Swope Park Rangers head coach Paulo Nagamura
On the loss to Ottawa…
“I think we came out flat to start the game. We were not ourselves tonight, which is disappointing because it’s our last home game. We’ve been taking advantage of the home game and playing some of our best performances, but tonight wasn’t the case. We came out flat out of the locker room. Ottawa did a good job of pressing us and we didn’t adjust or have solutions on the field to deal with that. We knew they were coming in looking to high press us but again we came out flat.
I thought the two yellow cards (on Rennico Clarke) were really soft, and that effected the game again. Unfortunately, if you want to agree or not, those calls put us a man down. To be honest, I think we adjusted well in the second half. The guys came out with much more energy and were playing smarter. It’s tough to play with 10 men for 45 minutes, and I think they did a decent job.”
On the adjustments to playing a man down…
“It was the mentality going into the game: playing simple and working hard and don’t try to overcomplicate things. Ask for the ball and have options to play with. These were things we didn’t do in the first half, and I tried to say that to them at halftime. It’s difficult when you play a team that is fighting for the playoffs, they’re coming here to get points and you play a man down for 45 minutes. We still did a decent job and grabbed a goal at the end there with Ze Pedro. But it’s still not done in the last five minutes. We should do a better job and lock it in and defend. We knew they were good at playing through the middle and we didn’t do it. So, overall, a disappointing night and we rest up and prepare for the next two games.”
Swope Park Rangers goalkeeper John Pulskamp
On the fight of the team…
“The team was amazing in the way that we reacted after the first half. Everyone did their job and came out and it was amazing in the second half.”
On the halftime adjustments…
“Coach Nagamura definitely had a lot to say at half, and I think that just kind of sparked it in all the guys to come out with a new fight.”
On his performance…
“I just did my job like everybody else on the team. I think all 10 players on the pitch did their job in the second half. It was tough for the referee to give them a goal and then put us a man down the rest of the game, but I thought we reacted well to that.”
Swope Park Rangers defender Jaylin Lindsey
On the loss to Ottawa…
“We started out OK but there were points in the game where we needed to keep the ball. We like to have a lot of possession and that’s something we weren’t able to accomplish in the first half. We had a lot of fight in the second half and got a goal back, but the last five minutes of the game are always crucial. They scored late to win the game, so that’s just something we’ll have to learn from and bounce back on Saturday.”
On playing down a man in the second half…
“The one thing I’m proud of the most was our fight from halftime until the end of the game. It was astonishing for us to come back a man down and tie the game. Unfortunately we allowed one late, but I’m pretty proud of the guys for the way we responded in the second half. We weren’t able to come out with a point today, but there’s a chance for us to get back at it this weekend.”
On SPR’s improved performances over the last few weeks…
“There was a point where we got tired of not getting the results we wanted. There was a point where we decided we were going to come out, press hard and not give up to the very end. That’s shown the last couple games where we’ve won or tied home or away. I’ve loved the effort we have shown late in the season. It’s unfortunate it didn’t start at the beginning of the season, but it’s something we can build on for next year.”
