Seattle Reign FC at Angel City FC Pre-Match Press Conference • Thursday, September 5, 2024

DOWNLOAD PDF HERE

Head Coach Laura Harvey and Defender Shae Holmes

 

Head Coach Laura Harvey

 

On how it feels to be on this current run:

“It feels great. I think we’ve been working really hard. We’ve, again, like you said, stuck to a lot of the things that we really believe in. I thought last week was a really, really big performance and three points by the group. I’ve said this a lot, I think credit to all the staff and all the players that were there in Louisville because that has always been a really difficult place for us to go to, so to come out of there with three points is just exceptional for us. I think I’ve said it all the way along, I think sticking to our principles, sticking to our process, we always believe that we will be able to turn the corner. I think the additions that we’ve made throughout the summer have really helped us with that. I think there’s been things throughout the season that have been big turning points for us. I remember the last game we lost in the league at Kansas, when it was a really devastating defeat because we actually played pretty well, but the scoreline did not reflect that and since then, in the league, we haven’t lost a game. So, I think that we’ve definitely been turning a corner for a while, but now obviously the last two games, we’ve really got the reward of three points, which has been fantastic.”

 

On the performances of the recent signings:

“Yeah, I mean, Jordyn Bugg is the real deal, so I don’t have to say too much about her. She speaks for herself. I just think they’ve brought freshness and lightness and professionalism and energy into the group. I think when results haven’t necessarily gone your way but you believe that you’re on the right track, something like that can really elevate you and I think each player has brought that in their own different way. I think Coco (Nerilia Mondesir) is an exceptional talent that is a spark. She just brings joy when you watch her play, honestly. But we know we’ve got to manage her a little bit because she came in with a place where she hadn’t played for a while, so that’s been her journey so far. And then I think Ana has been great for the group on and off the field, just her experience and knowing what to do in the right moments at the right times, and off the field too, just a good energy around the group. And then Jaelin brought some good presence. I thought, going back to Louisville so quickly was, I’m sure, challenging emotionally and I thought she handled that well – kicked a few people while she was there, which I’m sure they appreciated [laughs]. Obviously, we’re disappointed not to have her tomorrow. So yeah, I think everyone’s brought their own little bit. Ainsley, our young one, is an exceptional talent and is going to be a fantastic player in the future. So yeah, we’re really happy with what we were able to do in the summer and some of it will reap the reward of it now, some of it, we know it may take a little bit of time, but like I’ve said for a long time, we’re in this for the long haul. So, even though we may not get necessarily everything we want this season, we know we’re setting ourselves up for success in the future as well.”

 

On Angel City also being on a good run right now:

“Yeah, I think similar to us, really. I think they’ve just clicked a little bit lately. I think some of their players that weren’t necessarily getting a ton of minutes earlier in the season are now getting minutes. I look at someone like Messiah Bright. I think she’s been great. They have a lot of depth. I think that their older, experienced players are all coming back to health. So, we always have good games against Angel City. I really enjoy coming to my second home and being around my family and I think that this stadium is fantastic and brings a fantastic atmosphere. It’s a place that I always circle on my calendar every year because I think the games themselves are always exciting and to play at this stadium is always pretty fun. So yeah, I think they’ve just clicked. I think that’s the biggest thing.”

 

On how she is doing and how the fitness of the team is:

“I think I’m the worst one of the lot, I would say. No, I think everyone’s fine, everyone’s doing OK, no real changes to that. Lu (Lauren Barnes) came through last week well, so that’s a positive. I’m just trying to take it easy. Watching the game on TV is by far the most stressful thing I’ll ever do, so I don’t want to ever have to do that again. But I’m definitely on an uphill curve, which is great because last week wasn’t fantastic for me.”

 

On adding Jaelin Howell to the defensive midfield group with Quinn playing well this season:

“Last week was the first time that we really got those guys together. I think it’s a balancing act of Jess, Ji, Quinn, Jaelin and then what it looks like coming off the bench. I honestly think with Jaelin, we haven’t scratched the surface, to be honest. I think just being around her for a couple of weeks now, I think we can really elevate her game, to be honest, which is exciting. I think it’s an exciting place to be. I’d work with Jaelin a little bit when I was at the national team, so I knew that she obviously had some really good attributes. But I think one thing I’ve learned in the last couple of weeks is that she’s an absolute winner and she really wants to get better – she really wants to be coached, she really wants to learn, she really wants to learn off her teammates, so I think she’s in the right place, to be honest. So yeah, exciting to see how that evolves, obviously really disappointed that she couldn’t push on from last week, I think it would have been a great opportunity for that. But yeah, we’re obviously in the two weeks that we’ve had her and been able to get her on the field and we’ve seen that she can definitely imprint herself in this team moving forward, which is great.”

