Postgame Press Conference (at POR) • Saturday, September 16, 2023

OL REIGN at PORTLAND THORNS FC

POSTGAME QUOTES

Saturday, September 16, 2023 • Providence Park • Portland, OR

OL Reign Head Coach Laura Harvey

On her thoughts on the match:

“I thought the first 25 – I remember looking up at the clock and seeing 26 minutes – I thought was the fastest, most frantic, high quality from both teams, game I’ve been involved in for a long time and we had to ride a lot of possession from them. But I thought we were just starting to get ourselves in the game and then yeah, just obviously two quick goals by them, which we’re disappointed with both off set pieces, which we sort of pride ourselves on that, so that’s disappointing. I thought after that, we started to grind ourselves into the game a little bit. I thought we finished the half strongly, got back into the game a little bit and then second half, obviously the scoreline dictates a little bit, but I thought we were obviously on top – we had way more of the ball, we dictated the game a lot more. But, story of our season, I just looked at the stats, they had 15 shots, nine on target, we had nine shots, three on target. We’ve got to turn those moments where we could turn the screw into goals or this season is going to end the way we don’t want it to. So, I think that obviously disappointed with the goals we conceded, but proud of the group that they dug in because it was hard. I think that’s the best I’ve seen Portland play in a long time – in the first half, I thought they were excellent. But I think for us, we’ve got to look at some of the things that we did in the first half and turn those slim little chances into quality chances and in the second half, having that much of the ball and sort of having that momentum and pushing, we knew we would open ourselves up doing that, but I think we have to look at, in those moments, how we turn those momentum moments into goals.”

On struggling to connect crosses in the box:

“It’s frustrating, I think, because most people in the world know what (defender) Sofia (Huerta) and (forward Megan Rapinoe) Pinoe do. So, I think it’s not surprising what’s about to happen, and they know too, Portland knows it’s coming, so I think that we have to just be mindful of it, we have to commit to it. I thought in the second half we did a little bit better at it, we were inches off rather than being miles off. I thought first half we were miles off on that. Yeah, we’ve just got to turn these little moments – we’ve got to get on the same page, it’s crucial. Then, we’ve got to look at, is it the right time to cross? Is it an extra pass or something like that if they’re set up? I think, obviously, overall frustrating night. But I just said to the players, we win our home games and we’ll get in the playoffs. So, I think that’s always been goal No. 1. We would like to get another goal of winning the Shield, that’s going to be difficult now. I think that we have to regroup, we have to have a little breather – obviously, players are going off for international duty and come back and put things right against North Carolina.”

On making the decision to start goalkeeper Claudia Dickey a few weeks ago:

“Well, that was my choice. So, I wasn’t pushed to do that. I totally made that choice. That wasn’t down to anyone else or anything else. I chose that I wanted to start Claudia and everything on that.”

On the team did better in the second half:

“I think we just got hold of the ball a little bit. I think we defended a little smarter at times. We turned their backline a little bit more, we made them face their own goal a little bit more. I think they were the keys to it.”

OL Reign Captain/Defender Lauren Barnes and Forward Megan Rapinoe

On their thoughts on the match:

Megan Rapinoe: “Yeah, it’s tough. Obviously, they do a really good job of overloading the midfield; they have a ton of quality in the midfield. It just felt like we were sort of chasing it. They had quite a few good chances, but still, not conceding a goal on open play and just coming from set pieces just can’t happen. So yeah, it was tough.”

Lauren Barnes: “Probably the best counter-attack team, too, we’ve played in a long time. It was fast today.”

On leaving Providence Park to a standing ovation and what that means to her:

Megan Rapinoe: “It’s happy tears. It’s obviously sad. I’ve been trying to impress people in Portland since I was 18. To be able to play college here and have so many amazing memories, even the rivalry, these are always the very best games. So, even when you’re on the losing end, like tonight, it really sucks. It’s always really special playing here, obviously a packed crowd – I don’t think it was all for me, but I mean, probably, basically, mostly [laughs] – to have it be another meaningful game in a city that I love so much and has meant so much to me, just such an important soccer city in our sport as well, I have so much love and respect for the fans here and how they show up for their team and I obviously have a lot of good friends on the other team. So yeah, emotional.”

Download here: Postgame Press Conference (at POR) • Saturday, September 16, 2023