QUOTE SHEET
Utah Royals FC 2-1 Sky Blue FC
Yurcak Field; Piscataway, New Jersey
June 2, 2018
Utah Royals FC
MF Gunny Jonsdottir
Thoughts on the match:
“I think they defended well and did a good job, but we stuck to our plan and it got us the three points – so I am happy with the result.”
On getting the assists from out wide:
“I like being anywhere that there’s space. I don’t know if I was more on the wing than usual—but I do know that I like to go where I can find space – and in this game, it was out on the wing.”
On new line-up and new personnel:
“I think the women that came in did a wonderful job. I think we worked well as a team and got the three points – which is exactly what we wanted, and is important as we head into the FIFA break.”
FW Diana Matheson
On her goal:
“It was a great service from Gunny today – on both goals today. We knew the weak-side space was going to be on, so she hit a great ball, and I just closed by eyes and hoped it went in. She hit a great ball on the second goal as well.”
On working with Gunny:
“Yeah, we have a good connection since we started playing together. It’s been fun playing next to her.”
On Sky Blue’s second-half play:
“I think we are going to be disappointed when we go back and watch the second-half. I think we had some space out there and had the opportunities to take the game over—but we didn’t. But I think we showed a lot of character getting the goal at the end, and hopefully we can carry that momentum when we get back from the break.”
On missing several key-players:
“Today it gave an opportunity for players who have been training hard all season to get more playing time. It’s different for us when Stengel comes in—she did an amazing job of holding on to the ball today and got us our winner. Today we saw Syd in there—Taylor in there—we have such a deep team and anyone can step in and get a difference.”
Head Coach Laura Harvey
Thoughts on the match:
“Sometimes on the road you’ve got to win ugly, and I felt that we did that. I don’t think it was the prettiest or most efficient game we’ve played with the ball, but I think that’s just how the game goes. I think the players dug in and were super gritty – they worked really hard with and without the ball to try and do the right thing. I’m obviously really happy to be able to score late and hold on to the lead.”
On Sky Blue’s effective second-half play:
“I think they came out and pressed us a little bit higher. We weren’t great on the ball, and it forced us to go long, but I think there are some games that are like that. The big thing for us now is to work out why that happened, but coming here, I knew it was going to be difficult because Sky Blue is getting better and better every week. We just felt that we would have to come here and come away with three points. Obviously there are players that aren’t here, so I think today showed the depth of our squad and how hard people are willing to work for the cause.”
On those coming off the bench:
“This was Taylor’s old team, and I thought it was a good opportunity for her. I also felt that when Lo’eau came on that she did really well and added a bit of tempo to the game. I felt that all the subs did well when they came on, and the starters worked super hard for 90 minutes to push us to that win. I think after the defeat last week against Portland, it put a fire inside of us to not let the game be easy for anybody. I felt that the second half in Portland wasn’t good enough for us, so I am glad that we could do that tonight and get three points.”
On preparing for N.C. Courage:
“We don’t get a lot of time to prepare, like all nine internationals who leave will not get back until the day before. I think it will be a ton of players that haven’t been getting a lot of minutes. We will be training and getting opportunities to work hard, but for the meantime, we will give the girls a few days off so that we can refocus for North Carolina. When we went there before, I was disappointed to come away without the win, but you know when you go there that it’s going to be tough—and I doubt it will be different when we go there next time.”
