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NCAA MEN'S LACROSSE CHAMPIONSHIPSMay 23, 2015Jay CarlsonCasey IkedaMatt RamboJohn TillmanPHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA Maryland - 12 Johns Hopkins - 11 THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Maryland coach John Tillman, student‑athletes Casey Ikeda, Jay Carlson and Matt Rambo. Coach, an opening statement. COACH TILLMAN: First, I'd just like to congratulate Hopkins on an amazing year. Having been part of a team that's lost a player, there's nothing worse, and I would never wish that on anybody, just the emotions you go through. As I told our guys, I couldn't imagine if something bad happened to one of them how I would feel and how we would get through the season. So I think their staff and their team deserve a lot of credit. They were as hot as anybody and dealt with something that unless you've been there you don't understand. And I think that university should be really proud of that group. We feel very fortunate to get the win today. Certainly very proud of our team. Obviously coming back to Philly for a lot of our guys is really special. Casey and Matt, I knew what it meant to them. Those guys stepped up big for us today. I really felt like that when they got to 10‑10, we needed to be able to weather that storm and I thought Matt's goal was a big play there, to get us a little bit of the momentum back. And then it kind of calmed us down a little bit. But for us kind of a typical outcome. It's not pretty. We're not always clean, but the guys stuck together. They fought. And that's really a credit to those guys for what they've done to the beginning of the year until now they just stuck together and fought. I'm really proud of them. Q. Could you talk about your experience in the Final Four and what that meant. CASEY IKEDA: Having some experience in the Final Four definitely is an important thing. Coming in, you kind of know what to expect. You know how it's going to be with the short warm‑up and everything and it's tough to handle if it's your first time. So we have a little bit of experience and we were able to use that to our advantage, I guess. JAY CARLSON: A lot of our older guys have been to a couple of Final Fours so we do think we have the experience, and we know what it takes to win those tough games especially in front of a huge crowd. We also have a couple of younger guys on our team. So we'd like to be great leaders to them, kind of tell them what it's going to be like, have them know what it's going to be like. They might be a little scared and a little nervous of the limelight, but we just want to lead the way and if they follow our lead we'll be successful. MATT RAMBO: I mean, last year we had a lot of freshmen playing. So finally getting Final Four under our belt last year, this year we're more mature and I think we're ready to go more than we were last year. Q. For Casey and Matt, could you talk about what it's like to come back to Philadelphia and maybe some of the high school memories it brought back as far as competition? MATT RAMBO: I don't think during the game, I didn't have any memories about high school. I was more focused on the game and the next play going. So I wasn't really focused on memories that we had. I was just trying to make a new memory here with Maryland. CASEY IKEDA: Yeah, a lot like Matt said, we never had the opportunity to play in such an amazing venue in high school. So it was kind of a whole new experience for us. And we wanted to make a couple new memories for later. Q. Casey and Matt, being from Philadelphia, can you talk about what it means to make the title game on Lincoln Financial Field? MATT RAMBO: Ever since I was little, I've always been in the stands in the Final Four in Philadelphia every time it came here I was always in the stands. But it's finally a dream come true to come back here in the Final Four at Philly and the championship game, and all of our team worked so hard since August, every day almost, day in, day out, just blood, sweat and tears. So it's just amazing. It's like a dream come true to make a championship game. CASEY IKEDA: A lot like Matt, I mean, I've been to all the Final Fours especially when it was in Philadelphia and everything and just being able to play back at home in front of so many friends and family is just a huge honor. It feels amazing. Q. Can you talk about how you got to your spots today and how that momentum kind of carried you to two big goals in the end? MATT RAMBO: I would give all the credit to my other teammates around me on the offensive end there. They were creating opportunities for me to get open off the crease when I was popping off. So I would give all the credit to them and I was just finding spots and holes that I could just fill myself in. So I would give most of the credit to Bryan Cole, Joe LoCascio, some of the older guys like that just helping me out, just drawing doubles and letting me get open. Q. (Question off microphone)? MATT RAMBO: The one man‑up goal I thought I could just get under the guy real quick. He was taking the approach really high up. I thought if I could just dip under him, I would just slip the ball above his head. The game goes by so fast, you know, you just play off your reactions. You're not really thinking. You're playing what I've always been taught when I was little. Q. Could you talk about getting back in the Final Four after the championship drought? JAY CARLSON: It's great that a lot of these older guys have been to a couple Final Fours ‑‑ Casey has been to two championships, the senior class has been to one championship. And we hear from the alumni a lot. I speak to a lot of them on a daily basis and they really want to get a championship for us. It's been a long time since 1975, the last championship. So we're just worried about that day and just kind of getting better each day and just trying to play unselfish lacrosse and moving it, moving it and playing great defense and trying to get as many goals as possible. Q. What would it mean for you, Jay, growing up in Maryland, to win the whole thing, the national championship? JAY CARLSON: Growing up I definitely was a big Maryland fan, watching a lot of games. I've been a part of a lot of Hopkins/Maryland games. It's always fun to watch. It's definitely throw the record books out