Boston College Athletics
Post-Game Press Conference Quotes
March 30, 2003 | Men's Hockey
March 30, 2003
2003 East Regional Final
NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Championship
Cornell 2, Boston College 1 (2OT)
Boston College
Head Coach Jerry York:
"Yesterday afternoon we talked about the type of game we expect in the
NCAAs - low scoring. But this was a little more wide open, with open space
and chances. We were looking for the puck to bounce our way at the end and
that did not happen. It's a unique situation where if you win you go to
the Frozen Four and if you lose you go home."
On having the go-ahead goal disallowed in the third period
"It was real difficult. There was a man in the crease but that was
definitely a hard part of the game for us."
"The referee was excellent, and he handled it well. He just came over and said that he had called it a goal but that be was overruled by the official upstairs who said it was disallowed. None of us want a goal counted that wasn't actually a goal. But he's a credit to the WCHA and to officiating."
"Cornell has a great team. It was two good hockey teams, and we battled. It could have been us, it could have been them. In college sports, when you win you do it with humility and when you lose you compliment the other team.
On playing overtime
"Neither team seemed tired. It must be the youth of both teams. They
battled back and played hard, and I think the coaches were more tired than
the players."
On Matti Kaltiainen's play
"He's a goalie who is maturing. He has ups and downs like all goalies. As
you know, in the Hockey East semifinals he did not play well, but even a
goalie like Martin Brodeur has bad games. Is he there yet? I'm not sure.
But he's going to be a great goalie for us."
"Today was our best game of the year. We've had 24 wins and played very well in some of them. They are a big strong team and they played a very solid game. I like the way we played."
Ben Eaves, Junior Captain
"We've been in situations like this all year: overtime games, double
overtime games. We were pressing, they were pressing. We were feeling
pretty good. I don't feel bad for myself, I feel bad for the guys who
won't play with us anymore."
On Matti Kaltiainen's play in the regional
"He was tremendous in goal. He felt bad after the BU game [HOCKEY EAST
semifinal] and he made up his mind he was going to stop every puck. You
could see all week in practice he was working hard."
On having the go-ahead goal disallowed in the third period
[This is] Tough. There weren't a lot of chances out there. We worked so
hard and were on such a high. It's real tough."
"We played for these four guys [seniors Bill Cass, Anthony D'Arpino, Tim Kelleher, A.J. Walker] tonight."
Been like that all year. We haven't given up, no matter what the score. We've been in a bunch of these games. Our thing is to go out in OT and keep on going. We were pumping everyone up in the lockerroom. We thought they'd be the ones who'd be tired. It was all adrenaline."
Cornell University
Head Coach Mike Schafer:
Opening Statement
"What a feeling. This team has been driven since last year, a loss to
Harvard in the ECAC Championship and a devastating loss to UNH. We've come
full-circle. We've given ourselves a chance to accomplish our goals, a
Championship. We've found a way to win."
On adjustments before overtime
"We talked about sticking with what got us here. We talked about how
exciting it is to be at this point. This is where you want to be as a
player. They came out and played well the first five minutes, then we
played well from there on."
On Cornell's tradition
"It's required of every player to come in and understand about the guys who
played in these jerseys. They have to come in and match those standards.
They embrace the tradition and the history of our program. They understand
they are playing for the pride of the institution."
On David LeNeveu
"He was solid as usual. He's the real deal. If an offensive player put up
the best numbers in the history of the game, we'd talk about him for the
Hobey Baker. David has put up the best numbers in the history of the game.
That's why he should be the Hobey Baker in my mind."
On Matt McRae
"Matt's typical of guys who have had injuries. He isn't the same type of
player as he was a few years ago. But, he's persevered, fought through.
He's a college scholar and it couldn't happen to a better kid."
On preparation for Buffalo
"We expected to win and have success. The 2-0 game against Brown was one of
the toughest games we had this year. Knowing we faced that competition
before, we knew what to expect and we got the job done."
Senior Co-Captain Doug Murray:
On playing the type of game that was played:
"You try and treat it as any game, stay within the system, and try to do
what we've done all year. It's tough to do though because if they score
the next goal, the season's over."
On overtime success being attributed to defense:
"Our team philosophy is to play everyone and try to tire them out. It's
brought us success in the last couple of games."
On gaining respect this season:
"You don't earn respect overnight. We've been an up and coming team all
year so we knew we would get it (respect) sooner or later."
Senior Matt McRae:
On the game-winning goal
"It was coming across center ice. The puck was there and I had some space.
The goalie was cheating far side and he had stopped me far-side in the
first overtime so I decided to change it up a bit. Take my last-greatest
goal and times it by a billion. That's how big this goal was."
"We're a pretty seasoned team. We've been in Championship games before so bringing that experience was important today."
On winning face-offs
"That is big for us winning face-offs. Coach has emphasized that, no just
this year, but every year."
On significance of getting to the Frozen Four
"When we first entered campus as freshmen, the history of our program was
there. It's been a long time (23 years) since we've been to the Frozen
Four. It's just great for our team and our program to get there again."
Senior Captain Stephen Baby:
"It feels great. We've been working for a long time. We're not just
satisfied with getting to the Frozen Four. Our goal is to win a national
championship. It was a great game, a hard-fought battle, but we are looking
to Buffalo."
"There's nothing more exciting than playing an overtime game to get to the Frozen Four. It's sudden-death and the winner goes on and the loser goes home."
On the importance of an ECAC team in the Frozen Four
"It's huge. Our conference has prepared us for this. Every game in the ECAC
has been a hard-fought battle. It prepared us for the ECAC Championship
game against Harvard and for this."
