is a very dynamic team and they capitalized on their scoring chances. But I'm proud of our team and I know they will be back."
Senior Koleen Anderson:
"We experienced a lot of great things this year with winning the WAC and making the NCAA Tournament. I know they can do it again next year. This program is going in a positive direction and it has been great to be a part of it."
Santa Clara Head Coach Jerry Smith:
"I'm very happy we're advancing. That's our ultimate goal, to advance to the next round. I thought our team played pretty well today. We had a number of different people on the scoresheet, which is always a good idea and we had a shutout."
"We had a chance to play a number of different players today. Some of our players had their first NCAA experience today which is good to get under their belt. It also helps us stretch our legs a little bit for Sunday. But Fresno State played great, played hard, played very organized. Our playoff experience really helped us today. It also really helped playing the game at home."
"Certainly Tina stepped up for us, as she always does in the NCAA tournament. For the team to score five goals, three in the first half, is just what the doctor ordered as far as what we were looking for."
Senior Defender Micaela Esquivel:
"We do expect to go to the Final Four. That is our main goal. I think that games like this, where there are a lot of fans, will better prepare us for the Final Four, where it's loud and harder to communicate."
Junior Forward Tina Estrada:
"Coming into the tournament we're such a defensive-minded team. We're solid defensively and like Jerry said earlier, it's our offense to worry about. So I was happy to see that we had a number of people finish our chances today."
