Nov. 17, 2000

Following the 4-1 semifinal win over the Terrapins on Friday evening, UNC head coach Karen Shelton, sophomore midfielder Meredith Tran and sophomore goalkeeper Amy Tran participated in a postgame press conference. Following are some of their thoughts:

Shelton on the game: "I was proud of our kids for hanging tough and having the ability to come from behind. The game many times come down to corners execution and that was the case tonight. I'm just proud of the girls, the outstanding senior leadership we had and the outstanding play of our goalkeeper, Amy Tran. And Meredith Keller here, who matched her season total for goals in one game."

Shelton on the UNC defense containing Maryland's offense: I think we have an outstanding defense and I think we've proven that all year. Last time we played Maryland, they outplayed us somewhat in the field but our defense hung on and we were the only team this season to shut them out.

I credit the outstanding play of Amy Tran, Abby Martin, Jana Toepel-sometimes people wonder why we have her back there at right back instead of at a more central position, but she's such a strong defender-Erin Cox. I thought Maryland-native Susan Hayes was brilliant today. She brought us some spark and inspiration during that 25-minute period when we were struggling early in the game.

Shelton on Old Dominion, which UNC will face in Sunday's final: "They are outstanding. Every year when we get ready to play Old Dominion, I talk to my team about how you play them because they're the benchmark. They're the team that we always measure ourselves against. For us it's a dream championship. We love to play them and they tend to bring out the best in us.

Certainly this year they're as good if not better than ever. Marina DiGiacomo is incredible and it's very difficult to stop her. I don't know that we can, but hopefully we can limit her. They're going to be tough on their home field-there's no question about that. They played a magnificent game today. We have our work cut out for us.

On first half, when Maryland led 1-0:

Tran: "I think they came out strong, but I know our offense is so good that defense can allow one or two goals and offense can score three or four. We showed that today."

Keller: "There definitely was some anxiety on my end, but we've been in that situation a number of times this year and have managed to pull it out a number of times. I think our team is good at clearing our minds and staying on track.

Tran: "Our coaches always talk about how each team has a phase of the game and Maryland had their phase in the beginning, then we stepped up and had ours."

On focus it takes to play against an offense like Maryland's:

Tran: "You have to keep yourself in the game, keep the defense in the game, watch the ball and have fun out there. That's all it takes."

Shelton: "When Amy gets pressure early in that game that's when she's at her best and that's what happened today."