Opening Comments
"From start to finish the girls played with great heart and determination to make sure that they had the win. For teams of this quality to go to penalty kicks is really unfortunate, but it's really the only way to determine often times between two great teams. I'm proud of my players. They were deserving of getting something from this game. It's just an unfortunate loss for us.
"I said all season long that we were as good as any team in the country. Talent-wise, effort-wise, athleticism-wise and discipline-wise we proved that today, and the way we played recently. There's no question that Stanford is a quality team, but California is also."
On deciding to switch goalkeepers for penalty kicks
"We practiced PKs all week to prepare for this. When you're in a group like we are with Santa Clara, Sacramento State and Stanford, there was a good possibility that two very talented teams would go to penalty kicks. In the run of the week, Rosie (Aguilera) showed herself to be very adept on penalty kicks, and we trusted her, just like we trust Gina (Pellegrini). I would still go with the same choice over and over again."
Cal Senior Defender Courtney Hooker
On defending Stanford's leading scorer Kelley O'Hara
"We did a good job of staying compact and organized. We believe in each other so much, and our backline is so talented from right to left. You look at the players in the back there, and I think that everybody played well today. Obviously she's a great player, but we did a good job containing her."
Cal Freshman Forward Alex Morgan
On her tying goal
"We pushed everyone up because we had two minutes left. And we were all kind of [going for it]."
"And with the PKs, Neil wanted to know who wanted to take PKs, and I'm always fine with PKs. It's not the best way to determine a winner, but I'm always up for a PK. But with the seniors leaving, I'm really going to miss them. Courtney Hooker is a big inspiration to me. Stephanie Wieger up front, she's had a lot of injuries like myself, freshman year, and she's still with it and is still a great player, coming out, battling. It's going to be hard to let go of all the seniors."
Cal Sophomore Goalkeeper Gina Pellegrini
On setting up the tying goal with a free kick
"I take a lot of free kicks closer to half field. But this one was different. I was just trying to hit it as far as I could so that someone could get a head on it. I had an assist against Santa Clara, but that was just a ball that was coming out on a corner. The goalkeeper is the first attacker, so anything I can do to get it up to our forwards. Alex was on the back end of it, and it was a great finish on her part."
