NCAA Regional Post-Game Quotes
3/27/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
March 27, 2004
Recap?|? Final Stats?|? Notes
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -
Head Coach Rick Comley
Opening Statement after the Spartans 5-0 loss to Minnesota-Duluth...
"I would like to say congratulations to Minnesota-Duluth. Again they were an outstanding team. I thought that we came out ok. We had a good week of practice. The kids were ready to play. This was a frustrating weekend. They get one tip goal and they exploded. The second period, they were a very polished team. They came out and they scored. Our inability to be effective offensively has been evident all year. At times we get a goal and at times we didn't. I thought that Duluth was a really, really good team and I thought that they were deserving of what they had today."
Junior Captain Jim Slater
On the Spartans second period breakdown...
"They put the heat on us there in the second. We really couldn't control it. They got four goals in the second period. It was a tough period for us. I thought that we played well in the first 10 minutes. I blame myself. You got to get a goal to play a hockey game. You have to score goals to win games. They buried their chances and we didn't.
Senior Defenseman Joe Markusen
On the final game of his Michigan State hockey career...
"I think that there could be some nerves involved tonight. It's tough. You don't want to lose the last game of the year like this. We are a better program than how we played tonight. It's tough to take a loss like this. It's tough to lose the last game of the year. It's kind of hitting me right now. Everything is done. The season is over. A lot of these guys have next year to look forward to. A lot of these guys are coming back. They have a lot of potential to be a great team. It's kind of hard for me to not be in that situation any more. I defiantly had a great four years here and I wouldn't trade that for anything."
Junior Forward Mike Lalonde
On the team's mentality throughout the game...
"I think that we came out pretty well in the first period and in the third period I saw some really good efforts out of our team. But the second period we slacked off a bit and we just couldn't get it done. We couldn't hold them off and they just showed their offense. They did a great job and we credit them for coming out like that. They came out pretty hard. We had a few letdowns now here and there. But I think that overall, when you get a couple goals against you, it's just tough to come back. The ball just sort of rolled downhill right from there. We did a good job to come back and have a good sound third period. That's just all that we asked of ourselves after the ball started rolling for them. We just put our best foot forward and I that our team did that. They showed a lot of character out there."
On what the Spartans can take away from their loss...
"We are going to learn from this and we will be a better team because of it. Everybody will be a year older and a year wiser. We are going to work in the off-season to try and get back here and make some noise."
Freshman Defenseman A.J. Thelen
On what went wrong for the Spartans...
"A bunch of little things went wrong in the second period. We didn't have our legs. They had some good goals, but I think that they were just getting some bounces too. They had some jump and have a really good transition game that I think was a factor. Just some of the goals they had, they just put them in at the right time and kind of deflated us. Some of the penalties that we took didn't really help. Overall, I think that they just worked harder. They played really good 'D'. It didn't seem like much at all like we were in their zone and if we were then the puck was in their corner. They would pretty much just break out from there. I think that we could have worked harder, maybe played a little better but that's just how the ball rolls."
On the success of the season...
"It's a great accomplishment to make it into the final 16 teams. We weren't sure if we were going to make it in but we told ourselves that if we did, that we could come in and do our best. It's a big accomplishment for us. We made strides over the year and this is just one big letdown. Like coach said, we just have to train real hard in the off-season and figure out ways to make our team better."
Freshman Goaltender Dominic Vicari
On the outcome of the game...
"They had a couple of good bounces that went their way. They just seemed to throw me off my game and that does it some nights. The first period went pretty well. I thought that we outplayed them. They got a lucky tip goal to make it 1-0. But we came out kind of dead in the second. We only got two or three shots, and you can't score many goals with two or three shots."
On what the Spartans can take away from their loss...
"You just have to go back on the bus and let it hit you a little bit and then you just forget about it. There is nothing that you can do. You just have to go out and get ready for next season. Take a week or two off and then get right back at it. We got a little bitter taste in our mouth and hopefully next year we have a better showing.
