CINDY TIMCHAL: Gosh, you know, was a heck of a game tonight. I guess we kept the people in the stands. And certainly very proud of our Navy women's lacrosse program. We fought to the end, came up short. And we give credit to the really tough BC team we played tonight and wish them all the best moving forward to the national championship.
This team plays with a lot of heart. All I can say is we're just very proud of our program, all the players that competed tonight on the field, they really put it on the line.
Q. Kelly, you guys had the 8-4 lead; what changed during the end of the first half and the beginning of the second half in your opinion?
INGRID BOYUM: I guess you could just say that coming off the half, Boston College was hungry for it. You know, going into half time being down by 3 isn't exactly a place where you want to be. I think they just came off the first draw super hungry, and Boston College is a great team. We fought really hard until the end, it's just sometimes your hardest fight isn't enough. A credit to Boston College. They played an absolutely amazing game.
Sometimes things just don't go your way, but we have next year to come back, so I know we're going to be coming back next year and fight for another one.
Q. What was it in the first half that allowed you to kind of dictate the pace against Boston College and be able to jump out to that lead heading into the half?
CINDY TIMCHAL: You know, a lot of it was draw controls, they were getting a lot of draw controls, ground balls, and that was critical. We knew that. And similar to what Kelly said, it was a matter in the second half where they were winning some of the draws. Yeah, we did great in the first half. We know that.
Just like last week when we beat Carolina that we went on a 6-100 at the end, Boston College got their little run at the end with five goals. We had to really dig down deep to come up with those draws at the end to put us in a position to tie the game and perhaps win it or go into overtime. It was a game of draw controls, and that's where I think going into the second half we came up short in that end, especially in the beginning of the second half.
KELLY LARKIN: Something we like to do as a team is take it five minutes at a time. And I think especially in the first half we did a really good job of bringing it back in, staying focused and going for the next five versus tackling the whole half, which allowed us to play our game.
Q. Kelly, does this sting a little bit more knowing you guys had pulled within one, that you had 70 seconds left and then you don't get another possession to possibly tie it at the end?
KELLY LARKIN: Yeah, of course. It's definitely tough losing a closer game where you know that it was right at your fingertips and you kind of let it slip away from you. Definitely tough. Obviously if it had been less of a close game -- I think just to the end, we knew that we had to fight, and I think that we really did. And I'm so fortunate to be a part of a team with a group of girls that are willing to fight so hard, even to the very end.
So it definitely stings a little bit more, but I think that's hopefully going to give us a good drive going into next year. We don't want to let this feeling -- we don't want this to happen to us again. Although it definitely really stinks right now, I think next year it'll give us a little pep in our step from the very start, from fall, we'll want to get after it.
Q. Obviously you're both coming back, which is amazing knowing the talent you guys bring back, but there have been so many people who have done great things at Navy: your coach sitting beside you building this program, and some of them were in the stands there cheering you guys on. What does it mean to have those alumni there and those fans there cheering for this program that has grown to quickly become a national powerhouse?
KELLY LARKIN: I think one of the things even coming into the academy is I'm only a freshman, I heard -- everyone will tell you how close a bond you make with the people you go to school with here. You leave the school and graduate with lifelong friends. That was something that I wanted, to come in, and to be here as a freshman and to actually experience that firsthand and see that there are girls that are willing to fly from San Diego or Pensacola, Florida, all around the country just to come and support you guys and support us as a team, it's kind of unreal, I think.
INGRID BOYUM: Our alumni being there is so special, and it really means the absolute world to us. Those girls are not only sisters, they're mentors. They're out there doing what we're going to be doing in a few years, so we are just so thrilled that they are so supportive of us in this program.
KELLY LARKIN: Yeah, I think also another thing, our five seniors had to miss their graduation today, and it's probably a huge part of their life, their being commissioned as officers in the Navy and Marine Corps. So they did miss that, but back home at graduation I know they had a personal shout-out. Everyone at graduation attending was kind of in the loop of what was going on. So just to know that you have the support of your entire school I think is really, really cool and definitely gave us a step up going into this game.