 

On Alex Morgan’s impact:

“I feel like, Pinoe (Megan Rapinoe) retiring, Kelley announcing her retirement, I think Alex is – I feel like we’re coming towards the end of an era a little bit. That era, I was present for a lot of it, which I’m quite thankful for. I think one of the things that I will never, ever forget is actually, we played Portland when Alex was at Portland, and obviously we hate Portland, and we played them in 2014 at Memorial and we were on this unbelievable run and everyone was going crazy and loving the Reign and then Portland turn up and Alex’s name gets announced at the start and the cheer for her is as big as the whole of our team and for someone from Europe, that’s just unheard of, it just would not happen, and I was so pissed off about it. But I think the magnitude of who she is and what she had done for the game and continued to do really hit me that, she probably, at that time, was bigger than the game and what a burden that must have been to carry for so long, and not only carry it, but then be able to perform consistently at the highest level. I think, obviously, 2015, 2019, with the national team specifically, she was a catalyst, among others, into their success. I think the move to San Diego – I just remember a lot of people going, is she going to be able to do it? Because she hadn’t maybe had amazing goal-stat seasons, really, for a while, and she goes to San Diego and absolutely turns that club into something overnight. I’m not giving her the full credit, but I think it’s no surprise to me that she’s not scoring as many goals this season and they’re not at the levels that they were before. I think that just speaks volumes to who I think she is as a professional, that even at, I’m sure at the age she’s at and where she was probably at mentally thinking about whether this was the right time for her to go, the last two seasons in 22 and 23, she’s probably had some of her best goal-scoring seasons in domestic football than she’s ever had. I think that speaks volumes, probably, to who she is, that she consistently wants to be the best. I think the gravity and magnitude of who she was way back at the start of the NWSL, I didn’t really understand it, to be honest, until I saw it with my own eyes. Like I said, it pissed me off, but I think it just speaks volumes to the burden that she’s had to carry. I think she’s always done it in the right way. She’s always fought for the things that are important to her, whether it be equal pay, whether it be the Yates Report and what came from that, she’s been willing to stick her neck on the line in a multitude of ways, and again, there’s a few players in that little group who have done a similar thing, but I think Alex was one of the ones that was always the front face of that because of what she’d done in the game and the sort of gravity of her stardom was at. So, I think that we owe her a lot, we owe her a big thank you to what she’s done for the game and I’m sure she’ll continue to really impact the sport, even when she’s not playing.”

 

Defender Shae Holmes

On what it has taken for the club to defensively lock down opponents:

“I think overall, our biggest thing is just that we’ve been trying to find our identity again. I think, for us, we know at the core that when we press, we’ve just got to be all committed to it. I think that’s what we really honed in on, especially as a backline, like when we go, we go, we rotate, we back each other and then we just be so aggressive that they just can’t make the next move. I think that’s what’s helped, not only the backline, but the whole forward line through midfield. When we’re going, we’re going as a team and I think that’s been the biggest difference. But yeah, I think overall, it’s been great because it’s been like, we’ve had games where it’s like, yeah, we’ve had clean sheets and then we’ve had some where we’ve gotten some goals scored on us, but it’s nothing too significant that we haven’t been able to solve, so that’s also been very positive.”

 

On playing against Alyssa Thompson:

“I think in general, yeah, we know that that frontline is going to be a tough one. I mean, so many forwards in this league are unreal and quick and fast, but I think we have a lot of confidence in the backline – I mean our whole team – but the backline to deal with that frontline. Like I said, I think it’s just about being the ones that we set the tone and being the ones that commit to the way that we want to play in our style and our identity and everything will follow suit. I mean, we have speed all across the backline from Sof (Sofia Huerta), all the way through Phoebe and I. So, I think even if one of us gets broken down, we know that we have another speed influencer in the back. Yeah, we’re hoping that that can be what contains them and not let them get a goal and hopefully get a clean sheet from that.”

 

On the defense rotating throughout the season and how it has evolved:

“Yeah, I think what’s been great, and I think I’ve touched on this in the past as well, but for example, I’ve gone from, I start, I play, I’m on the bench, I’m ready, there’s been a whole bunch of those players that are like that. For me, personally, I’ve gotten to play in that time that I’m not starting or not playing, I get to play with Jules (Julia Lester) and then I get comfortable with Jules. In that same time lapse, it’s like when we’ve had some injuries and sicknesses and then I got to be on the right side and play next to Sof. I’m comfortable then with Sof. I’ve always been comfortable with Phoebe and Lu and Lily in practices. I play with all of them on the left side and I’ve played with Phoebe and Lu interchangeably. Last year, I played center back to their outside backs and then this year it’s been, I’m outside back to their center backs. So, I think it just helped the depth we have and the ways that we get to go about trainings and the different roles that all of us have filled in different moments of the season. We’ve gotten to play with each one of us, so I just think that’s been huge and what’s helped us show those results now is because we’re all comfortable with it and we all know what to expect from each other because we’ve had that time together.”

 

On being nominated for the Lauren Holiday Impact Award:

“I think, in general, it meant a lot. I mean, I know it sounds cliche, but I’m speechless about it because growing up, I didn’t get to watch a ton of women’s soccer or soccer in general, I was like an American football family, so Lauren Holiday has had a huge impact – that was someone I always watched, with the U.S. especially. Then to see her have her passion from off the field into the community, I think that’s a huge step in how we get to now spotlight people in our community. I think the biggest thing for me is, I supported this nonprofit because Claudia Longo, the founder and CEO of M.S, I’mpossible, she’s one of the most inspiring people I’ve ever met. I met her freshman year of college. Lesle Gallimore recruited both of us to go to UW and I just think that I was never not going to support her and do something I was passionate about. She’s someone, one of my best friends, that I’m passionate about what she does, that I was always going to support her nonprofit and her organization and be behind her no matter what. She’s always been that for me no matter the situation. So, I just think it was really special. It’s special that I get to highlight M.S., I’mpossible. It’s special that we get to, as athletes, have this impact award from Lauren Holiday to just show that this is what we’re passionate about, this is what we’re doing in our community and it’s cool to just get to show everyone that this is what we like to do outside of soccer. I just think M.S., I’mpossible meant a lot to me no matter what, but now I’m even more excited to showcase what M.S., I’mpossible is and what Claudia Longo, the person she is.”