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NCAA MEN'S LACROSSE CHAMPIONSHIP

May 26, 2019

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Merrimack - 16, Limestone - 8

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, guys. We're joined by Limestone head coach, J.B. Clarke, student-athletes Tyler Ponzio and Brian Huyghue. First we are going to take questions for the student-athletes. After that, we will dismiss the athletes to the locker room and open it up for Coach. First an opening statement from Coach.

J.B. CLARKE: One of my favorite things! This is a remarkable senior class. A year ago we were 11-8 didn't make the tournament, lost our conference championship, and really had some soul searching to do.

We leaned on these guys, the senior class, for a direction, where they wanted to take it, how they wanted to fix it, and it literally started a year ago and a few weeks. Personally I couldn't be prouder of this senior class. I know our school is very proud of this senior class. It's hard today as I just told them, to lose the last game because you lose sight of all the great things that you did. And you have to go through -- you know, losing like this is like grieving, right?

So you have to go through the processes, so we talked about the processes. They're gonna get mad; they're gonna get sad, they're gonna question things, but at the end I want to make sure they have a clear understanding of the impact they've had on the Limestone lacrosse program and really the community, the school as a whole. Hats off obviously to Merrimack. They were fabulous today.

We didn't play our best game, but a lot of that had to do with Merrimack. We're not used to losing face-offs like we did there. That's only happened to with us one other time, but when you give them double the possessions just off the face-offs, they're hard to defend.

It puts you in the hole right away. I thought for the most part I was pleased with the way our defense played, they just had to play it too much. We missed opportunities offensively that could have made it a different ball game, we just didn't cash in on those. Again, credit to them. Their goalie played terrific, especially early.

So overall, they're the best team in the country today, and my hat's off to them. Coach Morgan has done an awesome job with them. Some great players, and they played really well together.

Q. If you can elaborate on what Coach Clarke was saying from last year to this year and the way you bounced back. What was some of the action that you guys took to help lead this team back to this moment?
TYLER PONZIO: I think the biggest thing is we started to hold guys accountable. You know, our junior year that kind of fell apart. Guys weren't being held accountable for their actions. Over the summer, we made sure guys were sending videos of them working out, making sure everybody is on the same page. A big thing is, we trusted the process to get here. Every single day we came out to practice, we ran our mile on Mondays, and guys bought into what we wanted to do here, and I think that was a big reason for part of our success this year.

BRIAN HUYGHUE: In the fall of 2017 we kinda came back and came to collect stuff, came to collect our rings, came back for the party, and, you know, in the fall of 2018 we came back, and we wanted to work and we wanted to earn everything. That's something that Coach Clarke instilled in us, and the seniors kind of pushed on the younger guys, that we weren't here to just try to go far; we were here to earn everything.

Q. Coach, you guys were playing a team today that is able to look a lot toward the future in Merrimack with moving up to DI and maybe some of the urgency that comes with that. Was that something you sensed as a group and what you saw from them as an opponent in terms of they're looking ahead but focused on the moment today?
J.B. CLARKE: Not really. We didn't talk about it much. We've enjoyed beating Merrimack. It's been fun. So I'm going to miss that aspect of it. Coach Morgan is one of the coaches I really respect in our game, and I've created a relationship with him, although we go out and try to beat each other's brains in as competitors. I wish them all the best in Division I. We're losing a great program from Division II, so that doesn't make me happy.

We didn't talk much about it as a program. We didn't see it as, we've got to beat 'em on their way out or anything like that. I don't know if they used that as motivation to win it before they move on, but for us we didn't really focus on it that much.

Q. J.B., No. 6 on their team, he seemed like he was a central part of your game plan. What did you do to try to slow him down a little bit?
J.B. CLARKE: Well, he's gotta be; he's special. Quite frankly, with all due respect, I think the media might have got it wrong today. While Bertrand is phenomenal and he had a great day, he doesn't do that if that kid doesn't win 18 face-offs. They doubled us on face-offs, so they got that much more possessions.

That was a huge factor for us today. We knew it going in you have to limit the possessions for their offense to get it to No. 6. The other guys do such a good job of helping. It wasn't until real late where he started to split double teams and do all those things. He can get it started as well. He's unselfish, and I think that's what is the most devastating thing about him. He doesn't force it. He lets the game come to him. He's like a coach's dream that way.

But in my eyes, more impressive was the face-off kid, I'm sorry, I don't know his name. I will after this. He was phenomenal.

Q. Both teams had stretches of 15 minutes where you held each other scoreless, you having the second run there where you were able to string together four goals. Did you start getting nervous at all towards the end of that, that time ran out. You held them scoreless but you weren't able to get the margin closer than you did?
J.B. CLARKE: What were we able to get it to four there, in the second half? Three? And then we started to lose face-offs again. We had a couple of silly turnovers that were noncharacteristic of us. My biggest concern was were we going to get enough possessions. So it took so much for us to stop them at the defensive end, it was almost like super human for us to stop them.

So when we did, went down to the other end, threw it away, didn't score, whatever, it came back down. I saw us playing far too much defense for us to be able to sustain that for a long period of time. Obviously that's what happened.

Q. Coach, was there anything in particular that you were seeing from your guys' person, Dakota, that they were struggling out there techniquewise or anything that they were doing to you guys that was making it difficult?
J.B. CLARKE: No, really it was a matter for them -- I don't understand the face-off much. I try to stay away from those guys, because if you know face-off guys and goalies, they are a little off center. He was quicker to the whistle. They talk about the front of the whistle, so if the whistle is a second long, that kid was hitting the not front of the whistle and we were not, so he was getting a jump on us that way.

And No. 7 on the wings for them, I'm sorry I don't know his name. Seemed like he had about a dozen ground balls today. He was very, very good on the wing. Even when their kid didn't win it to himself, he was getting help on the wings, and that's an area that we are usually good at, and they were better than us there today as well, so it wasn't just in the middle, it wasn't just the face-off kid. That whole group did a really good job.

Q. Coach, the senior class is graduating but I think you have three or four of your top point scorers coming back, Jordan coming back as well. What does that make you think for next year?
J.B. CLARKE: Where is the tailgate and is there good food there? This group of seniors was so much fun to be around, I really haven't looked forward much. I did have a few times on the bus where I was like, holy cow we have four All-Americans and they're all underclassmen. This looks great. But when Tyler Ponzio and Brian Huyghue aren't going to be in the locker room -- I tell you, they might not have been the best players in the country, but no one played harder or did more for a program than those two guys.

Tyler Ponzio has been with us -- No. 28 has been with us since he was in eighth grade. In eighth grade he was diagnosed with cancer. He fought and beat cancer. He was in the locker room with us in '14 when we won the national championship. So he's been around us a long time. His brother was a captain for us. You talk about those "glue guys." And Brian Huyghue is just a quiet guy that you would follow anywhere. The talent is there. That doesn't always do it, as you know.

Guys like this do it more than the First Team All-Americans. We gotta find more of this. Then we have to worry less about the First Team All-Americans, you know? I hope that answers your question.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Coach.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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