Pre-Match Press Conference (at KC) • Thursday, August 17, 2023
OL Reign Pre-Match Press Conference • Thursday, August 17, 2023
Head Coach Laura Harvey and Forward Elyse Bennett
Head Coach Laura Harvey
On how the team is looking and who is expected to be back from the World Cup:
“Team is doing good. We’ve had some good time to train, refresh a little bit, obviously in preparation for this game and this sort of sets up the back end of the season run, really, going towards the end. [Forward Jordyn Huitema and midfielder Quinn] Canadians are back, (Brazilian midfielder) Angelina is back, the U.S. players aren’t back, it’s just too early for them – we flew yesterday, I think the fact that the game is on a Friday, the fact that the game is away, it was just, probably, a day too early. So, they’re all back in market but not quite ready to play in a game.”
On if there is an update on midfielder Jess Fishlock:
“She’s really close to being ready to go, but yet again, probably one day too early.”
On how crucial the success of the Challenge Cup set the team up for the back end of the regular season:
“Yeah, honestly, I think the way that we’ve looked at it is, we’ve looked at them in two separate ways – the Challenge Cup being sort of put to bed for a little bit now. We achieved what we wanted to achieve out of that, which is great. I think it has been helpful for us to utilize the depth of our squad, but now we’re back to business and the regular season is a big – obviously, the most important thing to us is getting to the place we want to be, which is the playoffs and that’s the next target – can we qualify and get into the playoffs and then if we can do that, then we look beyond that. But until that time comes, it’s every game as it comes and Kansas away is a really tough place for us to come, so we’re just fully focused on getting points tomorrow.”
On the Current being a good team in transition:
“Yes, definitely still their biggest threat, I think. Their biggest threat is in transition, in my opinion, and we have to be prepared for that. I think in all of their games that they’ve played recently, too, they’ve been really, really dominant at it, doesn’t mean that they can’t hurt you in other ways, but I think that’s definitely their biggest strength going forward is their ability for them to transition on you when you give the ball away.”
On getting the World Cup players back in and if having a cluster of matches helps her get everyone rotated in:
“Yeah, hopefully. I mean, having everyone back, I can’t wait for that. I think it’s been a long time, shorter than we all hoped but it feels like a long time. So, getting everyone back on the same page, getting everyone back ready to go because it’s different this year than it’s been in major tournaments where there’s six regular season games left when everyone’s back together – that’s not a lot, so we’ve got to get back on the same page pretty quickly and get ourselves up and running as fast as we can.”
On how the rotation of the team over the course of the season makes this easier for her to have success:
“I think it means we don’t have to rush people back if they’re not ready because we do have true strength in depth and we believe in the roster.”
Forward Elyse Bennett
On returning to the regular season:
“I think it’s been fun for us to get some of the girls back and obviously we’re still missing others, but I think it’s always great to get the whole team back together and keep the competitiveness high. I think that training has been great while they’re away, which is what we aim to do when we lost them. But now it’s just kind of getting everybody back together, getting our feet and getting ready for these last seven games in the regular season.”
On the Current:
“I think that one thing you always know about Kansas City is that they’re going to be pretty good in attacking transitions, so I think that’s something that we have prepared for and we’re aware of. So yeah, I think that we rate them highly in that category and that we’ll have to be ready for that come Friday.”
On returning to Kansas City and if it feels familiar or not:
“I think it’s a little bit of both. I think that the city’s familiar, the fans were always great to me when I was here and I was super blessed to be here my rookie year and be so supported when I entered the league and I think that’s something that I’ll feel tomorrow when I step on the field and I’m excited for that. But there were a lot of changes in coaching staff and player personnel, so there’s a lot of differences but a lot of similarities and a lot of my good friends are still here, so it’s going to be nice to see them again and be back on the field that I played all of last year on.”
Download here: Pre-Match Press Conference (at KC) • Thursday, August 17, 2023