Post-Game Quotes
September 04, 2004 | Women's Soccer
NCAA Women's Soccer
Husky Soccer Field; Seattle, Wash.
Friday, Sept. 3, 2004
POST-GAME QUOTES (Washington 2, Tennessee 1)
WASHINGTON HEAD COACH LESLE GALLIMORE
On opening the season with three straight wins over ranked teams:
"I am just really proud of our team, because I think that it was really tough mentally to come out after last week. Look at what we did last week and now the team ranked eighth in the country is ready for us. Clearly, they were a quality opponent with so much speed, so much skill and so much talent. They were a very dangerous team on goal and I think that our team did a tremendous job of sticking to our game plan defensively. I was happy today that we could score first and just keep battling and not ever put our heads down. We ran out the clock really well and made some smart decisions late in the game."
On the great play of the UW reserves:
"Shannon Dillon and Colby Branham both came on and served their purpose. We get Colby in their to hold the ball for us and to keep things the same or make them better. Shannon got herself open and almost got a goal. She ran down people defensively and that is what has to happen from your bench and you are just so happy when you get it. We have a lot of kids that haven't played yet that are quality players and we are hoping they will get a chance here in the next couple of weeks as we move to our season away from home. I couldn't ask for a better start and we are going to try and get better at the things that we need to improve upon."
On the play of the upperclassmen who have done all of the scoring this season:
"I think that our seniors have bought into the fact that we need our younger players to be successful. They are making them feel more and more comfortable every game and they also know that they are the experienced players and they have to carry the team on their shoulders. I couldn't be more proud of them, you look at our midfield and Cassie (Giles), Nikki (Gamble) and Kelley (Schweighart) have all scored already. To get goals out of your midfield means that it takes the pressure off of Kim (Taylor) and Tina (Frimpong). To have Clare (Rustad) playing without Nicole (Martinez) next to her is huge and it is really her first season playing back there for us. She looks like a veteran. Smitty (Kelli Smith), overcoming her injury and hanging in there when her fitness isn't quite what it should be, but she had another solid game. It has been impressive how this group has got along and I am hopeful that we will continue to play well. People are going to be more and more prepared to play against us as we go forward and we have to deal with that.
