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WESTERN WASHINGTON

HEAD COACH Travis Connell

Opening Statement:

"Well, proud of our team. I felt like we gave a great account of ourselves today. Anytime you come back from two, two-goal deficits that we did that takes a ton of heart and character. I'm certainly not surprised when they do that because I've seen them do it many times, but I'm sure some of the fans saw it for the first time. We can be proud of the effort and the way and character that we approached this match with."

On what he saw from Grand Valley State:

"They're a talented team, let me tell you. Definitely the best team we played. We've really had our way with teams using our defensive pressure and there were times when we got to them but by far that's the team that dealt with our defensive pressure better than any other team that we've faced. They are very well coached, organized, technical, and able to keep the ball and spread us out and make us work. And they've got talented playmakers up top, too. Even their goalkeeper made a couple of huge saves when needed. So they're very complete team, well coached and so you can't open each half by giving them quick goals. That made the game really hard for us. They're a really great team."

On what his team did to get to them:

"We have to make the field as small as possible. When we're able to shrink the field and then cheat off of our marks to make plays that helped us a lot. It also helped us a lot when we transitioned on the defense quick. When we had a little lag in the transition they were able to get their head up and move the ball and cause problems. So when we were able to transition quick on the defense, keep the field small and then jump those passes, that's when we got more chances. And when we were able to keep the ball a little bit more in the second half that helped us a lot to create some chances."

On his senior class:

"This class has been a fantastic class. I don't know how much anyone knows about our program, but this is relatively new for us, Final Fours and even the NCAA Tournament, we made it a few years before a couple times, but when this class came in as freshmen, really a lot of that changed. They're talented, like Catherine (Miles) here, and Delanee (Nilles) and many of the others are very talented, but really they changed the culture of the team and they decided they were going to be winners. They do that in training, in the winter, they do that in the summer when no one's looking. They put into the work and they hold each other accountable and it helps a lot that they get along very well. And they're really fun to be around, so I can't say enough about the group, wonderful young women and they've left a legacy here at Western. Totally changed the culture and the expectations. They should be proud of what they've accomplished in their four years."

SENIOR Catherine Miles

On her career:

"It's been a great four years at Western. I came in as a freshman to a great group of girls and every year everything just kept getting better and better and better. We've made four NCAA appearances back-to-back with a great coach, great assistant coaches and I couldn't be happier with the four years I've had here with Western."

GRAND VALLEY STATE
HEAD COACH JEFF HOSLER

"We faced a really tough opponent in Western Washington. The really took us out of our rhythm. They were a very hard-working, physical team. We had a tough time making some adjustments."

"The key for us was the start of each half, capitalizing with three goals in the first 10 minutes of each period. That really set the tone and gave us more confidence. I'm happy our girls did a great job."

"For as complex as the game can be, it's the little things that we focus on. Our theme has been on being playmakers, making key plays in big moments."

"Because we had that confident start to the first half, I think that gave us the right mindset to go out and do it again in the second half."

"With the success that our program has had, the girls know they're playing for something special. No player here has won three national championships. That's what they're competing for on Saturday."

JUNIOR KENDRA STAUFFER

"Each year is different. If we play for each other and play as a team, then we can go as far as we set our minds too. The girls are very focused, especially the seniors. We want to play great for them and each other."

JUNIOR JAYMA MARTIN

"I'm really excited to be able to chase this as a team. I'm excited to be a part of it."

"I've been doing what we talk about, every single day at practice. We're trying to keep our goal in mind the whole time. It's not about me, it's about all of us. Me doing my part helps us get to the next level.