Head Coach Andy Murray
On the game overall…
“Our energy level was better. Going through the streak that we've been through has been a real battle for our team. We showed mental toughness and I thought our power play in the first period where we seemed to generate a lot of opportunities seemed to give us some life. We're happy to get a win. It's nice to go into the lockerroom and see some smiles and the guys feeling good about themselves. It's been tough but we've got a great group of kids. This is the youngest team in college hockey that we played against tonight and normally we dress the second youngest in college hockey. It's a gratifying win.”
On freshman performance…
“Our guys certainly worked hard and we've had ample opportunities in previous games and we hadn't been able to capitalize. Our young freshmen are good players there's no question about it and they will be better, especially when our veteran players set the example like they did in their best game tonight.”
On feeling of the win…
“It's been tough here. Let's not understate it. It's been real tough and we're not used to that with this program. We've had a number of conversations about our responsibilities with this program and the type of following we have. It's been a tough go here and to get a win is great but we know that Coach Haviland is going to be all over us and fired up tomorrow. We need to be fired up to play and ready to go.”
Junior Forward Kyle Novak
On feeling of the win…
“This month has been tough so to contribute and get some goals, because we were averaging one a game, felt really good. It was a huge relief and got our confidence up.”
On finishing opportunities…
“It feels good. In the past eight games we kind of shut down and let them take the game to us. We realized to get out of this hole we need to play on another level and that's what we did tonight.”
On the energy of the game…
“We were both competing for the first half. We knew they were going to come out hard so we gave it our best and they came out flat in the second. I think then we were really able to take the game to them and eventually pop one in.”
Freshman Forward Griffen Molino
On finishing opportunities…
“After eight games it felt really nice to open it up a little bit. I think it's a culmination of a lot of things like going hard to the net and staying in the paint. We stayed close to the net and scored a lot of goals in that area. It felt really good.”
On feeling during losing streak…
“It's hard not to get frustrated especially when it's that many game in a row. It's a hard game mentally and mental toughness is a huge aspect. It's definitely tough but no one else was going to get us out of it but us so it feels good to have buckled down and finally figured it out.”
On strategy during losing streak…
“In the beginning it was tough on everyone and we expected a lot more out of ourselves and the coaching staff took a lot of the responsibility. But the responsibility is really on the shoulders of the players. It was tough in the locker room and guys wanted to win. We were battling hard but just not getting bounces. It's tough when that sort of thing happens but we responded tonight.”
On freshmen performance…
“When things are working we switch a lot of stuff up. We had a lot of different line combinations in practice and on weekends. I think ultimately it was just a willingness to get to the net and get pucks to the net. We came together and it was nice to get a win at Lawson, we love playing here. The fans and the atmosphere are awesome and I think it all came together at the right time.”