Q. Coach, a minute ago obviously you had that talk with the referees. What were the referees telling you on that play and what were your thoughts about that?
CINDY TIMCHAL: Yeah, you know, I guess it was a push called. It was really confusing on our side. The call went against us, so that's how that worked out.
CINDY TIMCHAL: Yeah, it was really the draw controls had a lot to do with it. They seemed to be calling it just tight against us on the defensive end, gave us some eight meters and some things. Again, it's just the way it went today.
We thought we had some good defensive stops, but then they got the ball back, things like that. Again, things just weren't really going our way in that second half. You really have to -- any flow in the game, you just have to really -- someone has to step up and come up with a big play. We thought we had some of those big plays, but then in the end, like you said, we didn't have the ball a lot in the second half.
BC generated a lot of energy going to the cage, and in the end, though, like you said, we did probably -- we matched goals. We've played BC several times this year and last year, so we know how tough they are, and we've made great strides in competing with them in tonight's game.
Coming up short doesn't -- used to coming here and not coming up short. We came here to win a championship, and so I credit BC's really spectacular second half, and I also credit our team for fighting back until the end.
Q. Kelly Larkin's six goals. She's a freshman. This is a very big stage right now, and that kind of poise from a freshman, what did you think of her performance?
CINDY TIMCHAL: Yeah. She's played great this year. I know, as you know, being at the Naval Academy, being a freshman is a little bit tough, but that just made her a stronger player on the field. I didn't know she had six goals.
We just told the players to play hard today. Obviously if we had some more draws, I think the outcome would have been different. But with that said, we were the only team tonight -- we started three freshmen. I don't think BC played a freshman tonight. And we really had almost everyone back.
I guess what I'm trying to say is we expect freshmen at the Naval Academy to step up and play. We just don't want to wait for players to kind of figure it out. As a coach and as a staff, we kind of feel like if you're going to be on the team and on the field, you've figured it out. So yeah. She's played well. She played a solid game tonight.
Q. I'm sure you've been asked this many times, but kind of thinking back to when your team was down by one against Lehigh, kind of looking back, what are your thoughts on this entire run?
CINDY TIMCHAL: Oh, yeah. You know, competition, you know, it's very fragile. The difference between winning and losing, the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. Things were really going our way. We had to compete hard to come back and beat Lehigh, and you know, that really started our run, obviously.
And again, we were only focusing on the next game. We never thought of Loyola. Going up to Penn, we knew we were going to have our hands full and we came from behind there, pulled that out. And then we played UMass and then we went down to Carolina and came from behind to win that.
So just really speaks volumes of our players and their character and their spirit to want to compete until the very end. And as you know, watching lacrosse, just like basketball, it's just a game of flow and a little bit of runs, and this time we just came up a little short tonight.
Q. I'm sure you were asked this coming into it, but I can't let you walk away without asking about the coaching tree that you have here. I don't know if that's happened in any other Final Four where one coach coached all the other coaches that are there leading the other teams. What does it mean to you to see your former players here now leading teams, building teams like BC to their first Final Four weekend?
CINDY TIMCHAL: Yeah. I mean, they were wonderful lacrosse players for me, and you can tell by the spirit of the coaches that were competing tonight. They prepared their teams well.
Penn State really hit a red-hot Maryland team tonight, but Missy Doherty is an awesome coach. Acacia Walker has done unbelievable things with Boston College, incredible team, and in the ACC to now where they're playing for a national title. And of course, Cathy Nelson Reese and her leadership for the Maryland team.
So yeah, you know, I know the coaches will feel -- the players are out there. They're the ones that are competing. As coaches we try to coach it up and get them to play as hard and as well as humanly possible. So yeah, it's amazing. I don't know how this all happened, but things like this do happen. I'm proud of the players. Just wanted one for Navy women's lacrosse, though, tonight.