Pre-Match Press Conference (vs. POR) • Saturday, August 5, 2023
OL Reign Pre-Match Press Conference • Saturday, August 5, 2023
Head Coach Laura Harvey and Midfielder Olivia Van der Jagt
Head Coach Laura Harvey
On her thoughts ahead of the match:
“I just think throughout the whole of this tournament, we’ve had a very clear target and part of that target has been reached. I think with the tight turnaround of a semifinal, being able to play at home would be great, which would be fantastic for us. I think this group deserves the opportunity to go out tomorrow and be able to compete and show what they’re about, again, so we’re really looking forward to the game.”
On the mood of the club ahead of the match knowing that they could clinch the top seed:
“It’s Seattle-Portland, you’re always looking forward to that game whenever it comes around. The fact that it’s got a little bit of something on it for us and for them, it’s probably Seattle-Portland and that’s the biggest target for them. I think it’s great and the fact that we’ve got a good attendance potentially coming just isn’t surprising because it’s the fact that it’s Seattle-Portland, I think, is great. I’m just really happy that this group gets a really good opportunity to go out and show who they are again. I’ve said this before, I’ve really enjoyed this period of working with this group, being able to have time together to train, which we’ve got a lot of prior to the San Diego game and because we played on a Friday and this game is on a Sunday, we get a little bit more training time. So, it’s just been nice to be able to see the girls progress and tomorrow’s another opportunity to evaluate where we are individually and collectively as a team with pretty much what we’re potentially going to look like going into our next regular season game, hopefully, with (midfielder) Angelina and (midfielder) Quinn and (forward) Jordyn (Huitema) back and hopefully not anyone else. So, I think, yeah, it’s just another cool opportunity to see this group and see what they can do.”
On the roster she has built and how she feels it has looked:
“I mean, we’ve got to the semifinals, so everything else is a bonus in regard to Challenge Cup. We’ve got where we want to be. We have to then get ready for whatever that game looks like. I think the bonus would be playing at home. But did we set the roster up right for that? Maybe, it looks like we did – we haven’t conceded a goal, we’ve been able to play all these players, which has been great. But then I think what it has enabled us also to do is see what we look like without some of our big starters. I think the plan was never, in the preseason, to play this period without (midfielder) Jess (Fishlock) and we’ve had to do that. So, it’s even more been a really cool thing to see the group progress without her because that definitely wasn’t planned. We just want to get through this, we want to go out on a high in our group stage to set us up for the regular season to kick back in and then to go and turn our attention to the semifinals, whenever they come around.”
On how nice it has been to have additional training time:
“Great. It’s been great. We get a little breather again after this game because we don’t have a game the following weekend. So, it’s been nice, it’s given us time to find the balance between training and recovery, training and film and digging into the details of film and then going out and putting it right on the training field, which during the slog of the first half of the season, we were doing all of that, but we weren’t able to really train it, we had to show if we can put in what we learned in film and all that stuff into games, whereas now we can actually work on it and focus on it and practice it going into limited amount of games now and more training time. So yeah, it’s been really nice, I’ve really enjoyed this period.”
On how Fishlock is doing:
“Good. We’re just taking our time. It was obviously an injury that we tried to manage in a different way, where we kept trying – we tried against Louisville, she broke down, we tried against Orlando and she broke down, so we were like, all right, let’s treat you in a different way and we’ll just shut you down completely so we can get this time to be able to get you fully fit and raring to go when the regular season kicks back in, so that’s the aim. Same for her – she’s training, she’s back with the group now, which is great. I’m looking forward to having her fit and raring to go Jess Fishlock.”
On midfielder Olivia Van der Jagt’s development:
“She’s exceptional. I think she has a huge future. Her talent alone enables her to do that. How she’s progressed, how she’s developed, her mentality to being a professional, all these things, I think she has been the nicest surprise I’ve had in my coaching career for a long time. When we bring in rookies – why did we get her in the third round? I think the expectation of what you’re going to get from them, it’s always different. But, what she’s able to commit to every week, what she’s able to put out on the field every week, she doesn’t play like someone who is in her second season and everyone’s journey is really different. I think that some players take time and will still achieve really high things. For (midfielder Olivia Van der Jagt) Olo, like you said, she’s integral to us. I think she is now probably feared by opponents, too, which she would never believe, but I think it’s true because she’s really impactful in games, she’s very, very impactful. So yeah, she’s an exceptional talent. We’re very lucky to have her.”
Midfielder Olivia Van der Jagt
On her thoughts ahead of tomorrow’s game against Portland:
“We’re really excited and as you guys know, the rivalry, so we’re just ready to get after it and of course we want to make an impact and get the first seed so that we can play at home in the Challenge Cup, so I think everyone’s just prepared to go out there and fight like we always do against Portland and have that winning mentality.”
On if it feels surreal for her playing in the rivalry after watching it as a fan:
“Yeah, going from watching it and just having that foundation of Seattle-Portland rivalry and growing up from Seattle, it’s always been a thing and now competing in it, I feel like every time it’s just, you know it’s going to be a fight, you know that we want to win the Pacific Northwest. So, I feel like it’s really cool to be in the environment. We got to play Portland so many times last year and this year, so I feel like now, you kind of just know what to expect with the rivalry.”
On the team’s success so far this season and how it feels moving forward to the second half of the season:
“I think it really motivates us and it just shows that we have such a deep team that we can both succeed in Challenge Cup, regular season and I think it just really motivates us to move forward and push on our goals of winning the Challenge Cup, winning season and getting into the Championship and winning that. So, I think it’s just a really good start for us and we just need to move forward and keep pushing through the end of the season.”
On the team expecting more than 11,000 fans tomorrow and what it means to her to see the growth:
“I think it’s really special to see the fanbase growing and just how we’re getting all these fans out, especially for a Challenge Cup game, too. It’s really cool to feel that when you’re on the field – the environment and people cheering and if we are kind of having a tough time in the game, I just feel like it gives us that extra push and that extra energy and I think it’s really, really special to see this, especially in a game that – like last year, I know our Kansas City semifinal game had a ton of fans too. So, I think it’s just really special that so many people are coming out to support and it’s growing, so it’s really cool.”
On not conceding a goal through five Challenge Cup games this year and how important that has been for the team and what she credits that to:
“I think we have talked about it a lot and that’s one of our principles, just being really hard to beat defensively and that’s kind of one of the things we pride ourselves on. So, we’ve definitely had success in the Challenge Cup, even with rotations throughout the roster and I think that’s something that just shows that our mentality, that we just want to be really, really hard to beat and defensively sound. So yeah, it just shows that we want to be a team that’s hard to beat and that’s kind of like our foundation going forward.”
On her role with the team this year compared to her first year last season:
“I feel like my first year, it’s kind of looking to a lot of the older players and the veterans, them kind of teaching us and helping us out and I feel like this year, especially with a lot of people gone and having a younger team, it’s kind of more of a responsibility of, we need to step up and kind of help the people around us and kind of just playing a different role, even coming from last year to this year of just learning how much I learn throughout the seasons is kind of just stepping up and playing a different role of just helping those around me. The veteran players and the World Cup players aren’t always her, so it’s just an opportunity to kind of step into that role a little bit.”
Download here: Pre-Match Press Conference (vs. POR) • Saturday, August 5, 2023