Cardinale Stadium; Seaside, California
Saturday, August 13, 2022
Sporting Director & Head Coach Frank Yallop
On coming off of a loss and winning this match at home:
“I expected us to come out strong because we’re at home. It was a disappointing result in San Diego on Wednesday. I thought we played well enough to get at least a draw in that game, but there was a penalty that went against us. We got the guys back on Thursday and had an easy day on Friday to get ready for this game. This team we played tonight is a very good team, and they showed it. Great performance tonight, good win, I’m very happy.”
On coming out strong in the first half:
“I think eight of those guys played 90 minutes on Wednesday night, so we couldn’t maintain the pressing that we did in the first half, but I thought we did great. We had fresh guys with Christian [Volesky] and Adrian [Rebollar], but quite a few of the guys in the back 4, and the goalkeeper, all played 90 minutes on Wednesday night. We couldn’t maintain our normal pressing and work rate, but we did a nice job of being compact in the second half and making it difficult against a team that’s good. I’m pretty happy and pleased by the way we went through it.”
On the game slowing down in the second half:
“It was a choppy game, but I think Antony [Siaha] made an unbelievable save early on in the game. He’s been incredible with his presence and ability to keep the ball out of the goal. All of us have confidence defensively now, it’s not just Antony. Kai [Greene] and Hugh [Roberts] are massive right now for us in the back four. And our two fullbacks, they are working and doing great on both sides of the ball. Grant [Robinson] is getting himself forward well, and so is Morey [Doner]. Pretty happy with the whole squad and the spirit. We have to keep going. I’m looking forward to the next game against New Mexico away. We’ll see if we can get another good result.”
Defender Hugh Roberts:
On a hard-fought win:
“Our mentality has changed. Last time I talked to you guys, I said we needed that one signature win to get over the hump. I haven’t seen you all in a little bit, and we’ve been on a bit of a streak, but like I said our mentality has changed over this last month and a half. We know we don’t have to win pretty. We’re all committed and dedicated to first, get the shutout, and then second, get that one goal and sacrifice our bodies to keep the shutout.”
On beating a quality side:
“It feels great, especially after Wednesday where we ended up losing 1-0 after that little streak, but you can either keep your head down or keep it going and we got together as a team and as a back four to keep a shutout again and get another streak going. The fact that we beat a quality team was alright, but we owed these guys. They beat us twice already and another time in preseason. We knew we had lost three times in a row and we had a little chip on our shoulder this game. It was more so us fighting, not doing it pretty, but doing it ugly knowing that we were going against our rivals. We were up for the challenge tonight.”
On knowing the opponents and the preparation for the match:
“We knew it was 2-1 in both of the previous games, we took a look at both of those results, and they were decided in the last 15 minutes, both games. We knew we had that goal, and we wanted a couple more, but once it hit the 70th minute, because of those last two games, we held strong. Our overall IQ has gone up as well, we knew they were going to throw attackers forward like the last two games. We learned from those experiences, and you can see this group maturing out there now. They threw on some more attacking weapons, but it didn’t matter to us because we knew at this point in the season, we have to grind it out and do it ugly if we have to.”
Midfielder Adrian Rebollar
On the win:
“We’re in a position right now where we’re just a couple of points behind the other teams in the table and every point counts. Obviously, it was a bit tough to go out on Wednesday and play San Diego, but it’s nice to come back home and get our three points.”
Midfielder James Murphy
On the game feeling disjointed:
“It was a choppy game, I think we started it pretty well, it was pretty fluid. We got our goal which I think we deserved with the way we started the game. Then from that 25-minute mark in the first half the game kind of wasn’t fluid anymore. We probably weren’t good enough on the ball, and I think they [Sacramento] would say the same for themselves. Sometimes, games are like that. At the end of the day, we battled through a tough game and got three points, so we’re happy about that.”
On three games in eight days:
“It’s more mental than physical almost, because your body is really feeling it toward the end of these games. Especially with three games in eight days against playoff teams. You know you’re going to be run down and physically exhausted. It’s about mentally continuing and telling yourself that you can get to the end of the game, especially when we’re winning in a game like this. We know that we have to dig in to get three points, and we did that.”
