Postgame Press Conference (vs. HOU) • Saturday, May 6, 2023

OL REIGN vs. HOUSTON DASH

POSTGAME QUOTES

 

Saturday, May 6, 2023 • Lumen Field • Seattle, WA

 

OL Reign Head Coach Laura Harvey

 

On her overall thoughts on the match tonight:

“Yeah, I thought it was a good performance. I thought we controlled the game at times. We knew that they would come and try and play a little bit, so we had to give some things up, but I felt like we had some really good performances from a lot of players. I thought, obviously, (forward) Veronica (Latsko) getting the goal, (forward) Jordyn (Huitema) getting the goal, great. I thought (defender) Lu Barnes was exceptional. I thought (defender) Sam Hiatt was exceptional. I feel like they tried to get down their side a little bit and they didn’t give them anything, really. I said to (goalkeeper) Phallon (Tullis-Joyce) at the end, when we’re getting clean sheets and she’s not having to pull off huge saves, then we know that we’ve had a good night. I thought the no goal, call back thing – I don’t really understand why that was called back. I don’t understand why the handball wasn’t given earlier in the play. So, it could have been easier.”

 

On Latsko’s performance:

“Well, she’s physically capable to compete and last year, she started the season really well – in the Challenge Cup, she got a ton of minutes and then she hit a little bit of a confidence block and started to come out the end of it, at the end of last season. The season sort of ended at the wrong time for her. We’ve been adding a few things to her game in regard to positioning and with the ball mainly and as a potential replacement for (defender) Sofia (Huerta) and then (defender) Ryanne Brown’s pretty much stepped up to the plate for that, which has been great, which means now we can really focus on Veronica playing higher and doing what she wants to do and playing where she wants to play. So, I think she is super reliable because she’s physically capable to be able to do it, which is great. She’s a lunatic trainer. She always wants to do more and she’s obviously robust and that’s good for us because we need that. We’ve obviously got a lot of the injuries right now, so someone like (defender Veronica Latsko) Ronnie can really step up and be huge for us and yeah, she seems to like scoring against Houston.”

 

On what the Reign did differently in the second half:

“We were able to get down the sides of them a little bit more. I thought we got down the sides of them a little bit towards the back end of the first half, we just didn’t have enough quality on the service and then we got down the sides of them in the second half. I think, was it (forward Megan Rapinoe) Pinoe’s cross to Veronica? Yeah, I tend to black out in goals. But yeah, I think obviously Pinoe to Veronica and then I think the second one with Pinoe breaking and then us being able to split them in between was good. They’re difficult to play against. (Dash head coach) Sam’s (Laity) obviously an excellent coach. They’ve been playing between this back-three and a back-four all season, so we weren’t sure what we were going to see and we didn’t have a lot of time to prepare for either. So, I think those things you could see in the first half that showed that. Then, we sort of tweaked it a little bit in the in the halftime to prepare for that, but I think just getting down the sides of them and having some quality in the final third.”

 

On playing against Laity for the first time:

“Yeah, it was weird. It was weird. I’ve done this – I’ve come back to the Reign, so I know what it feels like. It’s weird. When I came back with Utah (Royals) the first time at Memorial, it was probably the most emotional I’ve ever been at a game. When we shook hands at the start, he said to me, it was weird and he had a little bit more emotion differently at the end, with the result. But yeah, I’m so happy for him. I’m so happy that he’s getting the credit he deserves. I think you can see in his team that they’re well coached, well prepared, they’ve got a game plan – you can see what it is. I’m just really happy for him that he’s getting that credit because he’s been someone that I’ve leaned on for 10 years and to trust someone like that and to have gone through stuff with someone like that to actually see them get that credit, it’s just great. So, I knew tonight would be weird and I’m sure it was for him. I’ve already messaged him and said that was weird, I didn’t like it.”

 

 

OL Reign Forward Jordyn Huitema and Forward Veronica Latsko

 

On her assist to forward Jordyn Huitema:

Veronica Latsko: “We do a lot of crossing and finishing. We try to say that we are really ruthless and we’re trying to be really ruthless in and around goal. So, anytime you’re playing with (forward Megan Rapinoe) Pinoe, it’s like get in the box because she just has the absolute best deliveries and then (forward) Jordyn (Huitema) has been non-stop training with her headers and it’s paid off so much. Again, you look up, you see Jordyn Huitema in the back post, get the ball to the back post. It’s kind of self-explanatory.”

 

On facing Houston Dash head coach Sam Laity:

Veronica Latsko: “(Houston Dash head coach) Sam (Laity) obviously really knows the Reign and how we play. So, it has kind of been a cat and mouse like – oh, Sam might think we’re going to do this, so we’re going to do this, or we know that Sam wants to do this, so we got to do this. At the end of the day, once you get on the field, it’s 11-v-11 and it’s soccer, so you have to adapt and regardless of the game plan that you have, you have to adapt. I think we came into this just being like, it’s an opportunity to get three points, doesn’t matter who we’re playing against or who their coach is, it’s an opportunity for us to finish out a three-game week and get three points.”

 

On the team’s chemistry:

Jordyn Huitema: “This is obviously my first team in the NWSL and it’s the best team I’ve played on ever in my life, probably. The group is incredible and it’s genuine. It’s not fake, what you see is what you get, everything that we do on the field for games, we’re doing it in training times 10. We’re just wild and we love each other and it’s so genuine. We have each other’s backs so much and we have hard conversations, we say tough things and then we’re open arms after games. It’s just all of it. It’s such a healthy relationship with everybody within the team, it’s just so good, front to back, top to bottom, coaching staff involved as well, it’s just such an incredible group that I’m really proud to be a part of because it’s incredible. It’s kind of unheard of in a way. I haven’t played on a lot of teams that have this kind of connection, so it’s definitely special.”

 

On head coach Laura Harvey’s trust towards forward Veronica Latsko:

Veronica Latsko: “I’ve had two really bad injuries. I’ve had two ACLs and soccer has been taken away from me. I think, for me, every time I step on the field, I try to remember how grateful I am to be able to be here and to be in this environment where, regardless if you’re getting five minutes or 90 minutes, you’re treated so well as a human being. At the end of the day, that’s the most important thing for me – you can have an amazing soccer coach who treats you like garbage and you’re miserable when you’re off the field but when somebody treats you with such respect and you matter regardless of the minutes that you’re getting, like our staff does and our teammates do, it makes the biggest difference and it makes you so committed to this team so that regardless if there are games that you don’t get in or there are games that you get in and you’re in like stoppage time and you’re just that sub and it’s like, yeah is it a bit of a dagger to go in at that time? Yeah, but at the end of day, your team trusts you enough to put you in and close out a game or to be there – whatever role that you may need to be in. I’m just really grateful for that. I’m grateful for this environment and for this team.”

 

Jordyn Huitema: “I think, also, whether it’s two minutes or 90 minutes, (forward Veronica Latsko) Ronnie shows up and I think it’s her mindset and her work. Ronnie will grind a game out and everybody knows that. No matter if she hasn’t played for a few games and she’s in to play [90 minutes], she will play [90 minutes] and she will play it till the final whistle goes and I think everybody has so much trust in her, including the staff, that I think it pays so much for her mindset and everybody knows that Ronnie will always be on. I haven’t seen a game where [Latsko] is off, I have not. I genuinely haven’t seen her come in and not try her best and you know that’s what you’re going to get. I think she’s so consistent and I think that’s why we have so much faith in her and I know that’s why the staff have so much faith in her to come in no matter when we need her, at any point, she shows up.”

 

Download here: Postgame Press Conference (vs. HOU) • Saturday, May 6, 2023