April 27, 2012

Recap |  Box Score

Cal head coach Ginger Miles

On Cal's second-half comeback
"I was thinking the entire time that this team won't give up or stop fighting. We've fought all season long. That's kind of our MO. We continued to fight and continued to battle. Unfortunately, we weren't able to close the gap."

On the differences between this game and the regular-season match vs. the Ducks in Oregon
"I think the other game up in Oregon had a lot of fouls. It was an ugly game. We came out here and played differently than we did back in February. I think we played better and they played better. Unfortunately, we just didn't get the result we wanted."

On not having the injured Megan Takacs, who scored five goals in the earlier game with the Ducks
"All season long we've worked really hard on sharing the ball on the attack, making sure we weren't a one-woman show, knowing that injuries happen. When Takacs hurt her knee, we knew the next person was going to have to step up, and that's the reason why we tried to have such a balanced attack. I don't think we ever thought about what if we had Takacs."

On Gaby Christman and Alexa Rozelle, Cal's top goalscorers today
"We were running Gaby around from defense to midfield. She was definitely somebody who was fearless on the attacking end and all over the field. I don't know that we expected her to score three goals today, but it was nice to see a freshman step up on a big stage like this. She's definitely capable of many great things to come.

"Alexa is someone who stepped up for us from day one. When Tara went down before our very first game, Alexa was one of the people we looked to to help us make up that scoring margin. I think she did an outstanding job today like she did all season long in putting the ball in the back of the net."

On the season
"It's been quite a roller-coaster ride. We've done a lot of really good things, and we've worked hard in improving certain facets of our game. I think we've a lot of success in certain areas, and there are definitely some places where we can still improve. Although we had a lot of close losses this year, for a lot of people, those were games that they didn't even expect us to be in. All the girls on our team know we're capable of winning games like that - those tight games. I think all season long our players have done a really good job of holding themselves accountable and not settling for less than their best. And we know that our best is as good any team in this conference."