Quotes & Notes | Portland Thorns FC 4, Boston Breakers 1 | April 11, 2015

Thorns FC Communications

Portland Thorns FC Quotes

Portland Thorns FC head coach Paul Riley
On the match…
“It was a good performance. I think we didn’t really settle early on, I thought they were a little bit rattled. Obviously, with Tobin [Heath] and Rachel [Van Hollebeke] and Alex [Morgan] coming in later on they didn’t get a ton of work and especially Rachel in the back three. I think we were a little bit sticky early on until we settled and we had a chat at halftime and I thought the second half was really good. I thought the best part of the game for me was the reaction after losing the goal when it went 2-1 and we could’ve got tense and tight, but we didn’t and we kept playing and got our just rewards with another couple of goals.”

On the scoring coming from players expected to be with the team all season…
“As we said in preseason about Mana [Shim], she came in great shape and looks like a different player from last year. Her and Allie [Long] have a great chemistry together as you saw tonight and the goals were coming from that environment. I thought Alex linked really well with them tonight whereas maybe last year there wasn’t that much linkage. I thought the three of them looked really good together and they got around each other. McCall [Zerboni] was brilliant in the midfield. McCall and Sinead [Farrelly] ran the midfield. They picked off a lot of balls. I thought McCall probably was the best player on the field to be honest with you, she ran the show. It’s good to see the group that’s going to be with us playing really well. The back three, especially the second half, I thought they played really well. Michelle [Betos] had a couple of great saves in the first half that kept us in the game, kept the score 1-0.”

On Allie Long playing in an advanced attacking role…
“Allie is good and you saw tonight she’s got in some unbelievable areas even in the first half she had four or five chances that she created for herself. She’s great off the ball, she’s clever, she sees where the space is and she’s got two good feet. She’s got a little bit of composure to her in front of net, which always helps. Everyone says she’s a six or a holding mid, but I don’t think she is. I think she has a little bit more to give and she’s got a little bit more creativity to her. I think when you’ve got Sinead and McCall who can do a lot of the dirty work for you, Allie can take a little bit more responsibility around the final third. I think bringing McCall into the midfield has settled us down and enabled Mana and Allie to go forward and take some risks. I thought they took a lot of risks. I thought we had good wide play tonight. Kendall [Johnson] was very good on the left hand side, Tobin was good on the right side. We had a lot of crosses coming into the box. Obviously, it’s opening day and there are always things to work on, but it’s nice to get the first one out of the way. I just wanted to get to halftime because I thought we had the willies a little bit in the first 20 minutes and then Sinead scored and we started to settle down after that.”

On Michelle Betos’ performance…
“We’ve got two No. 1s, I said that last year and Michelle has been very patient behind Hope [Solo] for one year and Nadine [Angerer] for another year and she’s come in and she knows it’s a great opportunity, she realizes in two weeks she’s going to be the goalkeeper. Nadine, Kaylyn Kyle and Jodie [Taylor] came in late, they didn’t come back until Friday practice. Lot of travel, European travel for two of the three. We felt it we better enough not to start any of them and Nadine is much fitter than she was last year. It’s a difficult one for me next week and the week after while they’re here. She made two cracking saves in the first half. I’ve known Michelle since she was 14, I don’t know whether Michelle would make that [save] a couple years ago. She’s learned with probably the two best goalkeepers in the world and now she’s a starter in this league there’s no question. Good for her. Her feet have improved dramatically, she’s good in the air, she was solid tonight and it wasn’t an easy surface. The balls were flying around on that surface and I thought her handling was excellent.”

Portland Thorns FC midfielder Allie Long
On the team’s response, scoring its first goal soon after a close call on the goal line…
“We were hungry for a goal right away. Once that didn’t go in I think we kind of got fired up and just took it to them, and made sure we scored the first one – should have been the second one.”

On her performance and how it might help launch a successful season…
“I’m just trying to play the best for my team and for myself. My goals, I’ve said it a million times, that my goal is to go to the World Cup, go to the Olympics, and so I’m just striving to keep improving and keep getting better. Games are what are going to help me learn and grow as a player. The NWSL means everything. It’s all that I have to grow and get better each day, to achieve what I want for myself and for the team.”

On her combinations with midfielder Mana Shim…
“[Head coach] Paul [Riley] does these passing patterns in training every day, and so for two years straight we’ve been doing these passing patterns. Right after the first goal, we both were laughing, and were like ‘that was a patented play out of Paul’s book.’ I dummied it, and she chipped it back to me, and it was a goal. That’s something I know he’s probably so happy about because finally what we do in practice came to the field so it was really good to see. It was fun, too.”