for that game, and it should be a very physical match. So it's definitely great to be part of one today, Hopkins played a great game, they're a very talented team. As I said earlier, just talking to all the alumni, they think it's been a long time, way too long since the last championship, so we're trying to bring the championship back down to College Park. Q. Jay, can you talk about the rebound goal you scored in the first half? JAY CARLSON: That's just something I've always done since I was younger, even if it's a ground ball, I'm going to hunt the ground ball, after a shot, I'm going to hunt the ball find those rebounds. And I know a lot of times other teams think it's a frustrating goal to give up, but it's always been still one of my favorites. It counts as much as a 15‑yard shot, so I'll take what I can get. THE MODERATOR: Questions for Coach. Q. What are your first impressions about Denver and what you saw? COACH TILLMAN: I watched the first half. I kind of watched them from afar. I have not really seen them a lot. Not a lot of common opponents that time of year. But very dynamic offense. Extremely well coached, when you have Matt Brown and Bill Tierney on your staff, you know they're going to be really well prepared. I know from the recruiting circuit they have some outstanding players. They don't beat themselves, and from the numbers I've seen, with Trevor Baptiste, he's been killing it. So they're getting a lot of possessions. They're very efficient offensively. You know the defensive group is going to be buttoned up, and you're going to have to win the game against them, because they're not going to beat themselves. Q. Any difficulty preparing for a team like Denver with only two days in between today and Monday? Is it different from like a five‑day approach? COACH TILLMAN: I'd be lying to you if I said it wasn't going to be a challenge. It's going to be tricky. I think part of managing Monday is how much can you get away from what you do. I think you've got to look at personnel, some trends, some patterns, and give them the knowns and not overload your kids. And then try to look at what you do, the things you do best, and try to figure out, if this is what they do, this is how we'll try to counter it, or this is how we'll defend it. On the other end, offensively, look at what they've done defensively, maybe some of their personnel, how we want to attack them. And then you really gotta factor in maybe some of your fatigue, too, and figure out how you do it. I think the Final Four weekend is really special. I think the only thing, from my experience, has been that quick turnaround, I'm not sure that the general public is getting the very best product we can provide, because you do have guys‑‑ and you saw it today‑‑ I mean these games are slugfests and the kids are shot. Certainly they're going to grind it out because they know what's at stake. But you get a week's rest and then you have the ability to get your guys fresh and fast, I think you'll get a cleaner game, a faster game, which is beneficial for our sport. Q.  How did Charlie come out of the game today, and second of all, talk about the genesis of this team the past three or four weeks, this year's loss to Johns Hopkins and Ohio State. COACH TILLMAN: Charlie, I did not see after. Charlie's tough because every time I ask him that question, he gives me the typical vague young guy answer, which includes, okay, not bad, pretty good, eh. And I have to start asking him for numbers, like 1 to 10, how do you feel. And so then you can give me a little better gauge because that's just Charlie. But I think he's okay. He got dinged up a couple times. He actually had a stomach problem during the game, which, all right, it's just par for the course for us. And then the second part of the question was just since the last time we played, well, I think at that time of year, what we saw was Charlie's value to us. We didn't play him for a few weeks. We knew we had to get him rested. We came out in that Hopkins game and really for three quarters they were very physical with him. I'm not being critical. They just made a decision to be physical. And I thought it was very beneficial for them. I think you play the game that you need to play to win. You do that in other sports. You knock the quarterback down a little bit. I think it is what it is. So what we had to decide in that fourth quarter was, all right, do we keep him in and let him continue to get pounded, or do we kind of shelf him and then try to give him a couple of weeks' rest. And that game really helped us, the last Hopkins game helped us get here, because we know how valuable Charlie is and we have a lot of confidence in Andrew Walsh Jon Garino. If we were going to try to get to Memorial Day, we weren't getting out there without a pretty healthy Charlie. And that's not a knock on other guys, but I think Charlie is pretty special. You don't get him very often. So we sat him out at Ohio State; they're a terrific team. Hopkins is a terrific team. So losing those games, you lost to a quarterfinalist and semifinalist. I don't think that's so bad. I think they're really good. And what we got was an opportunity. And Charlie kicked off some roughs against a really good Yale guy. He was hot in the fourth quarter. He was hot last week. And he was huge for us today. We win by a goal. He wins more than he loses and he throws in a goal. So we just had to do what we needed to do to give ourselves a chance. Didn't know it would work out, but I'm happy for him and our players that it did. Q. How do you address the elephant in the room, the 40‑year drought with your players? COACH TILLMAN: Our alums have been great about it. And we've really taken a healthy approach about. We have a lot of guys come back. We have a ton of guys come back over the last couple of weeks. And we know that it would be great for our alums, our school, our state. It's a pretty special place to coach, to know that in your state lacrosse is your official state sport. That's not lost on us. It's something that we tell recruits. Yet the message is pretty consistent: When alums come back, they're like, hey, we're pulling for you; we want you guys to win but we want you to win for you. Like, we had our time. We know what it would mean to us; but more importantly, this is your moment, this is your