Nov. 24, 2002
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2002 NCAA FIELD HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP
TRAGER STADIUM
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
NOVEMBER 24, 2002
Wake Forest Coach Jennifer Averill
"I'm so incredibly thrilled for the kids, for the institution and
for my coaching staff. You dream about these moments. I really felt
coming into the tournament, that we had a championship team. However,
you have to respect your opponent and play your best. To come into the
tournament and play in the fashion that we did, it just seemed like
that
with every game we were successful with, the appetite was insatiable.
They just wanted more."
Heather Aughinbaugh, Forward
On her goal:
"I've been successful all season just cutting the field and taking
it. Coach told me in the beginning, take it, cut the circle. I saw an
opening, took a shot, it hit the post and went in. But at that point in
the game, I knew it wasn't enough. Continuing to attack was in all
our minds."
Penn State Coach Charlene Morett
"I thought that Wake Forest was very good. They showed a lot of
poise around the ball. They always had options around the ball. I
thought that their goalie played outstanding. They really deserve a
lot
of credit."
"On the other side, I felt that we really didn't get into our game
until the second half. It's tough to come back against a strong team
like Wake when you're down 2-0, but I was really proud of our effort.
We started to play our style of hockey that we're capable of playing
in the second half. I thought our seniors did an outstanding job,
showing leadership out there. We had a lot of opportunities inside the
25, that we just not set up and take care of the ball. But Wake is a
very, very strong team."
Kate Bender, Back
"The University of Louisville has been great, the whole experience of
playing here. We've never been able to a Final Four before and it's
just been awesome. The high of coming off of a win like when we beat
Old Dominion on Friday, but you have your site set on something from
the
beginning of the year, when you fall that short of it, it's kind of
hard to swallow."
"The one thing I noticed about Wake Forest is that they don't give
you mistakes to capitalize on. They don't make too mistakes out
there. That's a big part of field hockey, how you adjust off your
mistakes."