Quotes: Portland Thorns FC vs. Seattle Reign FC
Head coach Cindy Parlow Cone
On the atmosphere at JELD-WEN Field for the first Thorns FC home game:
“This was awesome. I was walking around the field with Rachel Buehler and we looked at each other and she’s like, ‘This is like the World Cup!’ That’s what it felt like. It felt like that atmosphere we had at the World Cup and at the Olympics. It was an unbelievable atmosphere.”
On the on-field changes made from a 1-1 season-opening draw:
“I think we changed a lot. I don’t think the way we played in Kansas City was the way that we want to play. I think that we were all over the field, and just because we hadn’t played together. We put in four new people that we haven’t had most of the preseason and I think it was difficult to adjust to that. But we had this week of training and I think we were able to get to know each other a little bit better. I think our rhythm was better, I think our defensive organization and choosing when to press and when to drop in was much better than in Kansas City.”
On the team’s chemistry:
“I think the chemistry both on and off the field with this team is outstanding. Are we where we want to be in August? No. We’ll get there. We’ll continue to get better. We made some mistakes tonight and we will look at those and we will continue to get better from week to week.”
On the pairing of Christine Sinclair and Alex Morgan at forward:
“Those two players are world class. They are just unbelievable players individually, and then you put them together and they just work together. They know where each other wants the ball, how they want the ball and in what area they want it. It was fun to watch them combine tonight.”
On the game’s first goal:
“I thought we had some good possession in the first half, we created some good chances. I think the goal allowed us to relax in the terms of ‘Okay, we got that goal. We are at a good place and we can keep playing from here.’ To go into halftime, to get that goal was huge.”
On momentum heading into next week’s match:
“We have got to build on this. Are we excited that we got three points? Of course. It wasn’t a stellar performance, it was a good performance, a solid performance, but our goal is to get better week-in and week-out, so we’ve got to be even better when we go to Chicago.”
Forward Christine Sinclair
On the record-setting crowd:
“They are here cheering for us. I wouldn’t want to be the away team in this stadium. Just realizing that they are out here, cheering us on, supporting us and just enjoying it is why you play the game. I think it can be intimidating, especially in this league. This is going to be the only city that gets this type of crowd and when you haven’t been here before it’s intimidating.”
On returning to the city after playing collegiately at the University of Portland:
“My time at UP was incredible. This is just a soccer city, and just telling friends on the team just wait, just wait they will come out in huge numbers. It just felt like home out there.”
On playing more in the midfield against Seattle:
“It was an adjustment on my part; more feeding the forwards instead of being the one receiving the ball.”
On her chemistry with Alex Morgan:
“Tonight you saw it more than in Kansas. On the goal, I just stole the ball from their back line and I remember seeing Alex starting her run and I just hoped she continued it and she did.”
Forward Alex Morgan
On the size of the crowd and any added pressure to win:
“We are soccer players, we don’t mind the pressure. As a forward, it’s my job to score goals so going out there I think we knew the task that we needed to accomplish. We worked all week towards it. We didn’t get the win last week so we were even hungrier this week and seeing that we had so many fans that came out to support us we knew we wanted to walk away with that W.”
Defender Rachel Buehler
On the atmosphere:
“It was incredible, when we jogged out on the field at the beginning of the game and everyone was cheering P-T-F-C, it was almost like a World Cup-type style (setting). The fans were incredible. They created an absolutely amazing environment.
On the differences in play after the first game:
“It was a much better game for us. We were much more cohesive all over the field in the defense and the attack. I think we had a better rhythm, controlled the possession a little bit more, and applied better pressure on them and we were able to dictate a little bit more than we were last week. I think overall defensively we did much better in Kansas City. I don’t think they had as many chances. I felt like we had a bit more control. They were definitely throwing numbers and hitting long balls at the end of the game, but I think we dealt with that pretty well and absorbed that pressure to keep the win.”
Notes:
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Sunday’s match featured a league-record crowd of 16,479 fans at JELD-WEN Field.
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Defender Marian Dougherty recorded the first-ever Thorns FC goal scored at JELD-WEN Field with a header in the 45th minute.
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Midfielder Nikki Marshall earned the first-ever Thorns FC assist at JELD-WEN Field in the 45th minute, delivering the free kick that led to Dougherty’s goal.
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Forward Christine Sinclair has earned at least a point in two straight games, recording a game-tying goal on April 13 against FC Kansas City and an assist on Sunday.
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Through two games, Sinclair’s three points (1 goal, 1 assist) leads the league in scoring.
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Portland has received goals from three different players in its first two matches, which leads the league.
- Thorns FC defender Jazmyne Avant sang the Star-Spangled Banner prior to kickoff on Sunday.
