OL Reign Preseason Tournament Quotes • 3-18-23
Saturday, March 18, 2023 • Providence Park • Portland, OR
OL Reign Head Coach Laura Harvey
On her overall thoughts from the tournament and the three games played:
“Yeah, I love this tournament. I think it’s really good. I think the fact that it’s right at the end of preseason is great because you sort of know with the (United States Under) 23s that you can potentially have a lot of the ball and then we rotated for the Louisville game and a lot of the those players have been with us last year, hadn’t, maybe, played a ton of minutes all the time, so I think it was important that they got exposed against NWSL opposition, which is great. We learned a lot. I think we did some really good things in that game and then, it’s Seattle-Portland and I don’t care what anyone tells me, it’s never going to be a preseason friendly. So, I think to set the game up and it be the last one when we’ve had a really tough week – we planned the week where we would train hard, even in the days in between games so we knew we would come into this game a little bit fatigued, but I think the players dug in and showed how much it means, honestly, to play in a game like this and it’s something that we really care about. So, I think we knew we were going to get challenged by them and we did, but there were some really good things in the game, I thought.”
On having defender Lauren Barnes, midfielder Jess Fishlock and forward Megan Rapinoe and if it’s similar to having player-coaches in the locker room:
“Oh, yeah. No question. (Midfielder) Jess’ football brain, she’s so smart. (Forward Megan Rapinoe) Pinoe, anyone will follow Pinoe. She’s a leader of people. She speaks, everyone wants to follow what she’s saying and (defender Lauren Barnes) Lu is like the person that everyone goes to for advice and making sure that they’re OK. So, they just have this really cool blend of leadership in very different ways and the ultimate thing in their core is they care so deeply about the club. It’s honestly one of the reasons I came back because just to see the journey that those three have been on to get the club to where it’s at and continue to not just do all that stuff off the field, but then also be able to perform at the levels they perform at. I mean, Pinoe was exceptional last year, like absolutely exceptional for our club, last year. Jess does what Jess does and Lu is just there, we’re putting her in different positions, we’re asking different things of her and she just always steps up and does the job. The players around them, the younger players just in some ways idolize them and it was interesting, after the Louisville game that none of those three played – I mean Lu played like five minutes or whatever and I think that’s one of the things that we have to now layer in is like, they can’t just rely on them, they’ve got to take a little bit of ownership, they’ve got to push themselves, too. So, that’s another layer that we’re working on as a group.”
On how rare it is to have player-coaches in the locker room:
“Very. Very rare and it’s something me and (head assistant coach) Scott (Parkinson) speak about and I used to speak about it when we were at Utah of how special the Reign is and I don’t know how to quantify it. I don’t know how to speak about it. But it’s hard to not speak about it and include those three in that conversation because I feel like there’s a special thing about this club and those three are a big reason why it is so special. I think what they’ve brought, what they demand, what they think is important. Even like the kit design, Lu was massively involved in what the purpose meant and I’m like, some people are just – why would the players care about that, they just wear it. But that’s who they are.”
OL Reign defender Alana Cook and midfielder Jess Fishlock
On how the team performed and what the team took from the tournament:
Jess Fishlock: “I think, honestly, it’s been a really positive tournament. This tournament is always good for us because you get good training time and you’re together for a while and you have three different games, like you said, everybody gets minutes. So, it’s quite intense because you have to switch on and be focused mentally for a long time, but then you get three really different challenging games and it’s how you kind of go about that as a team. I think we’ve done a good job this week, getting everybody in, getting the new people adjusted to the way that we play, whilst also getting some rhythm as a group going into next week. So, overall, I think we would be – well, I’m really happy with the week anyway and hopefully, everybody else is.”
