Recap | Box Score

Rutgers Head Coach Mike O'Neill
"First, I'd like to congratulations Penn State and wish them best of luck on Sunday, representing the Big 10. Very good team well coached and we have a great deal of respect for them. When you play against a team like that the details are so important and there were some mistakes that we made that they capitalized on and when you get to this level that is what happens. At the same time we are so proud to represent Rutgers University at this level. The staff and university are so proud of our team and what they have been able to accomplish this year. From day one we've asked for their best and that's what they gave us. Today wasn't our day, we lost to a good team. To the seniors we are very thankful for their time here at Rutgers. We always talk about having an impact on the program and making sure that the program is better because you were here. That is exactly what this senior class did. They took this program to a different level and now the players coming behind them must maintain it and take it further. We are so happy to represent our university at the highest level of college soccer."

Rutgers Head Coach Mike O'Neill
"Prior to the first goal, we thought we were doing some good things. We had a game plan where we wanted the two center backs to get a lot of the ball and take away Rodriguez [Raquel] and Ogle [Emily] and we did a good job of that. I think the best opportunity they had was the mistake we made in the first half that they capitalized on. It is part of the game at this level when you play against talented teams and it is just a fine line of execution and they capitalized on that. At halftime we talked about sticking to the game plan and making sure that on our side that we keep the ball a little bit better make the field a little bit better, get behind and have some shots on goal and we did okay at that. We kept the ball well but we needed to be a little bit better. We made the field big, in the final third we needed to be a bit more efficient and I give that credit to Penn State."

Rutgers Head Coach Mike O'Neill
"Some of the decision making, but I should first start off by giving them a lot of credit. They did a good job of dropping and keeping us in front of them. The idea for us was to attack them on the flanks and try to utilize the space behind their outside backs because we knew their outside backs were going to press up on our forwards. We did not do a good enough job of that, whether they took it away or we were not aware of our surroundings. So the idea there in the second half was to put a few more players in behind and at times in the first half we did that okay but in the second half we didn't do it enough."

Rutgers Head Coach Mike O'Neill
"Yeah that was definitely part of it, but I think we did a great job in the first half executing the game plan and when we made the field big we had success. We got in a few times on the width, so we tried to take that into the second half. Sometimes we were in good positions and maybe we just weren't aware of some of our surroundings and we missed the pass that could have been the pass that got us in behind them and we didn't make that pass today as much as we would have liked to."

Rutgers Head Coach Mike O'Neill
"The first part is that the more we can see them, that means the better we are doing. So we played Penn State in the regular season, then we played them in the Big 10 Championship and then we played them in the Final Four, so that is a good thing but I think the games that we play we have got to learn from. We learned a lot from the first game and a lot from the second game and put a game plan together for today and at times it was successful and at times it wasn't. Again I think that the effort our player put forward, I never ever questioned. I never ever questioned where their heart is and the effort they give but there is just a fine line when you get to this level of being efficient in the areas that are so important. We will learn from it."

Senior Defender Brianne Reed
"I think it was just a little bit of miscommunication. The ball was long and played back to me and we just reacted a little late and she was able to get the shot off."

Sophomore Goal Keeper Casey Murphy
"I saw the same thing. Some of the miscommunication in the back and we tried to get something on it to block it and unfortunately Frannie Crouse was able to get a really good shot off and capitalize off of it."

Senior Defender Brianne Reed
"Coming here four years ago, I never would have imagined being a part of a program that could make it to this level so I am upset about the result. But I think we need to take a step back and realize where we are. We brought this program to the Final Four and this is a new standard for Rutgers and I am so proud to be a part of this team."

Senior Defender Erica Skroski
"When we made it to the Sweet 16 we were like no team has ever made it past the Sweet 16. Once we beat UConn in the Sweet 16 we made it to the Elite 8 and we were like we are not going to lose. We are going to put our heart out there and we came out with a win against Virginia."

Sophomore Goal Keeper Casey Murphy
"I am just very thankful to be a part of this team. This is a special group of seniors and we are definitely going to miss them. I am looking forward to putting another years' worth of work in with the people still here and hopefully get back here next year."