Alyssa did a great job. There were a couple of misunderstandings between her and Michelle because they were new to each other, but that was expected. I was very pleased with her. Alyssa was able to contain certain situations and cut off a lot of passes. She played very hard. |
Brittany didn't score, but she went hard to the ball and definitely showed a lot of heart. Erika did a real nice job on defense on both sides of the field and looked very good. |
Defensively, they hung in there, knocked the ball around and slowed the pace down. That's exactly what we wanted to do. |
For a spectator this was a great game to watch. You could tell they had the momentum, then we had it and then they had it. It was a very, very close match. I feel fortunate, but I'm glad we came out on top because it was anybody's game. |
In all the coaching clinics that I've taken, one of the comments you always hear is that if you coach a long time, at least once you will get the pleasure of coaching an athlete that could be at the Olympic level. I really feel that, in my career, she'll probably be the athlete that has a chance at becoming an Olympic athlete. |
The momentum was with us. We had it after that penalty kick. We created our chances. But for her to take that kind of a shot and surprise the goalkeeper like that, you could see our whole team get up and get ready to go. |
They are the two most consistent penalty kick takers we have. But normally if (a player) is involved in a play, I do not let that individual take it. That player might be too emotional, and it's bitten me before. But at the last second, I said, 'You guys make the decision. One of you is going to take it.' I think they made the right decision. |
We had an opportunity. They had an opportunity. This is one of those games where it could go either way. I'm definitely glad to be on the top end of it. |
What can I say? Anytime you win it feels good. I'm proud of the girls for hanging in there. |
You knew they weren't going to give up. We saw that the other night. I'm telling you, I was concerned toward the end. |