	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

NCAA MEN'S LACROSSE CHAMPIONSHIP

May 28, 2017

Boston, Massachusetts

THE MODERATOR: First off, we have Ohio State head coach Nick Myers, Tre Leclaire, Jake Withers, and Eric Fannell. Coach, can you give us a quick comment about the game tomorrow and then we'll open it up to the players.

COACH MYERS: Yeah, it's like I said yesterday, hat's off to a tough Towson team. Just really impressed with their coach and what the staff did all year. Lot of respect for both coach and just his whole team. Tough, gritty group. I think there were a lot of similarities in the two programs in terms of the way we attack teams. So, yeah, just really proud of the way the men responded in the second half. I thought we came out, settled in, made the plays we need to. It shows a lot of poise and confidence in each other that the guys would do their jobs. We find a way to climb back in it, which we did.

As far as moving forward, we're looking forward to just the preparation and all that goes into what it's going to take to win one more game, and that's certainly already underway.

Q. For any of you guys, just the fact that you've been through this with Maryland as recently as three, three and a half weeks ago, how much does that help you guys having been through the 48-hour turnaround and getting ready for a team exactly like that?
TRE LECLAIRE: Yeah, we played them twice before, so I think both teams are going to be prepared for each other. We both know each other's tendencies. So I think it's going to be a great game on Monday, I think. We expect the best from them, and they're expecting the best from us.

JAKE WITHERS: Yeah, just kind of piggyback on what Tre said, we're familiar with them. But at the same time, they're really familiar with us. They're a great team. I think it's going to be a good game. There are going to be some storms. Coach always likes to mention that are always going to be storms in the weather. I think showed in the game yesterday if we don't panic and stay the course, things will turn out in our favor. So we're excited and it's going to be a good game.

Q. Jake, with facing off offense (indiscernible) what is going to be your key in the face-offs?
JAKE WITHERS: The thing about Maryland, they've got three pretty capable guys there. Coach Mattes does a great job with those guys, as you could see yesterday against Denver. So they give you a lot of different looks. I've just got to keep my composure as the game goes on, no matter who they throw at me. Henningsen, he's a great face-off guy, he's got quick hands. But Coach Bulken and other two guys are going to have a good day to day, sit down and watch some film. So I feel like in order to stick through with what we know, and you know the game plan, I think we'll be fine.

Q. Eric and Nick, if you could follow up on this. It feels like you guys have taken a businesslike approach to pretty much everything that's faced you. How did you guys kind of settle on that approach to things, and how much do you feel like it's benefited you as you've gone through this season and especially this tournament?
ERIC FANNELL: Well, I think if we keep a business mentality, we keep our mentality straight throughout the whole game and throughout practice all week, and that when we come to the facilities we're always ready to compete and we're always ready to push each other to the limit, all of us, all of our players and coaches keep their mindsets right, so when we come to Saturday we know what to expect and it's not a different mentality. So as long as we keep the same business mentality all week, we're always locked in and dialled in.

COACH MYERS: I like to think that's just who we are. I think that maybe when we're seen on TV or in moments where we're seen, it looks businesslike, but we have fun too. These guys, you can tell. Myself included, there is time for that. There is time to be loose. We all like music. It's a group that typically has tunes on, maybe some arguing over what we're playing. But I just think the balance.

The one thing I love about this opportunity to have to coach and teach and just interact with incredible young men like I have here on my right. You take this opportunity to truly feel like you have a chance, as I did when I was in college, to help guys grow in some way. Having a good understanding of when it's time to focus and take care of your business, and what's being asked of you, and when it's time to enjoy each other. I think that's the key balance. I think these teams and these leaders have done a nice job of being able to do that.

Jake here is one of our captains and he's probably as important as anybody in setting that tone of, hey, listen, it's time to go to work. And we can joke around and have a little fun. So that's been something I've been impressed with in terms of the way these men have been able to balance that.

Q. Eric, there is a saying, familiarity breeds contempt. This is the third time you're seeing Maryland. Do you think that applies?
COACH MYERS: What was the word?

Q. Familiarity breeds contempt. After seeing each other a number of times?
COACH MYERS: I can tell you how it felt in the locker room after that Big Ten game. If anything, it was a challenge as a coach to get the spirits turned around quickly when we saw our names come up on Selection Sunday. I feel like these guys are about to play right now at 11 o'clock, if you ask them, they're ready to go. At the end of the day we felt like we ran out of time. We have a ton of respect for Maryland. That team, that was a heavyweight slugfest that you saw in the Big Ten championship. You watched our senior staff come in at halftime. We kind of looked at each other, and both felt like we were going at each other really well. I think it's exciting for the Big Ten. It's exciting for Big Ten Lacrosse. We felt that night, we looked at each other and without knowing how this was going to turn out, hey, we're going to see these guys again if we take care of business. Having that much confidence in ourselves and having that kind of respect for them.

So, no. I think we just know that they bring out the best in us. You have to play your best Lacrosse if you want to try to go out there and beat Maryland. I think that that, more than contempt, is what it brings out. Jake knows that, Tre knows that, Eric knows that. That's what's exciting. We know it's about us. We're chasing our best offense, and for us to accomplish the ultimate goal, we'll have to do that. I think Maryland's going to bring that out in us.

ERIC FANNELL: I'm excited to play Maryland again. The whole team is excited to play Maryland again. They're a very, very good team, as Coach Myers said. We have a lot of respect for them. And every time we play them, we play to our best ability and so do they. Big Ten match-up again. Grudge match, we couldn't be more thrilled to play Maryland again, especially on the biggest stage of NCAA Lacrosse.

