Seattle Reign FC at Orland Pride Pre-Match Press Conference • Friday, November 1, 2024
Head Coach Laura Harvey and Forward Emeri Adames
Head Coach Laura Harvey
Opening remarks:
“We just wanted to touch on the senseless shooting last night in Orlando. It actually happened two blocks away from our hotel. Thankfully, all the staff and players and everyone involved with the club is safe. But something that obviously has impacted us a little bit today, and I’m sure has impacted a lot of people in the area of Orlando. So, we send out our thoughts to all the family and people that have been affected by last night’s senseless act. So yeah, we’ll start with that.”
On her message to the team ahead of the last game of the season and what she would like to see out of them:
“Yeah, we had a conversation after the Houston game, and you know, I was pretty open with them and said, I have my targets that I’d like to do over the next 10 days, two weeks leading up into Orlando, but I wanted to hear from them what they wanted to get out of the next however many training sessions we had at that point left, and the consensus from the group was that they wanted to prepare and create a game plan and put our best foot forward to go out and come here and try and get a result. So, that’s how we’ve approached it. I think that just sets the tone, really, of this group and what this club’s about. We want to win. We’re obviously disappointed that we haven’t been able to do that too much this year or enough to be able to claw our way into the playoffs, but it doesn’t mean that that’s what we don’t strive to do every day. We definitely strive to do that. So yeah, that’s sort of been the mindset – as a collective, we set the tone of that sort of first session back after we played Houston, and since then, we’ve been doing everything every day with that in the back of our minds of what we want to try and achieve.”
On generating goals against a tough Orlando defense:
“Yeah, I don’t know if we’re one of the only teams, we may be, that scored two goals against them this year in a game, so I feel like we actually caused them quite a few problems when we played them at home and we didn’t give them a ton of opportunities to beat us outside of the goals that they scored. So, I think that that says a lot about who we are that we can actually create and score against this team that no one seems to be able to do. And credit to them, they’ve had a fantastic year. I’m sure coming off the back of two defeats may make that defense even more want to be stingy tomorrow. But I think for us, it’s about trying to control the game when we can with the ball, and without the ball, make it as challenging as possible for them, and if we win it off them, trying to create opportunities in those moments, I think, could be valuable to us tomorrow.”
On what she is most excited about in terms of the competition across the league as she sees it continue to grow:
“Yeah, I mean, we live in a different world than we used to. I think our first day of preseason was like January 22 and it’s November 1 today. So, that’s a very different timeline than it used to be. It is a grind, you know, it’s hard work. I hear a lot from people outside of the league that the league’s too short and it doesn’t go long enough, and I’m like, ‘OK, come try living in it for five minutes and tell me if you think it’s too short,’ because the toll that it takes to travel to all of these places is a lot. We’ve flown a six-hour flight to get to Orlando. We flew three days before the game because it’s so far, the climate is drastically different from where we’ve come from. So, I think the way that the league’s expanded, the way that the league’s grown has made it a fantastic competition to be part of – every game’s competitive, even like tomorrow, there’s nothing really on the line, really, that matters, but both teams, I’m sure, are going to go out to win and truly believe that they could and you just don’t get that in every league. I think that it is very unique and it is very special and it’s something that should be celebrated. And also, the playoffs, I’ve said for a long time, I think that the Shield needs to have more recognition than it has, and maybe I’m biased because I’ve won it three times, maybe. But, to win this thing over this many games and be consistent is hard. It’s really hard. But the playoffs are different. You don’t need to be consistent. You just need to win three games. I don’t have any bias in the playoffs at all, but I hope that doesn’t happen to Orlando, but it could, right? They’ve been fantastic this year and it could mean nothing and that’s how harsh and how amazing this league is. I don’t know – Bay or Louisville, who could scrape in on that last spot, could win it all and no one will remember that they finished eighth. All they’ll remember is that they won it, and I do think that that’s a cool thing, I just wish that the Shield got more recognition than it does, and now, it’s supposedly got a really cool trophy. So, maybe they’ll send us a couple of them along the way or three. That’d be fine.”
