2021 NCAA WOMEN'S LACROSSE CHAMPIONSHIP

May 28, 2021

Emma Tyrrell

Syracuse Orange

Media Conference

Syracuse 21, Northwestern 13

Q. Can you take me inside that locker room and what it was like when that buzzer sounded, playing for your first national title since 2014?

EMMA TYRRELL: Honestly, it was definitely nerve-racking, but the excitement and the adrenaline going into it, I just knew we had it.

Q. Emma, can you describe kind of what got into you guys today? This is a Northwestern team that you hadn't beaten in the tournament, they were undefeated. They scored the first goal and then you guys came out and just whipped them. What was the mindset going in and where did that come from?

EMMA TYRRELL: Honestly, whenever a team -- first off, it's always exciting to play a new opponent, but when the first goal went in, it kind of just gave us all I feel like some fire underneath us and I felt like after that happened we wanted to score three or four more up on them, and that's exactly what happened.

Q. My question was just about your sister's impact but also your offensive success, why you think you were able to find so much success inside the eight-meter and against a Northwestern offense that only allowed 10 goals per game heading into the game?

EMMA TYRRELL: I think it's we are very close on the field and off the field and it's kind of like just playing with familiar people and it's always nice to be able to play with people that you bond well with, and that connection has had so much success, and it's been so much fun to play with them.

Q. What does this mean for the ACC, having two ACC schools in the final, because this conference is very good for lacrosse and people don't give the ACC any credit.

EMMA TYRRELL: Yeah, it's really exciting, honestly. I love a good ACC matchup, and that's what we've been dealing with all these teams this whole year. With everything that's happened, I think we're going to have a great shot at it, and I'm excited to play another ACC team.

Q. Talk about you guys getting to the final with your coach who's a legendary player there at Syracuse. He might have the opportunity to get his first title. What do you have to do to get that on Sunday for him so he can feel like he got something off his back?

EMMA TYRRELL: I really think we just have to go in with the mindset that we've been going in with. We've got to go in hard, play like we have been and just go in like a family.

Q. What was going on in those conversations after Northwestern's mini-run in the second half where they cut the lead to four, to three? What were you talking about after that?

EMMA TYRRELL: After that we were talking about playing how we always play. We were getting a little frazzled out there, and I really think we were able to stay composed and get control and just go again and just get a few more goals ahead of them and just keep the run going.

Q. There were a lot of fouls and a lot of Northwestern yellow cards. How does that kind of change the momentum of the game and how you guys play your game?

EMMA TYRRELL: It really -- whenever a team gets really aggressive, I feel like it makes our team just want it more because we just don't like when our teammates just get attacked and stuff. When that happens, we really just -- it really like encourages us to get back and just do everything we can to regret getting cards.