Head coach Ben Olsen
On the importance of the three points…
"It’s hard to get results on the road in this league and that brings emotional ups and downs. We need to manage that and understand that while we’re essentially on one long road trip, we still need to get points. I have to manage expectations, but we still need to come away with something every now and then on the road... these three points go a long way in that process."
On the team's fast start...
"I thought we looked fresh and our energy was fantastic. I know they had a game on Wednesday and I’m sure that played a part in us looking sharper at times… however, I thought we were disciplined for a majority of the game. We pressed in the right ways, particularly in the first 30 minutes, then we got a little undisciplined towards the end of the first half. We played very well in the second half with a 3-1 lead and we had a good balance of defending, striking on the counter and making good decisions on their end of the field. We weren’t able to get the fourth goal, but overall I thought it was a good performance from the group."
On the team's improvement this season...
"We’re growing as a group and still have some things we need to improve on, but we're getting better with each game. At this stage of the season, it’s about grabbing points and we were able to do that today."
Midfielder Paul Arriola
On overall thoughts about the match...
"I thought we came out really well. We’ve started off well in games and once again today we were able to get the first goal early on. The difference in this game compared to the other three games we played where we scored early, we were able to add another one. And after that we were able to manage the game. Obviously, we didn’t want to give up a goal toward the end of the first half and coming into halftime we knew it was going to be tough. We knew they were going to throw more numbers forward. They had a little more hope when we should have put them away. But in the end, the second half I thought the team did great to defend the box and defend with a lot of numbers. We had enough chances to put the game away in the second half and we weren’t able to do that, but the good news is we kept the result the way it was and we walk away with three points.”
On the team’s improving chemistry on the field...
“I think it’s just confidence in finding the right team, formation, and the type of style that we’re going to play but we were able to do that today. I think also against Salt Lake last week, I said it during this past week that I was confident in the team and my teammates and what we we're trying to achieve here. This game was 100 percent winnable for us and that’s how we went about it. We didn’t come to sit back and play like an away team like we had early on in the season. I think we’re a completely different team now from the start of the season until now and we're really finding our rhythm. It’s a great win and we can hold on to the win for maybe a day or so and rest, then focus on the next game.”
Defender Steven Birnbaum
On overall thoughts about the game...
“Great first half. It was what we wanted to do. We came out and we said we were going to put a lot of pressure on them and force them into mistakes. The good thing is we capitalized on it. We got three goals off pressing plays that we’d been working on all week leading up to this game, so it was really nice to see that come to fruition. It was a littler unfortunate to give up that goal at the end of the half and we need to do better with that. The goal for us is to keep a shutout, but overall, I thought the guys ground out the second half. Overall, it was a good performance.”
On the team’s composure and grinding out the win...
“It was great. Everyone worked defensively, not just the back four. I thought the back four played really well tonight, but the midfield was great and the guys up top really busted their butts to get into positions where it was tough for them [the Earthquakes] to play out. We needed to capitalize on our chances in the second half so the game isn’t so nervy towards the end, but we're just happy we got the three points.”
