Commentary

Postgame Quotes: Swope Park Rangers 2-0 OKC Energy FC

Swope Park Rangers vs. OKC Energy FC - September 2, 2017

Swope Park Rangers head coach Nikola Popovic
Thoughts on the match...
You have to look at the performance. I think what happened before was in a couple of games, perhaps the performance was good, but the result wasn't showing what happened in the games. This game is important because, first of all, I want to say I'm very proud of it and my players. Today we were in front of a very difficult opponent and I'm very proud of them because they were excellent tactically. They followed the strategy. I'm very proud of them.
On snapping the team’s winless skid…
It's always good to win, but sometimes the game of soccer is like that. Sometimes you have good performances, but sometimes a free kick can change the way of game. Of course it's good to win the game and make a good performance.
Swope Park Rangers winger Tyler Pasher
Thoughts on the match...

I thought it went well. We stuck to our game plan in the first half and we got in behind them and exploited their three men in the back with our speed up top. And in the second half, I thought that from the start we were playing our game: keeping possession, moving the ball, making them work. Towards the end, we just had the attitude of let's just close this out. Put every man behind the ball, defend, and look and see. And that's what we did. We came out with a 2-0 win.


On snapping the team’s winless skid…
It gives all the guys a boost of confidence. This is kind of where we need to pick it up, really change our form, and peak to start getting ready for the playoffs.
On the team’s versatility…
Everybody's ready. We train all week. Everybody's training in the positions that they might come in and play at. Everybody's prepared for whatever scenario is going to happen.
Swope Park Rangers forward Lebo Moloto
Thoughts on the match...
It's a good game. I thought it was good to get a clean sheet regardless of the two goals. I can't remember the last time we won a game, actually. So it feels good to get points.
On snapping the team’s winless skid...
It was good, especially when we have seven more games left. It's a good confidence boost because we've played well in all the games we've tied. We're fortunate to get points, but it feels good to get the full three points and keep going.
On his second goal of the game...
For some reason, I anticipated that Felipe (Hernandez) was going to dribble it. He dribbled it and I just stayed in the box. He was able to cut it back and it was easy to tap it in. He did all the work.
OKC Energy FC head coach Jimmy Nielsen
Thoughts on the match...
We were poor today. It was the second worst performance of the year. We were poor as a team and poor on individual performances against a good Swope Park Rangers team. I can live with losing, but you don't lose this way. We had so much to play for at this moment here. I'm really heartbroken on our performance. It was poor from the beginning to the end. It was a lack of effort. We've been consistent a little while, four games in a row, with the same line up. We might need to change that a little bit, mix it up a little bit, because that was poor what we saw today. That was very disappointing.
On fighting for a playoff spot...
It didn't look like we were fighting for anything today. And that's the most disappointing part. I can live with losing, but the way we lost today is not acceptable.
OKC Energy FC midfielder Anthony Wallace
Thoughts on the match…
It was a hard-fought match. You’ve got to give credit to Swope Park. They came out with a great mentality from start to finish and we were playing catch-up the whole game. It wasn’t a good start on our end and that played out throughout the game.
On the team’s remaining schedule…
We’ve got two home games coming up and we’ll be looking to get some momentum after this loss, and then hopefully keep that going for the rest of the season.