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NCAA Tournament First Round Quotes

Nov. 13, 2009

Recap | Final Stats

Postgame Quotes
Madison, Wis. - Nov. 13
UCF 3, UW-Milwaukee 0

Head Coach Amanda Cromwell
On the tale of two halves...
"Getting used to the field in the first half was hard. But the first-half goal was a typical Courtney Whidden goal, she just cleaned up the mess. But I thought we had to make adjustments on defense, and adjusted our formation a little bit to try to get more possession in the second half. And even against a strong wind in the second half we had some good possessions."

On the second half goals...
"The second goal was just a big-time goal with Courtney finishing it from Becca Thomas and Yvonne George. And Alex Brandt showed great composure by a rookie on the third goal. But Whidden is just a goal scorer. That's what she's been doing in her whole career."

On the play of UW-Milwaukee...
"That No. 10 for them up top is a good player. She's a handful. They are a very good team and we dodged bullets for sure. I don't think the score shows how competitive this game was."

On Aline Reis...
"Honestly in the first half she made a mistake by coming out on a chance and we told her to just let her defenders defend. Aline was then patient and made some great saves, and that's why she's an All-American."

Senior Forward Courtney Whidden
On the offense finding a rhythm...
"I think getting used to the field was really important in the first half. That ball bounces everywhere. Our touches would have been perfect in Orlando and it was difficult here. So we had to learn the new balls and the new field. And getting up 1-0 in the first half was key, and our offense really started going in the second half. Things really clicked for us. We were winning balls, winning tackles and scoring goals."

On the seniors wanting to the season to continue...
"As seniors we know it's do or die. This was not going to be my last game. And I don't want Sunday to be my last game. Going into it with that mentality helps us bring it to another level."

Sophomore Goalkeeper Aline Reis
On making seven saves in chilly conditions...
"It was different out there and if we would have made excuses about things (like the weather and the hard surface) we would have had trouble. But we know we can play in snow or in 100 degrees. We have one goal in mind, and that's winning. Even if we have to go around the country. And although I had seven saves, it was team effort. We all worked well and my defense was great. We didn't play our best but we will work on that."

On UCF's first-half struggles...
"The other team got confident and started attacking, but the only thing I thought about was keeping the shutout. And when we scored first, they started feeling their legs and feeling tired."