Nov. 23, 2003
Santa Clara
Jerry Smith, Head Coach: "Congratulations to the University of Portland on a great season and on the effort they made in this match. It's unfortunate that a UP/Santa Clara game had to be played in such an early round. They showed how equal the two teams are. It's the type of game that you hate to see someone lose, especially for Portland. For their seniors to go out in the round of 16 is unfortunate. Portland is a final-four caliber team."
"I am proud of Santa Clara and think we played an excellent soccer match."
"For me, it's the first time ever to win a game on penalty kicks as a player or a coach. I'm happy to get that off my back."
"That was a dead-even game. It was dead-even on shots and dead-even on hit posts. I'm very proud of the game Ryder played, she had two huge saves during the penalty kicks."
"Both teams had a lot of warriors and a lot of banged up bodies."
"The WCC is a great soccer conference, we'll try to battle on and prove our conference's worth. We have a lot of confidence going forward."
Julie Ryder, G.K., #1: (regarding Woznuk's shot that hit post) "That rattled me a little bit, I had to get my head back together. I was happy that my defenders were back there."
Leslie Osbourne, Midfielder, #10: "I was confident going to a shootout. During those two overtimes, I just felt that we were going to win the game. We all knew we were going to win that game."
Chardonnay Poole, Defender, #18: "This game is just as important as our next game with North Carolina. In any game you play now you have to play well, you have to play solid with no mistakes. Hopefully we can get to the final four, but we're just focusing on North Carolina right now."
Portland
Garrett Smith, Head Coach: "I am absolutely, over the moon proud of this team. We accomplished a season's worth of memories for the team and let the people of Portland know of what kind of team this is."
"Give Santa Clara a lot of credit. They came into a difficult place to play and found a way to win. It really was a tale of two halves. We weathered the storm there with Huie out in the first half. The team held together with seven freshmen out there on the field."
"We just played awesome in the second half. It was good to see us regroup in the second half. We came out, did what we were suppose to do, it was just unfortunate that we couldn't get a goal."
"This game should have been seen around the country, not just here in Portland. That was two of the top teams in the country playing each other. It's unfortunate that this game, a third round game, had to go to a shootout. You just never know with penalty kicks."
"There was no luck today for either team. Both teams hit posts, there were no huge mistakes, it's just unfortunate that it came down to a penalty kick situation. Santa Clara was able to put away their chances."
Imani Dorsey, Sr. Defender, #3: "It's always nice to win a national championship. That's one memory I'll take on, but I have a lot of great memories with this team. I'm very thankful for this team and for the players."
"We definitely played well and dominated that game. But that's just the kind of sport soccer is, sometimes it's just unlucky."
Angie Woznuk, Fr. Forward, #6: "I was a little nervous going into the penalty kicks. All of us played hard, it's just unfortunate that the game went to penalty shots."
(regarding her near-goal that hit the post) "I almost started celebrating until I saw the ball rolling away from the goal."
Lindsey Huie, So. Midfielder, #17: "This team played unbelievably well considering the amount of freshmen we have. We played better than a lot of people thought we would this year. Although we didn't win this game or the national championship, we'll just be that much better next year. I think there are a lot of good things to come for this group."
Kristen Rogers, Sr. Defender, #8: "The crowd really helped a lot. They were loud and encouraging. That helps with the home-field advantage."
"We were passing and playing really well in the second half. We were taking it to them and winning the individual battles. I definitely thought we were going to get the goal. I'm disappointed but we put our hearts out there."