Cardinale Stadium; Seaside, California
Saturday, May 14, 2022
Sporting Director & Head Coach Frank Yallop
On the Rio Grande Valley defense:
“We didn’t start particularly well in the game for whatever reason, but I think the middle spell in the first half, we had some chances we could have at least done a little better on. But again, we didn’t take those chances until the one Hugh [Roberts] put in. I think we should have at least had a draw with the chances we created.”
On the second goal:
“I haven’t seen it yet. It’s difficult when you’re sitting down there to see any kind of angle or what happened very clearly. I think Carlos [Herrera] made a good attempt to save the first one. I couldn’t see it all that well from the angle where I was, so I’ll have to look at it.”
On the match:
“I think it was an entertaining match. I don’t think the fans went away saying it was boring. I don’t think they went away thinking we were not trying our best to win. We kept going to the end and on another night, we could have had a tie. I think a tie would have been a fair result in this game. Obviously going down to 10 men in the middle of the second half gives you a bit of a mountain to climb, but we had good chances after that point. If they had got that third goal and killed the game off, then so be it, but I thought we defended well other than the one or two moments that they scored on. I think Hugh [Roberts] and Kai [Greene] defended well and were strong.”
On being away from home for so long to start the season:
“Mentally, it’s good to be home sleeping in our own beds and getting ready for the games here. The initial stretch of away games now is over, which I was dreading before, but at least we got one win out of it and then we took ourselves into the next game at home and we got a win out of that. It’s disappointing not to get something tonight, especially with a tough game in Louisville next weekend and then Colorado, who is top of the league right now coming back here after that. There’s going to be some tough games here, so we have to learn how to play here, quickly.”
On the first half injuries:
“Carlos [Herrera] just got into the team and made his pro debut last weekend and now halfway through this one he’s injured. I don’t know what the injury is, I haven’t spoken to the trainer yet, so I’m not sure. It’s disappointing for him. He was very unlucky on the goal that he tipped off the post. Then we had Arun [Basuljevic] go out as well, who has been a very good player for us. It’s been a tough few weeks.”
Defender Grant Robinson
On breaking down RGV’s defense:
“A couple of us played there last year, so we know that’s something they pride themselves on. They’ve only given up five or six goals in eight games, so we knew it wasn’t going to be easy to find the net. We were able to get one in the first half, but they really locked us down in the second half and we had trouble breaking through. Defense is something they pride themselves on and they did a good job.”
On the match:
“We’re really disappointed, honestly. After the win last week, we wanted to show everyone that it’s not a onetime thing, so it hurt us a lot not to win this game in front of the fans. Throughout the game we thought we were in it, even with the red card. There were moments where I thought we could easily have scored, but the keeper made some good saves for them. At no point did I think they were running away with the game; it just wasn’t our day today.”
On the team’s resiliency:
“That’s a reflection of the team, the coach, the owner – everyone from the top down. We know we’re going to take our lumps and it’s going to be tough, but everyone is willing to go the whole game. I don’t think anyone on our team had their head down thinking it was over. I think that’s important, and I want to convey that to everyone who’s listening; we are going to give everything for 90 minutes every single game, so if you guys stick with us, we’ll keep going and keep giving our best. I think our energy levels were great, it just wasn’t our day.”
Defender Hugh Roberts
On his goal:
“We’ve been working on set pieces for a while now. We’ve got some good size on this team, so it’s all about putting the ball into hopeful or dangerous areas. We really love the chances we’re creating and we’re going to start taking advantage of them. Honestly, it was a great goal and a great feeling too.”
On the breakdown during the second goal:
“I would say it probably started from a bad clearance. We were stuck in our corner, and it came right back onto us and then from there we were all out of sorts because everyone was trying to get up the field. We were caught in a bad position starting from the clearance and then from there it was like a domino effect.”
On the health of the team:
“We knew we had this quality, especially the back four, because we’ve been playing together all preseason, but injuries have been holding us back. For us to build this confidence, it speaks volumes of us and it’s great to have these guys back from injury too. We had more guys injured again tonight though, so here we go again in this same situation, but it was good to at least have the back four so that we could build some more chemistry.”
On defensive communication:
“It’s hard to hear us with the fans screaming and yelling at us all the time, but we talk a lot on the field. A lot of it is instinctiveness as well, so when a ball goes over the top or a ball is in a tough situation, we have good enough chemistry now to where it’s kind of unspoken. I know Dallas [Jaye] is going to come off the line and clear the ball, and he knows me and my speed, so we’re talking a lot, but a lot of it is instinctiveness and chemistry.”
On the fans:
“We’re so happy to be here at home. We hear the fans the whole game, and it’s not just them cheering for every good moment. They actually know the game of soccer. Every time we get out of a situation or move the ball well, we hear them clapping and cheering. And we appreciate that more than just ‘go so and so,’ because we see that they understand the quality of our game. It’s the little things you have to appreciate, like the one-two touches, the nutmegs, and getting out of tough situations. We hear the oohs and aahs and it makes us want to be even more creative and just play our game. We appreciate all of it.”
