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NCAA MEN'S LACROSSE CHAMPIONSHIPMay 26, 2018Matt GaudetJackson MorrillBen ReevesAndy ShayBoston, Massachusetts Yale - 20, Albany - 11. ANDY SHAY: Just first off, congratulations to Albany for an incredible season, hard-fought game. You know, we squarely consider them probably our biggest rival out of league, and we have a ton of respect for how they play. We like to play like they play, and it was just a hard-fought game. They should hang their hat on a phenomenal season, and we know we beat an incredible opponent. Very proud of my guys for sticking to the details and grinding as much as they did today and sharing the ball and playing a great game. Q. Ben, you obviously draw a lot of attention from defenses, and Matt went off today, it's been other guys before. Do you think this game was sort of illustrative of the fact that you guys are more than a one-man show? BEN REEVES: Yeah, I mean, we have tons of talent on the offensive side of the ball. I think Jackson went three goals, five assists today, Gaudy had six goals. You've got to respect everybody on that side of the ball, and Joey Sessa, Jack Tigh,Lucas Cotler, John Daniggelis, the list goes on and on, Teddy Forst, all those guys make an impact and it makes it really easy for me. Q. Matt, what were you guys seeing kind of in the middle of the field and was it kind of the plan to attack from the middle of the field today just with the looks that you guys were able to get there early on and really throughout the first half? MATT GAUDET: I guess thankfully we've really talented midfielders who were able to draw attention away, and typically the slide is going to come from the crease, so their fills were actually very good today, but I think I was able to manipulate it well enough where I could just follow the slide, like Coach has always taught me, and just get behind my guy and get open for a couple easy lay-ups. Q. Matt, about Ben, he's kind of been known to be very good about passing his knowledge on and kind of bringing up some of the younger guys. How has he done that with you? MATT GAUDET: I think from day one when I got to school, Ben was really -- he was kind of very welcoming, and I think he saw a little bit of a future in me, so he trusted me a lot along with Jackson, and I think from day one, we've just really kind of built this chemistry where it's like, I'm going to trust you to do your thing, whereas they draw a lot of attention, and my goal is to be a finisher. So I think it works pretty well together. Q. Matt, there was a moment at the end of the game there where you kind of crouched over and were soaking it in. What was kind of going through your head there right when you came off the field and you and Ben embraced? MATT GAUDET: I mean, I was really dehydrated. I think that was the main key. I kind of tipped over and Ben saw me, and he kind of just picked me up, and I guess I've got to drink more for next game. Q. For all the players, just how did the coaching staff prepare you guys to not let the moment get to you? It's the biggest stage you guys have been on. How do you not let that affect you? JACKSON MORRILL: I think our coaching staff is incredible with that specifically. The main key is like we make practice so hard that a game like this can't ever get too big. The pressure we get, especially as offensive guys from our defensemen in practice is incredible, so you're always going to be prepared for a big game like this. BEN REEVES: I just want to tack on that we have the best coaching staff in the country. It's not even close. The things they do for us, I've told them multiple times I don't even understand it. When they make a game plan, I will be in the office listening to them talk and I have no idea what is going on. It's incredible and every guy on this team couldn't be more grateful for what they do for us. MATT GAUDET: I think the key was our coaches obviously put us in much tougher situations in practice, and I think it was just about not letting, I guess, the thrill of it all get to you. Obviously Gillette Stadium is an incredible facility, and it's just about using your reset, which is one thing our coaches have really taught us, no matter how bad or how good the play is, starting from square one and starting from scratch. Q. Andy, how did you kind of see the keys to those first 10, 12 minutes or so as you guys jumped out, get the first seven goals, really at both ends of the field because it seemed like both things were working really well. ANDY SHAY: Yeah, I thought we had the ball, which is part of it, and I think that's a big part of this game specifically when we play those guys. Their goalie, who we have a ton of respect for, we decided we needed to shoot as efficiently and as intelligently as possible, and it ended up being a rough day for him, unfortunately. He's a first-team All-American and he's a great player and a great kid, I'm sure, but I think that we were able to can our shots, and we were extremely efficient as a result. You know, in the first game, he had 19 saves, so we felt like we had the ball, we got volume, and we couldn't kind of solve him. We worked hard this week on solving him. You do that, you look at tape and you wonder if you tell your guys where to shoot or whatever. We did give them some hints, what we thought we could do, but ultimately they made plays and they were consistent and diligent and disciplined the whole day, so that's really what gave them opportunities. Q. Andy, what was your game plan for Connor Fields, just not knowing maybe what his effectiveness or ability would be? ANDY SHAY: Well, you know, first of all, for that kid to be out there at all is phenomenal, and I think that -- you know, for those of us that have had a knee injury, I've had a knee injury, the respect I have for him for finishing his senior year and leading that team to the Final Four, I've never seen anything like it. That's the first thing that I would have to mention. We were planned -- we had planned on a number of different match-ups with four of our defensemen on any of their attack men, and we kind of looked at the pecking order, we could put Chris Fake on him, we could put Chris Fake on one. We went as deep as to discuss some of our long sticks on those guys. We just felt like if we could do that, then we could up the tempo, we wouldn't have to use one guy the whole time, and Chris Fake is an athletic kid and he's a powerful kid and he can chase guys. That's kind of what we were thinking. But credit to Connor Fields, he still played a great game and played a tough game, and he's a competitor. But I think it ended up being a bit of a war of attrition that worked out in our favor. He wasn't matched on Chris the entire time, and that wasn't -- it's not like we switched the match-up, it was kind of by happenstance. But we were prepared to look at Chris on one, Jerry on five, Keating on either of them, Aidan Hynes, Will Weitzel, Robert Mooney. I think that anyway we stacked it, we were okay because we were going to kind of play a little bit of pressure and get on their hands, and the times we weren't on their hands, they got goals. We've got to work on that this week in practice. Q. Andy, from the second half of the second quarter, after they'd gotten within four I guess it was, you shut them out the rest of the day, and then they called that time-out and you score right after that. How energizing was that for you guys to get that combination -- ANDY SHAY: That was incredible. That was incredible. That was a little twist we put in this week on the ride and Coach Stimmel put in a plan that worked really well, and our guys executed and they trusted the moment, and it's a big deal when you can do that going into the half. We felt like that was a big help. Q. You mentioned Albany being your biggest out of conference rival. What does this game mean for the series going forward? ANDY SHAY: Well, I mean, they've gotten the better of us a few times, and it looks like we've got a two-game streak, and I'm sure we're going to -- it's going to be a knock-down drag-out again next year. Like I said, they're a team that we respect immensely, and we feel like they play the game open, and they play it the right way, and we try and do it, as well, and I think that's kind of the right thing to do. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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