On having players who will be with the team throughout the season connecting well…
“It’s the most important thing right now that the core group is connecting, playing well together, and learning each other. I think this is the second year. First year, it just takes time to really learn each other, and right now we have a really good core group. It’s fun to play with everyone. We’re okay if they leave, and we’re even better when the internationals come back.”

On how nice it is to get a 4-1 win to start the season…
“That was our main goal. We wanted to get the first one out of the way. A great win. A win at home, playing well. Obviously, there are things to work on, and we’re not 100 percent satisfied, but we wanted to make a statement for all the hard work we’ve put in. It was a great win. Great for our confidence. Great for our team, and just really good.”

On the atmosphere on the field…
“It was amazing. It’s something that I missed so much during the offseason. The fans are incredible. When we start to get tired, we hear them, and they definitely help us push through, and get us fired up when we need to get fired up. That’s kind of how the first goal happened, too. They were so riled up that the first goal didn’t happen you could feel the energy on the field, and it pushed us to get the second right away.”

On the Rose City Riveters’ tifo…
“It was awesome. They are so creative and amazing. They never, ever cease to amaze me.”

Portland Thorns FC midfielder Mana Shim
On what it’s like to have a strong performance in the season opener…
“It’s a good start. Of course we’re happy to get a pretty clean result with a 4-1 win, but our goal today was to just put out a good performance, and I thought we did that, so it’s a good start.”

On what it means for her to have a good performance in the team’s first game…
“It means a lot. I think it’s exciting that my teammates and coaches believe in me this season. I think they did last year as well, but I feel like I’m in a much better place. Preparation was different this year. I thought I had a good preseason and I’m just excited about where I am.”

On her goal in the first half…
“I feel like we were getting Kendall in a lot on that left side, and I knew it was just a matter of time until one of those crosses was going to come to my feet. I was kind of in between taking one or two touches, but it was such a good ball – she put it right on the plate for me – so it was an easy one-time finish. I was a little bit nervous because I put it close to the goalkeeper, but hard and low and it went in.”

On what it means for the team to get production for players expected to play the whole season…
“It’s huge. I think that we did such a good job as a team of integrating the players. Our locker room chemistry is unbelievable. It doesn’t matter if you put the amateur players in there. I think we’re going to have that same sort of movement and flow because of what Paul’s talked a lot about, and that’s our philosophy this year. So I think that personnel is important, but I think that there are a lot of moving parts, and we know that, so we’re just all trying to be on the same page.”

On her confidence level…
“When I’m having a lot of fun, it’s easy. I think my teammates believing in me, and if I miss [a pass], they’re like ‘it’s fine. I like that you’re trying things.’ And that’s how I feel we’re supporting each other. There were a lot of balls that were close, or chances that we just had, and we look at that person and we’re like ‘I like what I’m seeing.’ And there’s a really positive vibe, so I think people have the freedom to try different things.”

Notes:

A total of four players made their Thorns FC debuts on Saturday against Boston (midfielder McCall Zerboni, midfielder Kendall Johnson, midfielder Sarah Robbins and defender Jodie Taylor).

Thorns FC midfielder Allie Long made her 45th career appearance for Portland on Saturday and moves in second place on the all-time career appearance list, just one spot behind Nikki Marshall (46).

Zerboni appeared in her 45th career NWSL match on Saturday.

Four players who started in Thorns FC’s inaugural home opener in 2013 also started in Portland’s 2015 home opener (forward Alex Morgan, midfielder Allie Long, defenders Kat Williamson and Rachel Van Hollebeke).

Saturday’s match marked goalkeeper Michelle Betos’ second career start for Thorns FC and her third appearance all-time for Portland.

Defender Emily Menges made her ninth consecutive start, dating back to the 2014 regular-season finale on Aug. 17, 2014.

Farrelly tallied her first career goal for Thorns FC and the second of her NWSL career in the match.

Farrelly became the 14th different player in club history to score a goal.

Williamson recorded her first career NWSL assist and point on Saturday.

With her brace, Long moves into a tie for second place with forward Alex Morgan in career goals (14) and is just one behind forward Christine Sinclair (15).

Saturday’s match marked the 10th time in team history that Portland has recorded three or more goals in match.

Long has tallied three career goals in Thorns FC home openers, including the first goal of the 2014 home opener in a 3-1 win against FC Kansas City on April 26, 2014.