15 Quotes by Dean Duerst

We are looking forward to being at home again. We have not played a home night game, so I hope there is a great electric atmosphere. I'm hoping we will get a lot of students out, which would be great.

We're preparing for our game. We need to stick to our principles, which is just play smart, play hard and play together. I think that is what you saw when we played Milwaukee last weekend. We really put that game together and we have been able to do that this year. If you get into the conference and you are thinking too much about the other opponents, I think it will hurt you and go against you.

Our game plan was specifically for Marisa Brown (Evanston Ill.) to take care of Tiff Weimer. Obviously she is a very special player and Marisa did a fantastic job.

Marisa is just noticeable; she is everywhere. She is such a complete player and is capable of playing any position.

We have been able to put back-to-back recruiting classes together to have the kind of team in which we are solid at every position.

There is a lot of pride on the line in a game like this. It has always been our goal at the beginning of the year to win the in-state title. Milwaukee is off to a very good start. They are always a very organized program. Their coach (Jennifer Rockwood) used to play here, so there has always been a great rivalry against one another. Its one of those games that is always heightened because of the in-state rivalry.

This weekend is like a Big Ten weekend. Both teams are solid. It should prepare us for Big Ten play.

As a group, I don't think it was our best effort. It is always tough to tie. It was a very exciting game and both teams could have won it. Our first-half performance was a level down and it affected the outcome of the game. We need to learn from that. We definitely came back in the second half and played with a lot more energy. It was a great battle.

The way Taylor (Walsh) took that first shot really made a statement. We came out of the box early. We showed a lot of maturity and leadership being ready for this match after a tough loss. Getting an early goal helped.