NCAA Post-Match Quotes

Dec. 3, 2004

Recap |  Box Score

Head Coach Jerry Smith
Opening Statement
"I'm very proud of my team today. I want to congratulate Notre Dame. They were well coached and have a bunch of great athletes. My team has suffered a number of injuries and has overcome battles all year long. We got off to a slow start for a number of reasons, and for us to get here is an example of the tremendous character we have on our team and the tremendous leadership we have on our team."

On his team's play
"We turned the ball over a lot today. One of the keys in our game plan was to keep possession, and obviously it's hard to do that for 90 minutes. I thought we showed a good transition to defense all day, but they transitioned to attack a little better than we transitioned to defense. I think both teams had good opportunities today but Notre Dame had more shots than we did."

"We had a great chance at the beginning of the game, and it probably didn't even show up on the shot chart. We had a number of dangerous chances today and we put away zero of our dangerous chances. Notre Dame put away one of their dangerous chances, and that was the difference in the game.

On senior All-American Leslie Osborne
"Leslie has shown unbelievable character and leadership this year. She has had a bad ankle for seven weeks, and she was out there today limping around and has had a boot on her foot all week. She is our leader and one of the best leaders I have ever had in my program. What a great void that will be left at Santa Clara after she is gone."

On the Championship contest
"I think its going to be a great game. They both have very crafty forwards who are experienced internationally. They are both solid defensive teams. It's a great match up with two even teams."

Senior Midfielder Leslie Osborne
On her header
"It felt good going up. It felt better than it looked, so I was disappointed. I was supposed to go far post and I thought I could sneak it in near post."