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NCAA MEN'S FROZEN FOUR

April 7, 2016

Tampa Bay, Florida

Quinnipiac - 3, Boston College - 2

MODERATOR: We welcome Boston College to the podium, joined by head coach Jerry York, Teddy Doherty, and Steve Santini.

Coach, an opening statement.

COACH YORK: I thought Quinnipiac played very well. Certainly a team worthy of playing for a National Championship Saturday night. So I thought they were hard. They were gritty. They got good goaltending. I think Rand has an excellent team there.

Having said that, I think our club, we started a bit slow tonight, down 2-0 early. And even though when it was 3-1, I thought we're built to come back, and we really played well I thought the third period. Got it to 3-2, and then with the goaltender pulled, I thought we had two really exceptional chances to score that the kid made unbelievable saves on. One was low to his pad on the left side, and then when Ian put all the wood on it, four, five seconds left, he made a terrific glove save in the top, and that sent us -- ended our season for us.

I thought our team was an excellent team, capable of winning the National Championship, as the three other teams here in the field. Go into it, there's no guarantees. But I like the effort our kids had after the slow start. I thought we battled hard and wore the uniform very proudly. So no regrets. We played hard. Just only regret is we're not staying over to play in the championship game.

Q. Both of you, can you try to explain why the team came out so poorly, almost looking like a team that had never been to the Frozen Four?
STEVE SANTINI: Well, I think on the big stage it's normal to be a little bit nervous. We had a lot of freshmen in the lineup. Not that that's an excuse. But, you know, if you're going to play a perfect game for 60 minutes, you're going to be the national champion. And only one team is going to do that.

So, you know, we knew coming in here we were going to have ups and downs. And unfortunately the slow start wasn't in our favor, but it happens. Could have happened in the second period and they could have scored two goals, too, but it just happened to be early in the game.

TEDDY DOHERTY: They just came out -- they just came out faster than us. There's no other way to explain it. Two goals in the first ten minutes, unacceptable. And ultimately cost the game. There's no other rhyme or reason about it. Heck of a team they have over there, though.

Q. Steve, you got a power play goal in the third period, but you were thwarted on your first four power play attempts. What did Quinnipiac penalty kill do that kind of had you frustrated?
STEVE SANTINI: I think they played within the structure well. They knew who our top guys were and what we were trying to do. So we've got to give a lot of credit to Quinnipiac. They played a great game. Like you mentioned, they did great in the penalty kill, and unfortunately ended our season, but that's hockey. We're going to be gracious in victory and defeat.

Q. Teddy, as captain of this team, can you characterize the team from a captain's perspective, looking back on this club?
TEDDY DOHERTY: Yeah. Such a fun club to be a part of. It's an honor to lead these guys as well as my assistant captains. It was a heck of a year. I think a lot of people underestimated us coming into this tournament just because we got knocked off by a Northeastern team.

I'm so proud to be Boston College hockey player and represent the school. I can't say enough how important that is to me and how special that is to me. So no regrets, like Coach said.

MODERATOR: Questions for Coach.

COACH YORK: I'm proud of the two guys leaving the stage. This is a difficult ending when you get to the Frozen Four and lose a game and five minutes later the guy's knocking on the door, hey, come on down and talk to a whole group of reporters. I thought they handled themselves very well. So it did not surprise me. But it's a very difficult process for those young guys.

Q. Their forecheck seemed to be getting there really quickly in the first period. Was there anything that they showed you that you didn't expect, or was it just, again, maybe going back to what he said about not having the start that you wanted?
COACH YORK: The first goal, we got a chance to look at it, the defense had the puck in the corner, and we went to make a fairly safe pass D to D, and the puck bounced on him. So it enabled them to get on that pass there, and he turned the puck over.

But just the way the puck bounced was funny. It was a fairly safe play and all of a sudden they're 1-0. And the second goal was similar. Both came off turnovers. Deep in our zone.

So we've got to give credit to Quinnipiac. They forced the turnover and they scored a goal. Scored two goals there.

Q. After that, what you just talked about, you guys seemed to bounce back. Second period you came out strong. What changed there in the first and second?
COACH YORK: I thought we got strong as the game went on. Teddy said, it's a 60-minute game. It could be in the second period you have ebb and flow of the game.

But I liked the way we rebounded. Like I said in my opening statement, even though it was 3-1, I thought we had the capability of coming back, and came within a fraction of our -- I mentioned to our team, maybe another minute there in the game we might have -- only played 60 minutes. And like I said, the kid made exceptional saves late in the game.

Q. This is kind of the same question I asked the players. But in particular in terms of that starting, the poor start and how Steve commented on how even though your program has been here so many times you still did have a lot of freshmen, how much was that a factor?
COACH YORK: I just think we're looking at too much what did BC do wrong. I think Quinnipiac played very, very well through the 60 minutes, but especially the early parts of the game. So let's give them credit. Sure, we would have liked to have had a better start. But they played very well in the beginning.

So it wasn't any one thing. I don't think it was -- I haven't asked our freshmen, but it is a big stage. And the bright lights here. So it's hard for young guys. But Quinnipiac responded very well from the start of the game. So I'm not looking what happened in the first five minutes of the game. They just made some good plays, and we turned the puck over, so...

Q. In the same vein, what did you see from Quinnipiac's penalty kill that was so effective in those first four power plays you had?
COACH YORK: I thought they were very aggressive. They tracked the puck well. Took away some of our passing lanes. So they did a nice job with the P.K.

MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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