SEATTLE REIGN FC vs. NORTH CAROLINA COURAGE POSTGAME QUOTES
Sunday, August 25, 2024 • Lumen Field • Seattle, WA
Head Coach Laura Harvey
On her thoughts on the match:
“I thought the first 20 minutes, we had to sort of get our footing in the game and then once we did, I thought the second half of the first half we were very good, cause them some problems and we were working out our defensive structure a little bit because they’re a good team – they move the ball really well, they will play and play and play – we knew that. I thought in the second half, from maybe minute 5 of the second half, I just thought we dominated and if we weren’t going to win the game, it was going to be because we didn’t take our chances and if we lost the game, it was going to be because we made a mistake, and thankfully, neither of those things happened. So yeah, my overall thoughts were that I thought we had some very good individual performances, which I’ll talk about. But I think, just as a collective group, we knew what tonight meant – nothing to do with me and my wins, but just what it meant getting three points, setting the tone for the second half of the season, giving ourselves a chance to climb where we want to go – we knew we had to win tonight, really, just to give ourselves a platform and we did that. So, I’m a really proud of the group. I thought there was a lot of really good individual performances. I thought Jordyn Bugg was very, very good. I thought the substitutes were great, all came on and impacted the game and you know, the kids can play.”
On Shae Holmes:
“Yeah, we had a very clear strategy of what we wanted to try and do and I think for Shae, she’s very good at front-foot defending and we knew they were going to try and get behind her. So, I think she probably made one mistake in that and that’s when they got in behind us in the first half, but I thought in the second half she was excellent. Shae’s very hard on herself, extremely, actually, so I’m really, really proud of her because I think she gives us a lot going forward. I think defensively, she’s fast, she’s athletic, she can solve spaces. She just needs to work out what the opponent is trying to do against her and when she works that out, she does a good job. She got caught once and that was it. So yeah, I did think that they tried to target her and fair play to her, she stood up to it.”
On becoming the first NWSL coach to reach 100 regular season wins on a night celebrating Megan Rapinoe:
“Yeah, I’ve had an interesting week, really. I am very – as you guys know, I’ve told you this before – I’m very superstitious and I got pulled out of all of my routines this week because I had to go and do so much stuff for Pinoe and it was really great. We did a fan event on Friday. I speak to her and I get to see her a little bit outside of work now. We can have a bit more of a friendship even though we’re probably, I don’t know, four years difference in age. We had a dinner last night and it’s just been really special because she could have walked away from this club the moment she walked through the door – we hadn’t won a game. From the outside looking in, we didn’t look great and she sort of said it over the last couple of days like, the moment she got here, it just fit and the amount of dedication she’s put to this club outside of everything else that she’s done that’s changed the sport globally, what she’s done for this club – herself, Lu (Lauren Barnes), Jess and the foundations that they’ve built are so special that even with the new ownership group coming in, new staff coming in, new leadership coming in, that is what makes this club special. She just reminds everybody about that. So, it’s been a tough couple of weeks, honestly, for me, personally, and she just reminds me why I love this club so much.”
Forward Emeri Adames and Midfielder Jess Fishlock
On the game-winning goal and if she has been able to come down from the excitement:
Emeri Adames: “Not really. My friend in the locker room, I was like, ‘I think I’m going to throw up, like, I’m so excited, I have so much adrenaline right now,’ and then, when everyone was running up to me after the game, I thought that I was going to wake up and be in my bed. I actually thought I was dreaming.”
On if this win could help the team get a late-season push for the playoffs:
Jess Fishlock: “I hope so [laughs]. Look, we knew that this game was going to be really difficult. North Carolina are a very good team. But we also knew that if we want to get to where we want to get to by the end of those nine games that we needed to put in a performance today and we needed to get a win. That’s the reality and that’s what we did. I’m really, really proud of this group. Honestly, we’ve worked really hard in this time period that we’d had off. There’s been some moves and that’s always hard in a locker room mid-season – really, really tough for us – but this group is so together and that’s one of the best feelings and I think you kind of saw that today that we’re really, really in this together. We have a lot of respect for every single person and player in our locker room and I think our performance showed that tonight. So, I’m really happy that we got the reward for that because there’s been plenty of times this season where I felt we’ve deserved a lot more than what we’ve got out of games. So, today was just kind of a really good ending to the last 7 weeks, I would say.”