On turning the page this year and getting the focus on the players and the teams in the league this season:
Alana Cook: “Yeah, I mean, I think our focus as players is always soccer and we always try to keep it on soccer. I think when things go awry at administrative and larger levels, we get pulled in the different directions and have to address things, have to be more than just soccer players. But I think we’re hoping, as you said, this season kind of turns the page on that and we get to just show up, do our jobs, be the best that we can be in our job and hopefully put on a really good product for the fans and our hope is that everyone else in the administrative and around us takes care of the jobs that they’re supposed to. So, obviously it’s a big year in women’s soccer with the World Cup and a really exciting NWSL schedule and just the teams this year. So, hopefully, it stays that way and hopefully the narrative can just be about that.”
Jess Fishlock: “I think that the media side of it and the journalism side of it will be more about us as the teams, how we play, what do we look like? Who did well? Who’s fitting in? It can be more strategic and tactical and really delve into who we are as footballers, why our profiles work so well within our team, it can be the kind of stuff that you see all over the world when it comes to football and what really makes teams tick and what really makes teams so good because we have 12 teams in this league that are all so different and all very, very good. So, I feel like once we get a little bit more stability, then we can really delve into that side of the game, which will only be great because that stuff is super interesting.”
On the Purpose kit and seeing the increase in hype towards team announcements:
Jess Fishlock: “Yeah, I honestly, I think our kit, for one, is great. I love it. I actually really like it. I didn’t think I was going to, but I actually really, really do. I think the Kit release, our folks here did a fabulous job of putting it all together, not only with the kit, but the style. Obviously, the girls bring their own style and it’s fire. So, they’re able to kind of pull all that together and really express who we are, not only as people, but what we stand for within a really cool, edgy vibe, which is who we are as a group, anyway, just without even trying. So, it was really good that they kind of were able to put all that together. So yeah, obviously, we’ve been watching the [kit] reveals going on and we’ve been like, ‘Oh, no, no, no.’ So, we knew that ours would shine.”
Alana Cook: “Yeah, I think, a group of us, last year, sat down with our marketing team and kind of said, we want something that is purposeful and has ties to Seattle, roots us in the community and I think we want that to be a trend moving forward, that the jerseys we have represent the fans and the city that we play for. So, we kind of got, the lines on it are meant to be kind of more like the [Puget] Sound waves and the mountain peaks. So, I think the more we can root that in the community, the happier we are with it.”
On changing their mentality after losing to Racing Louisville FC in the second game:
Alana Cook: “I mean, I think it’s still preseason, so we’re aware of that. I think rotating roster, introducing new tactics, working on different things, we know there’s going to be error, there’s going to be things to learn from. So, I think we came out of it and said, ‘All right, we have to go watch film, we have to see what we need to get better for the next game and really, what we need to get better for the season.’ So, I think we took it as a big picture moment to say, ‘OK, where are we and what do we need to improve on – not just for this game, but for every game we have to come.’ I think the focus was on not getting too down about it and just taking what we could learn from it.”
On how the team feels going into the season:
Jess Fishlock: “Yeah, I am really excited about this season, actually. I think we’re in kind of a real interesting place because we obviously won – I know you guys call it the Shield, but I’m going to call it the league – so we won the league last year, which was great. We came in and (head coach) Laura (Harvey) made a very good point at the beginning of preseason that, we actually came in winning the league and we came into pre-season like annoyed that we didn’t do better than that and that’s how this league is set up – both can be the same. You can win the league and still be really annoyed, thinking that you haven’t been enough. We know that we have a very good roster. We know that we have great players who, last year, had a whole year under their belt in the NWSL, which is huge for growth and for the development. So, it was about, who can we add here or there to make us keep moving forward and I think we’ve done a great job of that. So, I think we go into this year going, we won the league, we’re the best and how do we add to that and how do we keep adding to that? Not dropping our standards, keep expecting from each other, keep expecting high standards from each other, but also not burn out. Can we adjust in the World Cup? Can we do all of this and still maintain the level that we had last year and still do better? I’m excited because I believe that we are there and we have a group that can do that. We have a new coaching group with Laura that’ll help us do that and we’re doing the right things, so I’m excited for this challenge of, can we maintain a level that we had last year, but also, can we be better and that’s fun for me.”
Download Quotes Here: OL Reign Preseason Tournament Quotes • 3-18-23