Head Coach Paul Cairney
Opening Statement
"Obviously very excited for not just UNCW but our conference. Our conference is very strong this year. We had four teams make the (NCAA) tournament. It's a testament to the schedule we played that we can come play a really tough opponent in South Carolina and win on the road. I'm really proud of our team and really proud to represent UNCW."
 
On big first goal
"I think statistically scoring first increases your chance of winning by 60 to 70 percent, especially on the road. South Carolina doesn't give up many goals. They're incredibly stingy when it comes to goals.  I think they have only lost one game at home this year. I believe scoring the first goal really settled our nerves and it was a fantastic goal. Katrina has been doing this for four years. She times her runs really well. [Katrina] and Maddie McCormick combined with each other incredibly well."
 
On setting the tone
"All season, we have used the terminology "play on our front foot." We've tried in games to be the aggressor and play higher up the field. We talked in the locker room that we had one game left in the season. I think when we play that way, it gives us a good level of confidence and it puts the other team in an unsettled area. We wanted them to be uncomfortable. Once South Carolina gets passing the ball, they're incredibly talented. We wanted to make them uncomfortable and disrupt their rhythm from the very beginning."
 
On the key defensively
"We talked with Savannah Andrews and we felt she would be matched up well with Savannah McCaskill. Savannah McCaskill is an incredibly talented player. When she can get faced up and running at you, as you saw tonight, she can be incredibly dangerous. We talked with our back four about keeping her moving backwards and not following her. I though Savannah Andrews and the whole back four along with Carolyn Huddy did a great job stopping her."
 
On big second goal
"The Gamecocks had good possession in that last 45 minutes and we felt that we could absorb that and manage that. We played a little bit deeper and allowed them to have that and allowed us to counter attack a little bit more. I actually think we had pretty good counter attacks in the second half. The goal we scored in the second half was actually off a set piece that we haven't really practiced that much. So it was somewhat ironic that Katrina Guillou made a great run off the corner and then Lauren Nalevaiko and Madison Melnick combined to score that goal. That definitely settled it down."
 
On how big the game is for the program
It is huge. There are 330 Division I teams in the country in women's soccer and there's only 32 teams left after this weekend and we're one of them. That's going to take a while to sink in. We're not fully funded. We don't have the facilities that South Carolina has, so we are the underdog and we will be the underdog in the next game. But, we have tremendous support from our administration. (Director of Athletics) Jimmy Bass and (Deputy Director of Athletics) Adrianne Swinney are with us. We can enjoy playing our role as the underdog. I want our team to really enjoy this experience. Before the game, we talked about what this means to our alumni. I've been the head coach for 20 years at UNCW. We lost a lot of games in those early first five or six years by 12-0 and 15-0, so this is awesome."

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Junior Goalkeeper Carolyn Huddy
On her big save at the end of the half
"Honestly, seeing a player run at me, it is instinct at that point. Everything is running through your head. Should I stay or should I go? But, instinct and being set at the right time and luckily I was close enough to get a foot on it and deflect it out."

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Senior Forward Katrina Guillou
On her goal in the first half
"After I saw Maddie McCormick play the ball, I expected the keeper to come out. But then I saw her holding her position and was like 'Oh my God.' I was getting excited. Then with her just staying in line, I think that played in my favor. Then coming in on that angle and her coming so close it just opened up for me. It was a great ball by Maddie."

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