Sept. 6, 2002
Head Coach Jerry Smith
On the win
I think we had a big wake-up call against Stanford. We were particularly focused on our defending today. When we are focused on our team, we can shut out an awesome attacking team like Notre Dame. I think since we took three goals against Stanford-and probably should have taken five-we were just very focused on that aspect of our game today.
On Megan Kakadelas
People underestimate her quickness and speed all the time. Yesterday, she had her first practice with the team, so today was her first game, and what a great game it was. She was obviously pumped up for her first game. But in general, she just has an acceleration that most people just don't anticipate.
On the U19 Trio
We were missing three youth national team players in our match against Stanford and they made a huge difference for us today. Jessica Ballweg had to come out of the game injured, so she didn't make as big an impact as Leslie Osborne and Megan Kakadelas, but they showed their quality today as national team players.
On playing a highly-ranked team early in the season
This is why we play those games; let's find out where we are right now. Stanford handed our head to us last week. We had to regroup and today we got the better of Notre Dame. They'll regroup and learn a lot from the game.
Sophomore Forward Megan Kakadelas
On her first game as a BroncoI was pretty nervous, wanting to get used to playing with everybody and in the system. It was great just getting to play.
Junior Forward Kristi Candau
On her first goalMegan made a great run down the line. I just kind of followed her and she slotted it back. She played it perfectly. All I had to do was tap it in.
On the team's first win
We were kind of down on ourselves after the Stanford game and so it's nice get on a high, especially against Notre Dame.
We like to beat anybody on their home field, but there's always something special about Notre Dame. After they knocked us out (in the NCAA Tournament) in 2000, we were really looking forward to playing them last year. That didn't work out, so it was really great to be able to do it tonight.
