Head Coach Jim Culhane:
On getting the first goal:
"Well, we got a bounce there. It's been frustrating scoring
goals for us as of late. To get the first one gives some confidence and gives
us some momentum in the game."
On penalties:
"The game is so intense, so much emotion, you want to play
as close as you can to the line. But yet the difference in the hockey game is
they scored four power-play goals. We can't take some of the penalties that we
did, especially the one's from behind. There's some big ones there and
obviously the one by Jordan [Collins] late in the hockey game there gives them
a five minute power play. They're very skilled and very dynamic and the game
comes down to their execution on the power play."
On Goaltender Riley Gill:
"He played fantastic. It's what we've all come to expect
from Riley."
On the overall effort:
"I really liked our teams effort, I thought our team's
effort was fantastic. A lot of the things we had prepared for all week long.
Again, the difference in the game is their execution on the power play.
Obviously some of the penalties we took, they become the difference in the
game. We can't take those."
"I thought we handled their speed pretty good. They're a
quick team but I don't think they're any quicker than any of the teams we've
played this year, Miami, Bemidji, Ferris State. The collegiate game now is what
you see with the pace of the game, good flow up and down the ice. I think you
saw that tonight. One of the strengths of their team is their team speed."
Senior Jared Katz:
On the first goal giving the team confidence:
"Especially for me. I haven't scored since against Ohio
State sometime last year. We did go two games without scoring a goal. However
it goes in I guess. I'm glad it went in."
"I think it kinda got the monkey off our back with that
goal. We've been working hard and everything, it just wasn't going in."
Sophomore Greg Squires:
On the power play goal:
"That was a great play by Clackson and JJ. Levy (Mike Levendusky) made a nice pass to Clackson, he made a nice play curling around
the boards. He might a nice pass to JJ in the middle of the ice and he faked
the shot and passed it. I got it and shot it on net. They did all the work, I
just kind of put the finishing touch on it."
"Yeah, it was a blind pass that JJ threw, but he knew where
I was going to be . We've been playing there for awhile, so we he kinda knew
where I was going to be and we feed off each other real well. He made that nice
pass, everyone thought he was going to shoot but he made that nice pass and I had
an open net. I really didn't do much."
Senior Tyler Ludwig:
On the overall effort:
"We played with a lot of energy tonight and we were using
our body well and hitting. We got a few nice shots off and goals. I think we
just gotta shoot the puck more tomorrow night and hopefully get some better
rebounds and pop some more goals."
"Every team in this conference is really fast, with good
size and they use theirs well. They got a lot of skill up front and even the
back end too. We kinda counteract that, try and take away their space as much
as we can and try to counter on poke-checks and stuff like that."