time. I read something somewhere that I was like six years old the last time we won the championship. I feel like I'm 106 years old now. But those kids, all they know is their experience here. We don't need to put any additional pressure on them. So we don't‑‑ we just talk about this is your time. Let's make the most of it. And I think that's a really healthy way of looking at it. When the guys who were part of your program are saying the same thing, I think it's great. I think it's really refreshing. We all want the same thing. But if you focus on the end result and not on the daily details and the process, you're never going to get there. So it's about, okay, let's have a good lift. Okay, let's run hard today. Let's work on fundamental shooting, scooping of the ball. If we can do that day after day, eventually we get better and eventually we put ourselves in a position to win. We just never look that far down the road. Sometimes it's hard with kids, but you've got to stay true to the process and the little details; and as much as they get frustrated with us, it's the only way to get them what they want. Q. I haven't seen that much of Denver this year, but the last couple of years it seems to be a run‑and‑gun style team. Today I was very surprised how disciplined they were. What kind of offense do you think you'll see on Monday? COACH TILLMAN: I gotta start the coffee brewing and it's going to be a long night. But kind of take a look. And I think they probably are dealing with some fatigue, too. Knowing Coach Tierney, if they get opportunities to run, they're going to run. If not, they'll probably get settled and get their pieces together and just execute their offense. And I think at this time of year you're trying to be opportunistic, but then you really have to be efficient with the things that you're doing and try to maximize each opportunity, get a good shot. And for us that's how we are. If we can get a good shot, two seconds in the possession, we'll do that 20 times in a row. If it takes us longer, we've got to be disciplined enough to wait for the best shot and not the first shot. When we've been at our worst, we rush and take the first shot. We did a little bit today. Kind of came back to bite us, but we also got some early offense today. I think our third or fourth goal was a transition goal, and that was really big for us. Q. Can you talk about how Rambo has been to get you to this point and as well the team to get you here? COACH TILLMAN: Yeah, for Matt, it's only fitting we get back to Philly and Matt plays so well. To say that the year with Matt has been interesting is probably an understatement. We wear a lot of hats as coaches. And my mom was a teacher. So I look at myself as an educator first. And I know Matt has gone through a lot of personal growth this year. And we've had our moments. I love the kid to death. And like any young guy, he's not perfect. And I've been as tough on him as any guy I've ever coached because I love him. I think we've kind of seen how some things have played out. I had to sit back and kind of let nature take its course on some things and some things have kind of come to the surface. And I think the result is kind of what we expected when we gathered some facts off the field. Yet, as I told him, in a lot of discussions, the standards for our program are going to be really high. And if guys don't want that, they need to go somewhere else. And we're pretty tough on them on the social issues. We're tough on them in school. If you're late to a tutor, you miss a class, like you're going to run. You're going to get up early. There's consequences. Because for us to get to where we want to get to, we've got to be a disciplined group. We've got to be a detail oriented group. We've got to be a group that's willing to make sacrifices for each other and do what the team needs, not what they need. And it's real easy when you're comfortable and it's an 8:00 class and it's cold and it's snowing to blow off that class and nobody will know. And like we told the kids day one, like the only way we can go where we want to go is if you're willing to get up and make some sacrifices for each other. Because man for man we know we're not the most talented team out there, but when you're involved in a team, like you don't need the most talent. You just need to be the best team you can be and all the intangible things and a lot of those things I learned at the Naval academy, there's a reason why those teams are really successful. They play hard for each other. They play for something bigger than themselves. They're disciplined. They're accountable. They play with heart. They're mentally tough. And you don't do those things overnight. It's a process all year and you constantly have to remind the guys that. But also you need to give them a hug. You need to tell them you love them. You need to relate with them. And I think one of the best things we did this year was go to California. We went to the Pacific Coast Shootout. Obviously I could be criticized for a number of things. Moving that game out of Maryland and taking it to California was not really my first thought. We went out there. The kids had so much fun. They saw me in a different light. They saw me in shorts, which is kind of embarrassing. They were having so much fun. We were there five minutes and I'm like you know what this is the best thing we ever could have done. And the kids got a break in the season. They went to the beach. They just joked around. And it just reminded us that, man, they are kids. Like, this is a long year. They need to have fun. We need to enjoy the moment. And they did a really good job that week in terms of the playing, but even if we had lost that game, it reminded us like, okay, we're going to work our butt off but we're going to have fun doing it. And I think our group just works better that way. So you're always kind of walking that needle to like having fun but then you're coming back to we can't get away from our core values. We've got to be disciplined. We've got to be smart. We've gotta do the little things and we can't cut corners. So this group has taught us a lot. And I think the fact that we trust them and they trust us is really helpful for us. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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