QUOTE SHEET
Utah Royals FC 1-0 Orlando Pride
Orlando City Stadium; Orlando, Florida
April 27, 2019
Utah Royals FC
Head Coach Laura Harvey
On the mentality:
“I told the group I think we’re perfectionists and we want to be better. We could’ve scored more and made it easier on ourselves. These games a year ago, we would’ve conceded. Maybe a little bit of luck goes our way and to win in this league you need that. We just now need to up our game and the rest will go our way. I said last week, the performances can always be better, but the mentality and the grit is way better than it was last year. We know we need to keep the consistency and the mentality we need to be resilient and keep things going.”
On setting the momentum early:
“I think we did well tonight. I think the first 20-30 minutes we were the better team. I think the first 15 minutes of the second half and as the game started to open up we were a little opened up defensively but were still a threat going forward. We will keep working on those things. Last year we would’ve gone backwards a lot and now we go forward. I keep saying to the players, if we keep working at it and keep things going that we’ll be fine. We set the tone well and now we need to make sure we don’t give sloppy things away.”
On Christen Press:
“It’s why we traded for her. She seems and understands the game and the girl can score goals. She creates opportunities for other players and scores goals for herself. She’s kicking herself that she didn’t score more, that’s her. Amy Rodriguez and Katie Stengel are the same way. It says a lot about our team that we come away with a win and still think we should’ve scored two or three more. I don’t think I remember Barnhart making any incredible saves – just off crosses. This group has something special about it and Press sets the tone for that.”
On possible World Cup players departing:
“The mentality doesn’t change. As long as we keep doing the basics right, I think we have to keep taking care of business. We know there will be losses of players in the side, but we’ll keep getting better. It’s now time for other people to shine.”
Midfielder Vero Boquete
On the match:
“We had a really serious game. We were really compact. We didn’t give them any space or too many opportunities to score. We tried to combine and we tried to have the ball and tried to create opportunities and I think we had a few of them. If we could have scored the second goal, everything would be easy. We know playing away is always hard so we are really happy with three points.”
On being unbeaten:
“Our first goal is to work hard. We are getting stronger as a team. We try to understand each other and work hard. We know that if the other team doesn’t score we are going to have opportunities. That means a lot for us. I think the coach is happy because they are always happy when they don’t score on you. I think we are happy for the team. We know we are getting stronger and if someone wants to score on us, it’s going to be hard.”
Defender Becky Sauerbrunn
On two straight shutouts:
“Orlando threw a lot at us. I thought Barnhart did amazing especially on free kicks and corner kicks and I thought we were scrappy at times. We take a lot of pride in getting the clean sheet and with these clean sheets we set the tone and hopefully while the internationals are gone they can carry it on.”
On setting the tone early:
“I think we were really good tonight. There are a few things we can work on like the timing of the press and staying on the front foot. As the game wore on we were on the back foot and they started to get more opportunities. We just need to be able to step up and press higher up the field more often.”
On Christen Press:
“She was phenomenal tonight. That touch – I mean I’ve seen her do that before so I know it wasn’t a fluke. She’s world class and the goal was world class. She helps the team defensively and offensively. She’s playing on a different level right now and we’re very fortunate to have her in Utah.”
