Sporting Kansas City II head coach Paulo Nagamura
Thoughts on the match…
Very good performance. Very pleased with not only the way they came out of the locker room with intensity, and with discipline and the strategy we had against a good FC Tulsa team. Even though we were one down in the first 20-25 minutes, the guys never put their head down. They kept playing they kept trying to do the things that we talk about prior to the game. To be honest, they deserved the win. We were solid for 90 minutes. Strong defensively. Created a bunch of chances. Could have scored a few more goals but I’m very pleased with the way we performed on both ends of the field.
On the unchanged lineup from Sunday…
It’s team chemistry, it’s continuity. It definitely helps. We know that in our environment, in our dynamic that we have in the club that’s not going to happen to often. I’m glad that it happened this week. I think it helped the guys who played on Sunday that then have a chance on Wednesday. You could see that it was another step forward from that game on Sunday. It is what it is. It’s the dynamic that we are as a club, but that continuity helped and played a big part in tonight’s match.
On Rojay Smith’s goal…
Very good goal. I’m very happy for Rojay. He’s been working hard to get his opportunity. That’s what we expect from the players. They work hard to get those minutes, to get chances and Rojay did really well when he came on. He was dangerous, scored a great goal and I’m happy for him. I’m happier for the team performance in general.
On the Academy players’ performances tonight…
It’s one game. It’s a great win, a complete performance except for a few mistakes here and there, but it shows that we have a great pool of quality young players in the club. I always say the academy has been doing a great job of developing those kids and preparing them for the next level. Hopefully they can make it to Peter Vermes’ team and be effective and help Peter’s team to win games in MLS. It’s a process and we’re all a part of it and we just got to keep going patiently. Keep evolving those young players and keep developing them and put them in good environments so they they can grow and make it to the next step.
Sporting Kansas City II midfielder Cam Duke
On tonight’s goal…
I thought we had a good buildup. Grayson [Barber] got the ball and he was delivering very good balls throughout the first half. I saw him going down the side and a bit of space at the top of the box. I was screaming for it and he gave a great ball and I put it away.
On the other SKC Academy players scoring goals…
It’s great to see the young guys get goals and it shows that the young kids can play. Hopefully we can keep building on this performance tonight.
On tonight’s performance…
All season we’ve been struggling to finish our chances. We’ve been great making chances, but we have been having trouble finishing. Tonight we wanted to change that. and luckily we did. Hopefully we can keep doing this.
On playing with his older brother Christian…
It is an amazing accomplishment for our family and hopefully we can keep getting on the field together.
Sporting Kansas City II forward Grayson Barber…
On his own performance…
I thought it was a good performance for myself but I’m happier that we were finally able to get the win, something we were working towards starting last game and just couldn’t get the three points.
On tonight’s comeback performance…
They were starting to sit back so coming into the second half tied gave us an opportunity to dominate the game. Once we got that second goal, it opened up for us.
On his goal…
He [Felipe Hernandez] took the shot and as soon as I saw the keeper save it, it came straight to me. I knew I had to take this opportunity to get on it in the box and put it away.
On the Sporting KC Academy players scoring goals…
It’s great to see all of us, especially playing in the Academy, and now we’re all here playing together professionally. It’s great to see all of us get on the score sheet.
On the unchanged lineup from Sunday…
People have been moving up and down, playing with the first and second team and playing with different people. To finally play two games in a row with the same team really helped out chemistry.
