Swope Park Rangers Head Coach Paulo Nagamura
On the team’s performance…
I’m very pleased with their performance and how they responded under pressure because we had to get at least one point today and they came out very well both defensively and offensively. It was a group performance and they all came out ready to play.
On the third straight playoff berth…
It’s important for us to be competitive. It’s important for these young players to learn how to win and experience that feeling. It was great way for us to end the regular season on such a high note. Now we head to play a tough opponent in the first round, but we like our chances.
On Kharlton Belmar’s goal…
It was very important for him to get that goal. I think he had a very good game, not only offensively, but also defensively. He worked his butt off defensively and helped the team in many ways. It was great to take that monkey off his back and score that goal. Now headed into the playoffs he will have much more confidence. It was also great to see all the other players scoring: Wilson Harris, Felipe Hernandez, Wan Kuzain and Hadji Barry. It was a great way to end the season.
Swope Park Rangers Forward Hadji Barry
On making the playoffs…
I thought we did really well today. Coming into the game, we knew what we had to do. We knew a point was going to get us to the playoffs, but we weren’t just going for the tie. We wanted to come out here and go for all three points and I think we did exactly that. I thought everybody did well. We scored a lot of goals today. Even though we wanted to keep the clean sheet, I give credit to LA Galaxy II. It was a nice goal.
On the importance of the statement win headed into playoffs…
It’s great. You always want to get some type of momentum going before you hit the playoffs. It’s going to be a fight, but I think we’re ready.
On winning the MVP award for SPR…
It feels great. It means I’ve done something good this season, but like I always say, it’s not about individual awards or records for me. The most important thing is the team. Without the team, I wouldn’t be able to achieve what I’ve achieved this year. I give all credit to my teammates, my staff and everybody involved. They’ve helped me throughout this season to have the success that I have been having, so I’m thankful.
Swope Park Rangers Forward Kharlton Belmar
On the performance of the team…
It was really good. Obviously, the playoffs were on the line and it was a must-win game and we had that mentality going into the match. The boys responded well and came out to play and it showed with five goals. I think that’s our best performance of the year.
On scoring for the first time since June…
It felt great. It’s been a long time coming. It felt good to get on the scoresheet and get the monkey off my back.
LA Galaxy II Head Coach Mike Munoz
On preparations for today’s match…
Obviously, not good enough. We’ve been happy with our performances as of late. It’s been a positive second half to our season. We wanted to make sure that we ended on a high note. There was a lot to play for today - points, standings in the table, opportunity to keep a rival out of the playoffs, but today we just had too many guys off their game. Maybe too many guys already checked out on holiday. And the reality is that it was not a good enough performance today.
On the weather…
It was cold, there’s no doubt about that. It’s something we’re not use to, but zero excuses when it comes to that. You could tell it affected our guys, so I’m disappointed with that. But all the credit to Swope Park. They had everything to play for and they took advantage of it.
