Portland Thorns FC vs. Seattle Reign FC Quotes
June 16, 2013
Portland Thorns FC Quotes
Head coach Cindy Parlow Cone
On the change between the first and the second halves:
“It took us a little bit for everyone to get used to each other. Obviously, everyone knows we took the blow of Becky Edwards tearing her ACL midweek of training, so we literally had one day of training to sort that out. We didn’t find out until Thursday so we had Friday’s training and that was it to sort out how exactly we were going to play with that group of 11 together.
“It took us a little while to get really organized and to understand where everyone needed to be. It was a new system as well today, so I think that took a little bit of time. At halftime, knowing that we were OK, we were doing well, I just felt like we needed to push further up the field, we were sitting in too much for what I like.”
On Danielle Foxhoven’s impact in the second half:
“Dani’s proven all year that she’s our super sub. She comes into the game and she changes the game. It’s a really difficult role to play. It’s very challenging to come off of the bench, come into the game and have to find the game quickly, and then not only find the game, but contribute to it.”
On playing for Becky Edwards, who suffered an ACL injury in training midweek:
“This game was for Becky Edwards. She’s the heart and soul of this team, whether she’s on the field or not. It was so great to see everyone rally behind her and just really play for Becky tonight. Those of you who know Becky, the one thing that comes to mind about her is her heart. She plays with heart. She leaves it all on the field and she’s the first to pick up a teammate, to congratulate them or to build them back up when they’re down. To lose her was a huge shock for us the day before the game, but it was so great to pull out the win for her today.”
On the play of goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc and her PK save:
“Karina, whether she wears the captain arm band or not, is a fantastic leader for us. I’m so fortunate because I have so many leaders on this team that I can turn to and she leads on and off the field as well. For her to come up and make that save on the PK late in the game just allowed us to relax a little bit and keep it a 2-0 difference.”
On playing without the national team players:
“Every team is dealing with the same thing. Seattle lost a lot of players to national team duty as well, and that’s just going to be the way it is until we’re able to take off the FIFA play dates. It’s just the nature of the beast and you’ve got to do the best you can, and I was really proud of how the team stepped up tonight.”
On entering the second half of the season:
“Moving forward, the nice thing is we will have our national team players for the rest of the season so we can really start to build on what we want to do as a team. We won’t have players in, players out, bringing up amateur players. The roster will be pretty set, so that’s comforting in knowing who’s on the team and that we’ll have those players every single game. We can continue to get better in every area, just a little bit sharper with everything.”
Forward Danielle Foxhoven
On her goal in the second half:
“In warm-up before the game, I was feeling the bend towards the far post. I don’t really know why, it just felt on. So when I got in that position, I knew that was what I wanted to hit and it hit the side netting and was perfect – exactly what I wanted.”
On her role as a second-half sub:
“Going into the season and knowing what team I was stepping on to in Portland and the players that we had here, I knew that I maybe wasn’t going to get to be a starter as I had been in the past in college and in Russia. Going into the season, I just had the mentality that I was going to make the most of every minute that I got and I didn’t care how much that was, whether it was 30 seconds or a half or 90 minutes, I was going to make the most of it. I’ve really embraced that role and I feel confident the team knows that when I come on that I’m going to bring energy, I’m going to bring a spark and offer my little bit, whatever it is. I think I’ve done my best to do that.”
On her chemistry today with midfielder Mana Shim:
“She’s one of my good friends. We live together, so we get a lot of time together off the field and we’ve really gotten to know each other’s styles. She’s such a unique and dynamic player and I feel like I can work really well off of that. I think we read each other well and she’s so much fun to play with.”
On playing for Becky Edwards:
“Today was for her. It’s such an unfortunate loss and definitely a big one for our team. She’s the center and the heart of the team; she’s played every minute of every game. She’s just been a huge part of this team and she still will be. Today was definitely for her and that brought an extra bit of motivation to us.
Midfielder Mana Shim
On contributing a goal and an assist in the win:
“It is incredible. All of my teammates have been so supportive and saying, ‘It’s coming, it’s coming, don’t rush it.’ It was really a great day for it to happen. Finally I was able to settle down and not force it and it just came. It was really nice.
