Utah Royals FC 1-1 North Carolina Courage
Sahlen’s Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park; Sandy, Utah
May 19, 2019
Utah Royals FC
Head Coach Laura Harvey
On the game:
“I don’t think we were complacent this week. I think when you play these guys, it’s a different type of game. You know that they’re going to have waves of pressure and you have to absorb that and I think we did. There are things that we need to be better at. We’re disappointed with their goal, just from our own standards. Barnie didn’t have to make a ton of saves. When you can reduce their shots on goal, you’ve got a chance of getting results here and I think we do a really good job of that every time we’ve played them so far. To do that again was a real positive for us.”
On Gaby Vincent and Mallory Weber’s debuts:
“Gaby has been excellent ever since she joined us. Everyone says ‘Why do you do tryouts?’ Gaby is the reason. She turned up at her tryout, undrafted. She played well in the tryout and she’s been excellent ever since she’s joined us. She showed her quality. She’s very good on the ball. She can play. I thought she did excellent. Mal came in and dealt with altitude but showed in training what she’s worth. So bringing her on, it was a good thing to have fresh legs. She showed the pace and power that she’s got late in games to put teams under pressure.”
Defender Gaby Vincent
On professional and Royals FC debut:
“Honestly I can’t really put it into words. I was very nervous, but my teammates and my coaches really instill confidence in me, so I just went out there and did what we do everyday in practice. I was so excited that I got to get in and contribute physically. Wish we could have gotten a win, but I’m really happy with the tie on the road.”
On emotion and feelings on the field:
“I was like ‘I’ve been playing soccer for a long time, I know what to do,’ the nerves I can set aside. Once I got on the field and I made my first pass and made my first tackle I was like ‘I know what I’m doing.’”
Defender Rachel Corsie
On defense holding North Carolina:
“I thought everyone gave everything from front to back. I think when you come here they make it so hard, it's tough conditions, they make it feel like they’re coming after you time and time again, you know to expect that though when you have a ‘bout like that today. We said before the game we had to be tough, we had to be brave, we had to put our bodies on the line and I think everybody did that. It was difficult, we’ve got injuries, we had to make changes and everyone that came in did an exceptional job. I’m proud of how we played.”
On feeling of getting a point prior to heading off for World Cup:
“I think it was important that we took something from today. Like I say, it’s difficult on the road anywhere. To reiterate Laura [Harvey], these points could be the points that make the difference come the end of the season, so we’ll take this. It’s an important game next at home, we have to make sure that we get back to winning ways, that’s what we want, that’s what this club is about and today was another step in the right direction.”
