Postgame Press Conference (vs. ORL) • Sunday, September 3, 2023
OL REIGN vs. ORLANDO PRIDE
POSTGAME QUOTES
Sunday, September 3, 2023 • Lumen Field • Seattle, WA
OL Reign Head Coach Laura Harvey
On her thoughts on the match:
“I thought it was the occasion, sort of how important the three points were, I think – there was some tightness from us in the first half. I thought in the second half we moved the ball a little bit better, especially in the first 20 minutes of the second half, I thought we came out and we were really good in the first, sort of 15-20 minutes and then we sort of took our foot off the gas again, which is something that we’ve done in a lot of games lately, so we need to look at that. We’ve played against 10 players now a couple of times and I think this is the first time we’ve actually really won. It’s tough. It can be tough, they either drop off like Orlando (Pride) did or come after you, like Houston (Dash) did. I think, for us, when a team drops off like that, we have to play what they give us and I didn’t think we did that in the first half – I thought we did that more in the second half. A couple of really good saves by their goalkeeper who came in. The game could’ve been over and done with after the 60 minutes, but we need to take more of our chances and create more opportunities. The biggest thing today was three points, no question, and we got that.”
On goalkeeper Claudia Dickey’s role:
“I think, obviously, last week was disappointing for her. I think she took responsibility – I don’t know what the right terminology is – for the result, which I think is hard. But I think what (goalkeeper) Claudia (Dickey) gives us is, she’s super calm at the back, we can play back to her and it just calms things down a little bit. Really happy for her that in the big moment when she needed to step up today, she did. We’ve seen that from her all year in the Challenge Cup and I think last week was just unlucky, it was super unlucky.”
On if she has an update for forward Bethany Balcer and midfielder Jess Fishlock:
“(Midfielder) Jess (Fishlock) is fine. (Forward Bethany) Balcer got hurt in the initial red card challenge and tried to run and then felt pain. I don’t know exactly what it is. I think she’s getting assessed and looked at, so we don’t quite know. But yeah, I think (forward) Jordyn (Huitema) obviously came in super early in the game and took that on. But yeah, Jess is fine.”
On defender Phoebe McClernon:
“I think she is stupid two-footed and I just thought, whether they were with 10 players, 11 players, they held a high line against us when we were there in Orlando and our center backs being able and willing to step out and play that ball was going to be important and it’s not that (defender Sam Hiatt) Sammy can’t play that, she can, but it’s really in (defender) Phoebe’s (McClernon) wheelhouse. I’ve said this a lot – we are super deep. She’s played a lot since the World Cup players have gone and then obviously last week, didn’t get the start, but she’s one of those players that – and I actually said this to her last week when I told her she wasn’t starting – she can literally play anywhere in the backline and that’s just such a fantastic thing to have at your disposal that when she’s not starting, it makes our bench easy and when she’s starting, it makes our bench a little bit more difficult on what to pick and stuff. So, I thought today she did really well and she did exactly what we needed her to do.”
On defender Emily Sonnett holding the midfield well:
“I think she’s been our best player all year. I think consistent performer. If you look at consistency, which a lot of our top players have – Lu is very consistent, Jess is very consistent – the top players who’ve been in and around this league a long time, they’re consistently good. (Defender Emily) Sonnett’s consistently good. I think when we looked at playing her as one of the [No.] 6s, one of the reasons for that was just her sort of defensive mindset, we didn’t have that in any of our midfielders, like (midfielder) Quinn’s just a really good ball player, (midfielder Olivia Van der Jagt) Olo’s a ball player, Jess is Jess, Rose is Rose, (midfielder Angelina) Angie is Angie – we have all the very similar types. Outside of (midfielder) Nikki (Stanton), we really don’t have that real, brute [No.] 6 and I don’t like to necessarily talk about Sonnett that way, but I think what she’s done is, early in this preseason, I think she was a little bit skeptical about it, but then once she started to see what the game gives her from that position, it’s very similar from how she plays as a center back. I think you hit the nail on the head – her willingness to control the game is a game-changer for us. I think it’s a game-changer. Now, there’s occasions she gets it wrong, there’s occasions she waits a little bit too long. But I’ll tell this story, I don’t think she’ll mind me saying it – in the World Cup, when she wasn’t starting, she texted me and said, ‘I want you to make me the best 6 in the country,’ and I was like, ‘Sweet,’ because buy-in is huge. It doesn’t matter if I wanted to player her there, if she thinks she has a real shot at doing well at it, then the buy-in is even better and then obviously she got her reward for that of playing against Sweden, obviously it wasn’t the result she wanted, but I thought she, again, was very good in that game. So yeah, I think she’s been very, very consistent and when we brought her to the club, I’ve been very knowledgeable of this, it wasn’t planned, but the moment that we could get her, one of the reasons why I was like, ‘Yeah, let’s do it,’ it’s because she’s a winner and I think she showed that today because in these really gritty moments where you’ve got to see a game out, you want an Emily Sonnett on your team and hopefully she can keep doing that.”
OL Reign Forward Jordyn Huitema and Defender Phoebe McClernon
On getting back in the win column and snapping the three-game losing streak:
Phoebe McClernon: “Yeah, it’s really exciting to be back in the win column. I think this was obviously very necessary for us if we want to stay in contention to make a run this postseason. So, this was huge.”
On coming in as a substitute earlier than expected:
Jordyn Huitema: “When you’re on the bench, you kind of have to be ready for anything, whatever your role is going to take on, whether it’s no minutes, whether it’s from the first minute – you never know. So, I think it’s the mindset of always being ready and I think that the team is always like that and I think everybody on the bench would’ve been ready for that moment.”
On if they expect to score more goals after being up a player early in the game:
Jordyn Huitema: “I think, obviously, we want more from ourselves, I think it’s something we always expect. I think coming off such a difficult run where we’ve been behind, I think putting one was kind of just breaking the ice for us and I think that progressing, against even 11 men, I think that you’re going to see a different version of us. I think it’s just getting that monkey off our shoulder, getting that first one in, kind of getting a breath. I think we’ve had a lot of pressure, we’ve put a lot of pressure on ourselves to do well, so in order to just get one, I think we just needed a win and I think one is good enough for a win and that’s what we needed and we can keep creating a better version of ourselves moving forward.”
On creating chances with balls over the top and if that was something she saw in the game or if it was something she was coached and told to look for:
Phoebe McClernon: “I think that we’re always coached to look for the space that they’re giving away and they were playing a really high line today, so it definitely was conducive to balls over the top. Then, I think, once you start to do that, you have to readjust, so you have to start playing shorter, playing wide, using your other skills out there. So, it’s just kind of what the game gave us.”
Download here: Postgame Press Conference (vs. ORL) • Sunday, September 3, 2023