QUOTE SHEET
Utah Royals FC 1-2 Orlando Pride FC
Rio Tinto Stadium; Sandy, Utah
July 14, 2018
Utah Royals FC
Head Coach Laura Harvey
Corner kick that resulted with a penalty:
“No, it wasn’t a corner first of all and if that’s a penalty then I am not really sure how the run five minutes earlier by Gunny wasn’t one and how 90 percent of things that happened Gunny just stops to go to the ball. I mean the ball is nowhere near Alana? It was minimal contact and it doesn’t change what Alana is trying to do. So, no I wouldn’t change my opinion.
Morale of team:
“Not good, I felt today up until the penalty we weren’t being exposed. I felt that the game plan was working we were limiting them. We could’ve done things a little bit better, but we were doing okay. The moment the penalty came we never recovered mentally. Which, is partly on us, but it is hard to sit here every week and watch a performance like that of a referee and not acknowledge it. This is our job and I could get fired over that result, but nothing is going to happen to her and it’s every week stuff like this. This week we lost a player to a suspension for a tackle that was made in a game, I mean what are we doing? It’s just hard work to just sit here and not say anything about it, honestly. And I will probably get fined and all that, but it’s fine. What’s happening to the ref that’s my question. Fine me, but just provide the refs with a better performance and let the fourth official to be actually okay at speaking. They do not acknowledge when we stand there, for both teams. The ball can only go in when Abby got hurt. It’s just every single game something happens that changes the dynamic of the game and we played Orlando three times where they have had two penalties against us that never were penalties. We have gone from getting however many points we could get against them down to two and people keep telling me that it is going to be okay, but I don’t know when that changes. So yeah we never recovered from the penalty.”
Their second goal:
“A mistake by Abby; she was too high and I’m not sure where she was going really. That is one that’s she needs to look back on. I said a lot that you need to let defenders defend and if she would’ve let defenders defend that goal wouldn’t have gone in.”
Midfielder Desiree Scott
On team morale:
“I’m pretty sure my face shows it: A bit of frustration, disappointment, all those negative feelings that come from three losses. We got unlucky tonight and we’re just really frustrated. Trying to find the answers and the motivation to keep going. We’re frustrated at the minute for sure.”
On what could change:
“We come out and we battle and rally in the first half and when we’re up a goal. Now it’s about when we go down a goal, how can we bounce back from that and really switch the momentum up and get on the ball a little bit more and change things up. We’ve got to want the ball a bit more in those times and do a little bit better on the ball on we do get it. Defensively, we just have to lock things up, a bit more communication. It’s just the little things now that are just making the biggest difference so it’s working on those little things and tidying things up moving forward.”
On moving forward:
“After the road trip, two losses there, we came together as a team off the field and said ‘what do we need to do and get back on winning ways and back to us?’ We’ve already had that meeting but we may have the meeting again. It’s just about building connections, rallying for each other and fighting for each other. We’re inches away and it’s about keeping that momentum and positivity and trying to find that motivation to go after that win. I think it’s there, it’s obviously the frustration right now but every point matters at this point and we have nothing to lose. We have to keep going after it.
Defender Rachel Corsie
On team morale:
“I think it’s fair to say it’s pretty low. A goal before half time is really tough to take. It’s been a tough week and when those things go against you it can hit you harder. We have to try to respond better than we did. Then we lost the goal in the second half and we just couldn’t fight back. It was disappointing but we will keep going.”
On Orlando’s second goal:
“It was from our set-piece so I didn’t have the best view from behind the play. I think Abby thought she could get there. Orlando hit it early and took it well. It was an unfortunate decision and Abby will feel responsible but there was enough time in the game to turn it around. It’s tough to take.”
On moving forward:
“We don’t really need to reassess. There is always a bigger picture. This is the first year for this club in this organization, in this league. We are doing our best, week in and week out, to try and mix together. I heard someone say we’ve had six games in 16 days. We’re going back and forth; home, away, home, away, which is a difficult schedule and there is not a lot of time to actually spend on the training field. We are looking forward to a week at home where we can regroup, rebuild, actually work on things, and find a rhythm again. We will do that. We’ve been excellent here. The first half, we were excellent, the decisions just turned against us and turned the game. This is our home; we believe we are good here. We will win more games this year, we will win here. We will keep going and keep fighting. It’s close enough right now in the middle of the table where right up until the end all the teams will be fighting for playoff spots. That’s what we are fighting for and that’s what we want.”
