QUOTE SHEET
Real Monarchs SLC 3-1 Reno 1868 FC
Zions Bank Stadium; Herriman, UT
April 6, 2019
Real Monarchs SLC
Head Coach Martín Vasquez
On the win:
“Feels great. It feels great. The boys had a great response. We all felt that we could have walked away from Vegas with one point. We were thinking that was a fair result, that would have been a fair result. Great response. It feels great because we beat a very good team, a team that in the previous games, they have our number, they kicked us out of the playoffs, preseason, they gave us a lesson. Showing up today with a good performance from the team and from some players, where we are in the season, I think it was great.”
On what the win over Reno means to the team:
“I know some of our players returning from last year, that was a very tough game (loss to Reno in the playoffs last season) to adjust from and it get over it, it took them a while. Today, that was one of the goals, or one of the things that they had in mind — to get, not revenge, but send a message and get three points. They responded and they just did that. Great for them, good for them. I remember watching that game from the stands, from the bleacher, and it was a heartbreaking result, it was a heartbreaking game for everyone, for the organization as well, because they had been the better team. At the last play of the game, they got a goal. Now, we move on. We’ve got to now look forward and our next step, and this is what I said to the team. Now, our next step is to keep growing as a group, as a team, is to win away. I think the last two games at home, we have been solid and have been good, now we have to step up and get a result on the road.”
On what the team can take from this game into next week’s match at New Mexico:
“The momentum. Today we scored some really nice goals. I thought we defended, for the most part, we wanted to keep the zero, we wanted to make it difficult for the other team to break us down. We have to continue to take that, being difficult to play against, and we have to take also the individual performances because some players on the team continue to help the team by having great performances.”
On goalkeeper David Ochoa’s penalty kick save early in the match and how it changed momentum:
“That turned the game for us. We had an approach of defending, our confrontation line to defend today, we dropped it a little bit deeper today than most games. Reno put a lot of pressure on us, in the first minutes when the game started we came out flat, we couldn’t get the ball, we couldn’t hold the ball, and when they called that PK Ochoa comes big, and I think that changed the momentum for us. A little bit after that, we scored our first goal. David Ochoa continues to step up and continues great performances.”
On Douglas Martinez’s performance:
“I’m glad you guys are noticing his hard work. He’s not scoring goals, he’s been a presence in the box, but if he continues, we’re going to make it difficult for other teams. That’s where it starts. Being organized in the back has helped us and performances by David has helped us but not only Douglas, we see because he’s our only forward, our only striker but I thought Mikhail Chan today was good, I thought Josh continues to put a lot of work in and they’re getting reward with points and assists.”
On Jordan Pena returning from injury:
“What he continues to do and what he’s going to contribute with winning a lot of balls, being solid in that part of the field in front of two center backs keeping the game simple. I think when he gets in the stretch of games where he can play 7 or 8 eight games, we’re going to see that consistency. Against Galaxy he was solid and today he was solid. It’s not easy to play against a team that plays with a diamond and their rotation in the middle, it’s very difficult to defend. I thought he and Jack with the help of Josh and Maikel did an excellent job.”
Defender Justen Glad
On getting in his first minutes of the season:
“It felt good. It felt awesome to be back out there and it feels getting the result. I was happy to be back with the team, and I was happy to help them beat Reno, because I know there was a lot of heartbreak at the end of last season.”
On what to take away from playing with the Monarchs:
“These games they’re here to help us get our fitness back but we take them very seriously. Plata came on, did well, and scored a goal. You can see from the beginning that everyone on the field really wanted to win. So yeah for me it was good personal step in terms of getting my fitness back. First game back from injury, and it was nice getting those first steps on the field.”
Reno 1868 FC
Head Coach Ian Russell
On the difficulty to get a goal:
“I thought we started well, to be honest, and then we conceded a couple goals early. I think missing the penalty in the first two minutes, changes the game a bit. I was comfortable, I thought that we were possessing in their end and had some good chances. And then a couple mistakes that we made and then the Monarchs capitalized and all of a sudden, we're down 2-0 off a couple of our mistakes, so that’s a tough one.”
On the difference in playing Monarchs now from preseason:
“I don't think so. Maybe they sat a little bit deeper than we expected, but preseason is always tough to judge games. They were missing some players. I think there were some academy kids that may have been playing in that game, and we were missing some players that played this game that were not there. Actually, the guy that scored four goals was injured. So, there's a challenge there but overall, I thought the Monarchs played well. They had a good game plan, executed it well and I think they deserved the win.”
On the first loss of the season:
“We made 2 really bad mistakes in the first 20 minutes that cost us. You can't make mistakes at any level, especially at a professional level because you'll get punished. Philosophy-wise, we're going to stay on track and just try to clean up the errors.”
