Orlando Pride Head Coach Seb Hines
Opening Statement
“I think Cori [Dyke] nailed it. I think every game, especially at home, we want to walk away with three points. Kansas [City Current] were a tough nut to crack at times. You know, they got a lot of bodies behind the ball. They made it very difficult for us to try and create anything. I also think there was quite some good opportunities to score as well. I feel their keeper was phenomenal. I thought she was busy enough to try and keep them in the game. We'll take the positive. Like you said, another clean sheet, another great defensive display. We move up, we move forward.”
On playing against a team with 11 players behind the ball
“That was incredibly tough. Kansas are a great team. They've got a lot of players who can really hurt you in transition, and obviously we were mindful of that. We probably weren't as brave as we usually are in the in the middle to attacking third, but I thought again, we created enough opportunities to try and win it. I think Kansas’ game plan was almost a smash and grab kind of game plan. Try and be defensively solid and hit us on the counter-attack, there was probably one or two moments where we lacked a little bit of concentration, but nothing resulted in a goal which was pleasing. It is something that we will continue to work on, in case any team takes that same approach.”
On Cori Dyke’s play
“She was phenomenal tonight, probably the biggest test in the league trying to defend a player like [Temwa] Chawinga. There are moments where Chawinga gets in behind, but [Cori] takes her right angles, she didn't get too tight, and just that understanding of what she needs to do to try and negate moments for Chawinga to face her up and get forward. Big task for her, but she embraced it. She went after it both in possession and out of possession. I was really pleased with her, and also the backline and goalkeeper but again, it was a really good defensive effort from everyone. The moments where the midfielders had to cover that space to eliminate those balls into Chawinga as well, kind of forcing it up to the opposite side, and then reading those moments to ultimately change pace and affect the player on the ball down their right inside. I thought that was really effective in the second half.”
Orlando Pride Defender Cori Dyke
Opening Statement
“I think we’re feeling pretty good. We’ll take another shutout. I think this defensive unit works so well together and works so hard. We’re definitely proud of the shutout but obviously we wanted the three points because that’s our standard. But can never complain about a shutout.”
On playing against Temwa Chawinga
“She’s obviously a player that demands a lot of respect. [She is] a really talented player. We did a lot of preparation this week, watched a lot of film and went through a lot of defensive strategies. I think with that, a lot of visualization, but at the end of the day trusting my instincts and trusting the support of the players around me.”
On preparing for a team looking for a counterattack
“Breaking down a low block is a different challenge but it’s something we’ve worked on this year and something we’ve practiced. It’s a little different approach, you have to be patient and have to be clean with your passes because you can get complacent while they’re sitting back. That’s what they’re looking for, one errant pass to counterattack, but I think we did a good job of staying disciplined and moving the ball well.”
Orlando Pride Defender Kerry Abello
Opening statement
“Well, first of all, I thought Cori Dyke had an unbelievable game, Cori and the whole back line. To kind of end [Temwa Chawinga]’s scoring streak was a big deal. Overall, I think we were really solid. I think we did well managing their transition, and I think we did it in numbers. You know, we got around the ball, got a lot of numbers around the ball. No one was kind of left defending by themselves. We covered for each other. I think after one of the plays, I said to [Emily Sams], thanks for having my back, but we know that our teammates have our back, so it really gives us that confidence to defend with intensity. Overall, great performance from the defense. I'm really proud.”
On the team’s aggressiveness
“We knew transition was their game, right? We know Chawinga is super-fast in transition and dangerous, so we wanted to manage that. I think it was just seeing where their numbers were and preparing early. Luckily, on my side, I think I was still able to get pretty high into the attack, depending on the numbers that they had. It just takes a lot of communication organizing it. We didn't want to take our foot off the gas at all. We wanted to send numbers forward, get in the box and leave as many as we needed back to manage their transition.”
On playing against Kansas City’s counterattack
“Super tough. I mean, we couldn't get one on them tonight, although we had some really incredible chances. I thought we did a great job of breaking them down, even when they were in a low block. We had some awesome chances, but their goalkeeper had an incredible game, so I have to hand it to her, but it posed some difficulties. It's nothing that we haven't seen this season. I think we find ourselves in that situation often, at least we have this season. So, we're used to it, and we're ready for that challenge."
