SEATTLE REIGN FC at NORTH CAROLINA COURAGE POSTGAME QUOTES 

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Saturday, April 27, 2024 • WakeMed Soccer Park • Cary, NC 

Seattle Reign FC Head Coach Laura Harvey 

On her thoughts on the match: 

“I thought we did some really good things. I thought we stuck to the game plan. We executed it, just didn’t show the quality in the final third that we needed. I think we outshot them by a lot, which doesn’t happen often when you come here. We had to do better on their goal, but doesn’t help when your player is on the side of the field for 30 seconds when she could have been let back on. So, bit frustrated with that one.” 

On if she has any injury update for Quinn: 

“Obviously, when someone goes down like that – I actually didn’t see it – I just spoke to Quinn and they said it was contact, which I didn’t see at all, I just saw everyone’s reaction. We don’t think it’s an ACL [injury], but it’s definitely something around the knee, so we’ll get them back to Seattle and get a scan on it and obviously hope for the best.” 

On if the early substitution had any impact on the tactics the rest of the game: 

“No, not really. We have a next-man-up mentality and Olo (Olivia Van der Jagt) stepped in and did that. I think it’s always hard when you have to make changes so early. The way we’d plan to play here, we knew we were going to have to make subs, so making one that early wasn’t the ideal plan. I think this group has shown that they’re resilient and they can really solve things. I said to the players at the end of the game that I was really proud of them today. I think not a lot of things are going their way right now and they could drop their heads and show a different mentality and they’re not and that’s really hard to do. So yeah, making a change that early definitely wasn’t planned, but I thought we did well when we did that.” 

Seattle Reign FC Forward Tziarra King and Midfielder Olivia Van der Jagt 

On their thoughts on the match: 

King: “We came out, we executed the game plan and it was an unfortunate result for us. We never want to drop points at all, but especially not on the road. They kind of got a lot of their attack in transition and off our mistakes and we had a lot of opportunities to to bring one back. So, it’s unfortunate, but we go again.” 

Vander Jagt: “Yeah, I thought our press worked very, very well and it just shows what we can do when we all press together, we press the right way, so I think that’s definitely a positive coming out of the game. But kind of like Zee (Tziarra King) said, it’s just – and I I swear I say this every time – but just the little details, the finishing, we’re so close if we can just put some away. Yeah, definitely unfortunate.” 

On how they keep spirits up following the recent results: 

King: “Yeah, I mean, I think we have so much belief in the group that we have and the talent that we have in our locker room and we just keep going. There’s nothing else you can do. We’re still at the beginning of the season. We’ve just got to keep putting our heads down and digging through this rough patch and once we get the product out there that we want, we will be a force, so we’ve just got to get there.” 

Van der Jagt: “We’re not going to put our heads down. We’re not going to dwell. We’re going to learn from all our mistakes and move on and just look towards the next game. Our security guard gave us a great quote, I can’t remember word for word, but it was like, ‘Good teams get knocked down and come back up, but great teams get back up and they excel,’ and honestly, I think we’re a great team and I think that’s exactly what we’re going to do and I know we all have belief in each other and the coaching staff.” 

On entering the match early as a substitute for Quinn when they went down with an injury and how she prepares for that: 

Van der Jagt: “I don’t think there’s much preparing. I think you’ve just got to go in and do what you’ve got to do. I mean, not preparing in the moment, but I think preparing the days leading up to the game. It’s kind of the expectation that all the subs know the role of what you’re going to play. So, I think that’s something that we hold to a high standard. So, of course, all the subs are prepared to go in and execute the role. But yeah, in the moment, it’s just, you don’t expect it, you just have to go in and do your best, do what you know that you can do and that you’re expected to do.”