Quarterfinal Postgame Press Conference (vs. ACFC) • Friday, October 20, 2023

OL REIGN vs. ANGEL CITY FC

POSTGAME QUOTES

Quarterfinal • Friday, October 20, 2023 • Lumen Field • Seattle, WA

OL Reign Head Coach Laura Harvey

On her overall thoughts:

“I thought in the first half, Angel City were the better team and I think we needed to sort out just some of our defensive stuff and then I thought in the second half, we dominated majority of the game and that tends to be sort of how we play – if we can get our defensive shape right and get our triggers right, then we can cause teams problems and we’re OK with them having the ball in certain areas. I felt like we were pushing and pushing and pushing. I thought we lacked quality in the first half, too, we kept giving the ball away when we went back, but we had a little bit more quality in the second half. Yeah, obviously goal really late and just happy to get over that hump that you like to keep reminding me about [laughs].”

On this being the last game in Seattle and her message to the fans:

“I think the atmosphere that Lumen has created has been amazing and I said it after the last game with (forward Megan Rapinoe) Pinoe, we believe we’ve got a product here that people want to see and I think you saw tonight, there was a quick turnaround, no one knew we were going to have this game and still we got a decent crowd and the atmosphere was electric tonight and if we can get the crowd that we got in Pinoe’s game or closer to that for the majority of the games, just imagine what we can do. I think you saw with the players how much of a lift it gives them, it keeps driving them on. So yeah, just thank you to the fans and I think we always push for more, we always want more, but I think we’ve proven this year that we’re a team that will dig in and will work hard for you and it’s nights like tonight that make it all worth it.”

On having a healthy availability report:

“Yeah, honestly, it’s like a double-edged sword because it’s amazing, but it’s hard because we have a really deep roster – there’s people not in the 20 [available players] that truly deserve to be there because they’ve works so hard this season. But, the flip side of that is you can see what depth we truly have, not just on the bench, but people who don’t even make the 20, we have a really deep roster and I think that we’ve had to rely on those people a lot this year. But, getting (midfielder) Rose (Lavelle) back on the field, getting (defender) Sofia (Huerta) back, I think you just see a little bit of their quality, which is amazing and yeah, it’s been a long time coming. I think Rose was not really ready last week and obviously getting her out there tonight was important for her and I felt that she made a big difference.”

OL Reign Forward Veronica Latsko and Forward Megan Rapinoe

On the adjustments the team made at halftime:

Veronica Latsko: “I think we just made adjustments off the first half and I also think that we’re a team that’s just, we’re in it for 90 [minutes], we’re not in it just for the first half or the second half, we’re in it and we had to grind through the first half and I think we relaly wore them down. I think in the second half, we came out with much higher intensity, which I think that it really showed for the entire half.”

Megan Rapinoe: “Yeah, exactly what (forward Veronica Latsko) Ronnie said, just adjustments made. We had not a very good first half, a lot of just technical errors and losing the ball and we didn’t obviously want to keep that going, so I think just a little bit more focused and intensity. (Head coach Laura Harvey) Harvs made some great adjustments at halftime and I feel like we kind of figured out the press a little bit better and yeah, I think we made it really difficult for them and we’re really dangerous on the counter as well.”

On what it is about Angel City that allows her to score the bulk of her goals against them:

Veronica Latsko: “Honestly, I don’t really remember when I score goals, it’s just like every game is kind of like a blank slate, so I don’t know what it is about Angel City. Yeah, honestly, we just have really good players that put really good services in every game and it makes it easy for us.”

On how good it feels to get the Reign’s first playoff win since 2015 and if it feels like a curse has been broken:

Megan Rapinoe: “I don’t think it was a curse, I think we’ve just been playing not that well in the playoffs – certainly last year we didn’t. The year before that, we actually played really well and just didn’t get the result. Yeah, I think we’re a lot more mentally tough this year. Like V said, games are for 90 and we’re in it and focused and I think we added some important pieces – I thought (defender Emily) Sonnett was huge tonight, (midfielder) Jess (Fishlock) also at the end making tackles, (defender Lauren Barnes) Lu making tackles. I think we have a little more grit about us and I think when you get into the playoffs, I mean, if you can play nice, great, but usually you’re going to have to get weird and have that intensity and grind things out. So, I think that is what we’ve added and that, I think, tonight got us over the hump because it wasn’t easy – we didn’t play amazing, we didn’t have a ton of chances, they had the bulk of the ball and we had to work really hard and dig in, it was tough.”

Download here: Quarterfinal Postgame Press Conference (vs. ACFC) • Friday, October 20, 2023