Q. For all the guys, this is obviously a point where the Ohio State program has not been before, and I'd just like each of you to tell me what kind of convinced you that if you went to Ohio State and played Lacrosse at Ohio State, you'd get to this point and play for a National Championship? What was the selling point?
TRE LECLAIRE: Yeah, the getting recruited to Ohio State was an honor for me. I knew we had a great program and the guys coming in, and the seniors were great too. Being on this big stage, I think we're ready. I think Ohio State has been overlooked in the past, being not able to make it to this stage.

Yeah, I think we're just ready to perform tomorrow and hopefully get the win.

JAKE WITHERS: For me, the first time I spoke to Coach Myers on the phone, he had never seen me play. Just the passion that I could tell he had for not only the Ohio State Buckeyes, but just the sport of Lacrosse in general, it's something that's very rare. You know what I mean?

If the guy that leads you every day into battle, if that passion's not there, I don't think you could really achieve much. It's a really special feeling knowing that the guy that you know is teaching you and leading you into battle every day is that passionate about the sport that you also share that same love for that you can do some special things.

We came a long way since my freshman year four years ago, and we've stumbled and we've made some steps. I feel like this year, you know, the progression that we've made to championship weekend is a culmination of all those things together, you know what I mean. And all the ups and downs that we've experienced together, and at the end of the day it really comes back to the foundation of 60, 70 years of Buckeye Lacrosse that has gotten us to this pinnacle.

With that said, we're not done. Although we made a championship weekend and championship game, we want to make history and be the first Buckeye Lacrosse team to bring the trophy back to Columbus.

ERIC FANNELL: My thoughts are the same as Jake. When I spoke to Coach Myers, his passion, his pursuit of excellence is what really brought me here. Listening to him speak about how we were going to succeed, even though they've never succeeded before, I was like I want to follow this guy into battle. He sounds like an amazing guy, an amazing coach. He's never seen me play either just like Jake, so when I heard him speak, it was like this is where I need to be. This is where I want to be. I know with a leader like that, it's only time that we make it.

Q. Based on what you saw from Denver defensively you were able to limit Matt. Is there anything that you take from that to apply to tomorrow's game?
COACH MYERS: You said No. 1 from Maryland?

Q. (Inaudible)?
COACH MYERS: He's a dynamic player, no doubt about that. But they're going to have five of their top six players drafted in the draft in about 30 minutes. So I think you can focus on one guy too much. They play a good team offense. We don't get too much match-up driven. There are keys, certainly. They do a really good job keeping you unsettled in that early offense phase. A lot of that is predicated on whether or not we can control the action or limit turnovers on the offensive end. I think the first key to containing No. 1 is not allowing him to be in those unsettled early offensive areas where he's really good.

He's also gotten excellent at the back-end possessions. He's just a guy that you give the ball to and create a little offense. So we'll have to defend him with 7, like you talked about, and that means sending help when we need to and supporting him. At the same time, if you get too focused on one guy, I thought yesterday the compliment from Maryland would be that maybe 1, as good a day as he had, you look around and there were some other guys that chipped in yesterday.

So they've got a good front six. As good a front six as there is in Lacrosse. We feel strongly about ours, and I think you're going to see a collision tomorrow as you did in the first couple games.

Q. Nick, have you talked to Urban Meyer and Thad Matta about their experiences in big games like this?
COACH MYERS: Yeah, both are incredible leaders. I think one of the things that's very humbling as a young professional, if you will, at Ohio State, is the fraternity that we have. Your phone, social media, you see tweets after wins from coach and other athletes support each other. Tom Ryan, our wrestling coach, our rowing program, they're right there right now going for another National Championship. It's been amazing. You highlight it too, but I think it's important, there are 36 sports at Ohio State, and just an incredible family. It's very humbling. These guys will tell you. When you see a National Championship coming home in volleyball again, and you look around and see Big Ten Championships, you want a piece of that. You say, hey, why can't that be us?

That was one of the conversations we had this year. Wait a second here, look at wrestling. They had never done it before. Look at volleyball, they hadn't done it before. Why can't that be us and what are they doing? So I thinks having those conversations. Having those specific coaches come speak to our men. Talk to them about the culture changes they made to take that next step.

I think that was eye opening, because those are the same athletes that go through the same processes that these men do every day. They eat at the same place, they go to the same training center, they use the same facilities, and I think when you look at it that way, you stop worrying about the other areas of Lacrosse and stop thinking about what everyone's talking about and just focus on you.

That's been our theme all year. Hey, let's chase our best stuff, and we feel like the biggest opponent we face is ourselves. At the end of the day, that's really been kind of our mantra this year in terms of developing a championship team. Yes, our facility is 20 yards from football. So we're very fortunate. Coach Marotti probably has the biggest impact on us. We're in the football weight room two or three days a week. He's been kind enough to let us borrow the indoor more than usual the last two weeks. So it's been a real positive there in terms of that relationship.

Q. This moment being championship Monday and perspective for your whole career being at springfield and graduating from there to being an assistant at Butler, and being under Coach Joe Breschi who won a National Championship last year and then to now leading these guys to their first ever National Championship?
COACH MYERS: Again, I said this last weekend, I'm just not really there in terms of the reflection. I'm being straight up. I'm really not wanting to talk much more. We just want to win. We want to win tomorrow. I'm really thankful to have this opportunity up here with these guys, and this is their shot. Jake's not coming back next year. Eric's not coming back next year. So last thing we want to sit up here and talk about is Coach Myers. We want to think about what we need to do tonight, to beat Maryland tomorrow, what's pretty obvious has been the best team in the country, the Big Ten champions.

We're coming into this with an underdog mentality. We get that. We embrace that. We've embraced that all year from the first pole that came out at 22. So I can assure you, that is 100% of where our mindset is at right now. I'm hoping we're having this conversation and I can give you a much better answer tomorrow around 3:30, 4 o'clock.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297