On the team’s play in the second half:
“In the first half we sat off of them a little bit, and didn’t press them enough defensively and gave them too much time and space and we talked about that at halftime. Going into the second half, we just put a little bit more pressure on them and we had better chances by winning the ball further up the field. I think that was the big difference.”
On the pressure of stepping up without the internationals:
“There is obviously pressure. Alex [Morgan] is a great player, Sinc [Christine Sinclair] is a great player, and missing them is a hit for us; everyone knows that. But, the important thing was focusing on who we had here and what we were going to do, our game plan, not focusing on what we were missing. I think the last game when we played Chicago, we were a little bit nervous about that – we were playing not to lose. Today, we got after it. We have great talent everywhere; I think we have the deepest bench in the league and that really showed through today.”
On earning the result without the international players:
“We didn’t get it done a couple of weeks ago against Chicago, and today we really came together and battled as a team. With Becky [Edwards] out and national teamers gone, we really needed to step up and I think we did.”
On the mentality of the team after losing Becky Edwards to injury earlier in the week:
“[Losing Becky Edwards] was obviously a really difficult thing for our team. All week and even in the pre-game talk, Cindy [Parlow Cone] talked to us about heart and how we needed to have heart as a team and really play for each other and work hard and embrace the opportunity. We are very fortunate to be out there and I think we realized that with losing Becky so suddenly, and we just put all of our heart out there; that’s what did it today.”
Goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc
On making the save on the penalty kick:
“Some of it is a guess and some of it is reading it. I tried to do both and I guess I got lucky. It’s just one of those things as a ‘keeper, you try to think you know what you’re doing – sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn’t. This time it worked out.”
On the momentum gained by saving the penalty kick:
“As a goalkeeper, you always dream of making PK saves when that opportunity comes. Obviously, when that happens you see the reaction on your teammate’s faces and it makes you feel good. I think it was important for us because it calmed us down and I think it gave us the right energy to believe that we could really pull out this win.”
On playing without the international players and injured Becky Edwards:
“For us, looking at this adversity, what an opportunity for us to show this league that without some of our international players we still have a great team. We had individuals step up today and that was key for us and I think we got that confidence in ourselves. The first half wasn’t the best, but in the second half we showed exactly what we wanted to show, which is talent together with one another and we were able to get the result. “
On changes in play from first to second half:
“In the second half, we just came out and calmed down and believed in ourselves. That’s the biggest thing, for us as a team is for us to believe in ourselves no matter who is on the field, and I think in the second half you saw that. No matter, what we were going to push. We truly believed that we could get this win and our fans are a big part of that. We know that we have them behind us and that is why it is so great to play at home in this environment, because when you’re tired and don’t want to make that extra run, you are doing it for each other and you’re also doing it for the fans.
Notes:
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Thorns FC were playing without U.S. Women’s National Team members Alex Morgan and Rachel Buehler and Canada Women’s National Team forward Christine Sinclair due to international duty.
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Portland was also playing without midfielder Becky Edwards, who sustained a torn ACL during training earlier in the week.
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Sunday’s attendance of 13,802 is the second-largest crowd at JELD-WEN Field this season.
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Midfielder Elizabeth Guess made her first start of the season for Thorns FC.
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All three of forward Danielle Foxhoven’s goals have come as a second-half substitute.
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Foxhoven has scored in consecutive matches, tallying a goal in the same minute (48) of the last two games.
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Thorns FC are 3-0-0 when Foxhoven scores a goal.
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Midfielder Meleana Shim recorded her first professional goal and assist on Sunday, becoming the second Thorns FC player to tally three points in a match.
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Defender/midfielder Emilee O’Neil made her first appearance for Thorns FC since entering as a second-half sub in Week 1 against FC Kansas City.
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Portland has scored 11 of its 18 goals in the second half of games.
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Thorns FC have recorded more than 10 shots in nine of their 11 matches in 2013.
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Defenders Marian Dougherty and Kathryn Williamson are the only two Thorns FC players to be on the field for every minute of all 11 games this season.
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Portland is 8-0-0 when scoring first, including 4-0-0 when scoring first at home.
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Thorns FC improved their overall record against Seattle to 3-0-0 in 2013.
- Portland has conceded an NWSL-low three goals in the first half of games this season.
