OK, maybe that was a stretch, but this much is certain: I've never seen a more sloppy, inconsistent, shaky, lopsided than one-sided than back again lacrosse game that somehow ended up as an instant classic in my life. You can thank a stirring fourth quarter of lacrosse on Fairfield's end for that one.
“I don’t know if it is maturation, but I think that it is fight. They haven’t shown any quit in them, which is a positive. Now the negative is that we’ve put ourselves in a position where we’ve had to scramble to win ballgames, and I think sooner or later if we’re not careful it is going to come back and nip us in the tail. So we need to go out and start much better than we have shown recently.”
On the takeaways from the Vermont game regarding execution
“I think anytime you go into a game you have to execute the game plans. I think communication is critical. I think execution is critical. And I think having a workman-like attitude is critical. And I think we’ve shown a few of those qualities and characteristics, but we haven’t yet shown the ability to put it all together.”
On the team’s short week and upcoming game against Georgetown
“I think we treat it fairly similar. Obviously we understand the importance of a conference game and the importance of playing a team like Georgetown, who has as much talent as anybody in the country. But I think we’re going to stay the course. I don’t think we’ll do anything too out of the ordinary.”
On the Fairfield’s ‘Control our own destiny’ rallying cry
“That’s been the them of the last couple of weeks. We’ve started off strong and put ourselves in a position that is pretty powerful. Now we just need to go ahead and stay the course and answer opportunities when they present themselves. Next thing is next, and that is Georgetown on Saturday.”
Senior Defenseman Matt Petre and Billy Honovich
On whether today’s second half comeback (against Vermont) is a sign of maturation
MP: “Yeah, definitely. I shouldn’t really say definitely. We’re maturing in the sense that every game we come out we are fighting hard and we’re giving it all we go. But, maturing in the sense that we’re not executing and following the gameplan and doing the little things right… we’re too sloppy. I mean, we’re coming out of a sloppy game and coming out on top. But in a few of these upcoming games, that’s not going to work.
BH: “In these past few games we’ve kind of steered away from the game plan in the beginning that has hurt us and put us in a hole. But, like Matt said, the fight and the will to win has helped us escape with wins”
On the third-quarter letdown
BH: “Well I know they won a couple of key face-offs, and we were man-down a couple of times, which is always a momentum-killer or a momentum-shifter. We just couldn’t get it going on offense and it kind of reflected on defense.”
MP: “A lot of mistakes were mental mistakes. Whether it was an in game adjustment that we didn’t execute. Two-slides, covering the crease, checking down sticks - it was just mental errors. We weren’t getting beat one-on-one too much, but as a team and team defense, mentally, we weren’t working together.”
On Esposito’s late third-quarter goal, Billy’s goal, and the momentum shift back to Fairfield
BH: “Oh, yeah. When ever you get a goal or a big faceoff or a big ground ball, it always kinds of leads to the next play or the next big play. We ended up getting those in the fourth quarter.”
MP: “Yeah, my man here with the big one.”
BH: “Matt scored on Saturday, so I couldn’t be the only one not scoring.”
MP: “Hopefully there’s some more to come
On expectations for this weekend’s game against Georgetown.
BH: “We’ve never beaten them. It’s always a team that I definitely want to beat, especially since, in our conference, we control our own destiny. It has to be the biggest game on our schedule right now.
MP: “Georgetown is a phenomenal team. They have a ton of talent. If we play like we have played in the past couple of games, we’re going to end up losing. So we really have to buckle down and execute mentally and finish. Hopefully we’ll come out on top this weekend.
As if 'The Mirror's' online coverage isn't enough, here's some post-game reactions from all the important players:
Head Coach Andy Copelan
On whether today’s second half comeback (against Vermont) is a sign of maturation“I don’t know if it is maturation, but I think that it is fight. They haven’t shown any quit in them, which is a positive. Now the negative is that we’ve put ourselves in a position where we’ve had to scramble to win ballgames, and I think sooner or later if we’re not careful it is going to come back and nip us in the tail. So we need to go out and start much better than we have shown recently.”
On the takeaways from the Vermont game regarding execution
“I think anytime you go into a game you have to execute the game plans. I think communication is critical. I think execution is critical. And I think having a workman-like attitude is critical. And I think we’ve shown a few of those qualities and characteristics, but we haven’t yet shown the ability to put it all together.”
On the team’s short week and upcoming game against Georgetown
“I think we treat it fairly similar. Obviously we understand the importance of a conference game and the importance of playing a team like Georgetown, who has as much talent as anybody in the country. But I think we’re going to stay the course. I don’t think we’ll do anything too out of the ordinary.”
On the Fairfield’s ‘Control our own destiny’ rallying cry
“That’s been the them of the last couple of weeks. We’ve started off strong and put ourselves in a position that is pretty powerful. Now we just need to go ahead and stay the course and answer opportunities when they present themselves. Next thing is next, and that is Georgetown on Saturday.”
Senior Defenseman Matt Petre and Billy Honovich
On whether today’s second half comeback (against Vermont) is a sign of maturation
MP: “Yeah, definitely. I shouldn’t really say definitely. We’re maturing in the sense that every game we come out we are fighting hard and we’re giving it all we go. But, maturing in the sense that we’re not executing and following the gameplan and doing the little things right… we’re too sloppy. I mean, we’re coming out of a sloppy game and coming out on top. But in a few of these upcoming games, that’s not going to work.
BH: “In these past few games we’ve kind of steered away from the game plan in the beginning that has hurt us and put us in a hole. But, like Matt said, the fight and the will to win has helped us escape with wins”
On the third-quarter letdown
BH: “Well I know they won a couple of key face-offs, and we were man-down a couple of times, which is always a momentum-killer or a momentum-shifter. We just couldn’t get it going on offense and it kind of reflected on defense.”
MP: “A lot of mistakes were mental mistakes. Whether it was an in game adjustment that we didn’t execute. Two-slides, covering the crease, checking down sticks - it was just mental errors. We weren’t getting beat one-on-one too much, but as a team and team defense, mentally, we weren’t working together.”
On Esposito’s late third-quarter goal, Billy’s goal, and the momentum shift back to Fairfield
BH: “Oh, yeah. When ever you get a goal or a big faceoff or a big ground ball, it always kinds of leads to the next play or the next big play. We ended up getting those in the fourth quarter.”
MP: “Yeah, my man here with the big one.”
BH: “Matt scored on Saturday, so I couldn’t be the only one not scoring.”
MP: “Hopefully there’s some more to come
On expectations for this weekend’s game against Georgetown.
BH: “We’ve never beaten them. It’s always a team that I definitely want to beat, especially since, in our conference, we control our own destiny. It has to be the biggest game on our schedule right now.
MP: “Georgetown is a phenomenal team. They have a ton of talent. If we play like we have played in the past couple of games, we’re going to end up losing. So we really have to buckle down and execute mentally and finish. Hopefully we’ll come out on top this weekend.
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