2021 NCAA WOMEN'S LACROSSE CHAMPIONSHIP

May 28, 2021

Meaghan Tyrrell

Syracuse Orange

Media Conference

Syracuse 21, Northwestern 13

Q. Can you just tell me, a season-high 21 goals against a team that hadn't lost all year, a team that's won seven National Championships. Where did this come from today? What were you feeling?

MEAGHAN TYRRELL: Northwestern was kind of one of the teams that we didn't get to see this season, so coming in we were definitely looking to prove a point to them because they came in the No. 2 seed, we came in the No. 3. We wanted to prove that we deserved to be the No. 2 seed, and I think as we've shown, we definitely did deserve that.

Q. What is it like playing with your sister, an opportunity for you guys to win a championship together?

MEAGHAN TYRRELL: I mean, that opportunity is obviously huge. Not a lot of people can say that they got to do it with their system and not a lot of people get to say that they can do it in general, so I think being able to do it with her has been something we've talked about as we've played throughout high school and throughout travel lacrosse. Having the chance to actually make it a reality is awesome.

Q. Can you take me inside that locker room, what the emotions have been like over these last five to ten minutes and now you kind of flip the script and look forward to playing BC for the fourth time?

MEAGHAN TYRRELL: Yeah, we definitely took a moment to celebrate it. Getting to play for a National Championship is huge. We took a second to celebrate our win, and then after those 10 minutes kind of it was, all right, on to the next, getting ready to play BC for the fourth time.

Q. Speaking of playing BC for the fourth time, you guys had a really close game in the ACC semifinals. I know you're just getting off of this one, but what do you guys kind of take from those three games, especially the most recent one, as you look to turn the page quickly into Sunday?

MEAGHAN TYRRELL: I mean, coming off of playing them four times we're pretty familiar with them and what they run and what they do. Kind of building off some mistakes we made with previous games and capitalizing on the things we did during those previous games is definitely going to be a game changer for us.

Q. Getting off to a hot start, how important was that against a team with than offense that can score early and often and not let up?

MEAGHAN TYRRELL: That was definitely huge for us to go on that run. We know that they're a high-scoring offense. They've been able to put up big numbers against a lot of teams this season, so limiting them especially on defense to only, I don't remember, 12 I think it was, but keeping their numbers low and letting us continue to move the ball on offense is awesome. We had defense making awesome stops, creating turnovers for us, which was so huge. It definitely changed the momentum.

Q. In this game a lot of young players like your system and Emma Ward also found a lot of success, but you still finished with eight points. Why do you think you had success today against that Northwestern defense?

MEAGHAN TYRRELL: Definitely with the way we were moving the ball, it created a lot of opportunity for us to slip through and make those cuts, which was huge for us to keep our feet moving, make those passes crisp, so definitely the fact that we kept moving, their defense was sliding a certain way, so we were able to find those little holes to cut through and pass through.

Q. You had five goals today against statistically one of the best lacrosse defenses we've seen in a long time. Go through what you were thinking during this game. This team doesn't give up that many goals but you still had a career high and a career day.

MEAGHAN TYRRELL: I guess it was kind of like we're so close to the National Championship game, give everything you can for 60 minutes that you're guaranteed to have the next 60 minutes. So kind of leaving everything out on the field was kind of my mindset and the whole team's mindset as we went through this game, and that obviously showed for us.

Q. What are your thoughts on Asa and the rest of the defense's performance today, particularly in the first half?

MEAGHAN TYRRELL: Oh, in the first half they were lights out. Asa was making amazing saves. Our defense was creating turnovers left and right. I think they definitely frazzled the Northwestern offense that they haven't really had that much frazzlement throughout their season, so having our defense kind of stun them was definitely a huge momentum shift for us on offense and definitely carried energy into our play.

Q. Before your fifth goal Northwestern had scored six of seven to cut your lead to three. What allowed them to go on that run in the second half and how important was that fifth goal you scored to get that final run going and kind of ice the game for you guys?

MEAGHAN TYRRELL: I think when they went on their run it was mostly just us making mental errors because we were causing turnovers on ourselves, so stuff like that, kind of the lack of focus, but then I think once we were able to lock back and be like, okay, we have to finish this game, that's when the turn came for us.