On the character traits of the team and what she’s most proud of after a challenging season:
“Yeah, I think it’s been the most turbulent year I’ve been involved in in this club – from departures to trades, to injuries, to loans – so many things that just keep getting thrown at you. I think the biggest word I can always use as a trait for the group is that they’re resilient. They’re resilient. They turn up every day. You’d never know. If you walked into our training environment or into our film sessions and you didn’t know our results, you wouldn’t know, and I think that says a lot about the culture of this team – that, be acting in a certain way when chips are down and things aren’t going right, it’s just not accepted here, and I hope, long before my time ends or after my time ends and long after Lu (Lauren Barnes) and Jess walk away, I hope that that’s the thing that stays forever because you can’t replicate it. I’ve tried. It’s a special thing that exists in this place and hopefully that will live on forever.”
On the status of all the internationals and other players who have been out with an injury:
“Yeah, Quinn didn’t travel to Orlando, still struggling. The internationals all came back OK. Jess is probably the one with the biggest doubt just that, she’d been out for quite a while and had to show her Welsh heroics the way that only she can and got to play 120 minutes for it, too. So yeah, she’s probably the only one that really we have worries about. And again, you know, if this was a playoff game or this was something that had real meaning outside of it being a game that we want to win, might it be more likely that she and we would want to risk more than we would tomorrow, probably. But I think the year that she’s had, the little niggly injuries she’s had here or there, it’s just not something that we would potentially want to risk if it is something that could hurt her long term. So, she’ll be someone that we have to make a decision about in the morning, I think.”
On the importance of having a strong finish heading into the offseason:
“Yeah, I mean, obviously, we’d love a strong finish. That would be amazing. I don’t think it changes much of what the offseason should look like, if I’m honest. I think the offseason has to be something where we sit and reflect and really try to make things in a better place than we found it this year. I think that’s what our job is. So yeah, I think tomorrow, obviously, if we can get a good performance and get a good result, it might make you feel better for a little bit, but it’s not going to take away from the disappointment that we have over the whole year, I don’t think.”
Forward Emeri Adames
On her reflection of her first season as a professional:
“Yeah, I think it’s definitely been a crazy rookie season, a lot of ups and downs, but it’s been really fun, and I just love my team, and I just love the environment that we have every single day. I love that even at the end of the season, I want to come to practice every day or I’m excited to come to practice every day, and I think that’s one of the things I’ve really improved on this year – knowing when to make your mark or go on the field and just make the most of the time that you make. I think at practice, too, I haven’t always been like the best practice player, but really just knowing how important it is to show up and do your best every single day, I think that’s something that I’ve definitely improved on.”
On what the team has been focusing on to get some goals tomorrow against a tough Orlando defense:
“Yeah, I think we’re really excited to go out there and play. We don’t really have anything to lose. So, it’s just going be exciting to go out there and try some new stuff and really just focus on specializing our special players or doing what makes them special and just kind of making the game plan around that, so I’m excited.”
On what she has learned from the veteran forwards on the team:
“Yeah, I think everybody, all of our forwards are so different, and they’re so special. I think there’s little things that I’ve gone to pick up or ask questions about all the time. Jordyn is just such a great finisher. She’s just really great in front of goal and how calm she is in front of goal. I’ve learned a lot about that from her. Zee (Tziarra King), she’s just such a creative player, and I love that, and that’s something that I love to do in my game. So, just learning those little things from her, all the stuff that she can give me is really great. I’m trying to think – even Ana, I know she’s new to our team, but she was at Barca. That’s so cool, and I just love asking questions and just talking her ear off all the time.”
On being able to explore Seattle and how she has enjoyed it since moving here:
“I mean, it’s so much different than Texas. It’s so beautiful, everywhere is beautiful. Me and Jordyn Bugg have been going after practice and we’ll just start driving and then just see where we end up. We found some really cool places along the water, just some really cool hikes. It’s just so fun and such a pretty place to explore and there’s so many different things to see.”