Jeff Tambroni Quotes (14 Quotes)

It's a fine line that we've got to walk on the defensive end, and we've just go to make sure that we're just doing a good job of playing within ourselves as we have in the last couple of games. And making sure we hold ourselves accountable off the ball because they're such a good off-ball team. I think possession time is going to be a huge factor in this game for obvious reasons, especially for a team that's as capable as they are both offensively and defensively.

Derek came back with a lot of confidence and we're expecting more leadership from him this season and I think he's capable of that.

I think we are still very cautiously optimistic team. I think we're very realistic about where we are, and I think we're all excited that we're undefeated right now, but we also understand that the competition that's in front of us may be better than the competition that's behind us. You just never know how things are going to pan out as the year goes on.

We have six guys that are in the mix for us and all give us a little something different when they are on the field. It will just be a matter of adjusting for each game to find the appropriate combination that will give us the best opportunity to score.

I think everybody is capable of beating everybody else at this point. I don't think there's a team out there that I could actually say, 'we really want to face them,' because they all have something on their team that makes us nervous.

I think this team has set a standard for themselves both in practice and in games to be the very best we can be every day we step onto the field. I think it's a true testament to the senior class and it's certainly a credit to how they've prepared and approached every day since they walked onto this campus.

Obviously, Matt has a lot of experience. It will be important to us that he keeps our young defense intact early in the season.

He took the team on his back. The game was on the line and every time we needed a play he got the ball to the guy that should have it to score or he took it to the goal himself.

Our upperclassmen have experience in big games. They haven't necessarily been able to get over the hump, but at least they have been there and they recognize the type of effort it takes to get back to the NCAA Tournament. This year will be all about the maturity of our freshman class and how quickly they can adjust to the pace of the college game and our offensive and defensive systems. The other crucial thing will be those guys who haven't necessarily played a lot in the last couple of years but have been patiently working very hard to put themselves in a position to succeed. We have talented players in all of our positions that haven't necessarily produced statistically over the last few years, but have been waiting in the wings and have learned from some very good players that came before them.

I think that their contributions to Cornell lacrosse go beyond any statistical analysis or data that you can put in the paper or attempt to articulate. One of the goals of every senior class is to leave Cornell better than when they found it and this year's senior class has done so tenfold.

We don't want to take things for granted. We've just encouraged our guys to stay hungry day in and day out, to realize that each and every day you feel like you're moving towards the top and that stuff can be taken away within a matter of moments or a matter of 60 minutes in a lacrosse game. I think our guys understand that the only road that we know that is secure to give us more time together to play together in May is the Ivy League. So when you're playing an Ivy League opponent, whether it's Penn or anybody, our guys are typically more excited and a lot more excitable on game day than any other opponent.

We will need to settle in and mature very quickly. We will need to be very poised in those games and find a way to be successful early, before we hit the Ivy League portion of our schedule. That's where the maturity of our older guys, as small as that class is, will have to come into play.

They're one or two goals shy of being a playoff team and a top-10 team, and I think we understand that.

Our staff and our team has waited for the opportunity to begin our 2006 journey since the moment we walked off the field in Princeton, N. J., following our loss to Duke in the NCAA tournament. It's been difficult knowing that other teams have been preparing and practicing already, so we are anxious to start.