Swope Park Rangers Head Coach Paulo Nagamura
On getting the first win of the season:
“Definitely felt great. I was very pleased with the boys tonight. We played a very good team, let’s not forget this is the team that won the championship the last two years, so we’re playing a quality team. They came here to control possession, control the game, and for the most part they had that. We were able to capitalize on a couple of mistakes and score goals that we were missing in the last games.”
On if dealing with adversity will help the team:
“Absolutely, I think that’s the experience that we want them to have. I think that’s the experience that makes them grow as a player, and I’m really, really pleased that we were able to come out on the winning side tonight. There’s a lot of games in the past that we felt that we maybe outplayed the opponent, but tonight that maybe wasn’t the case. I think Louisville had most of the control of the match and more momentum, especially in the second half. We were able to hang in there and score at the end there in the last minute.”
On how scoring a late winner will help the team mentally and emotionally:
“Huge, huge. We felt that in the past few games, we did a lot of good things and we came out with nothing. To score a goal in the last minute like that and to grab all three points is huge. It’s going to give us a huge boost going forward.”
Swope Park Rangers defender Abdul Rwatubyaye
On scoring the 90th-minute winner:
“What I can say is I had the motivation today, coming to the team. It’s my first time playing with Swope, so I had a feeling that we have to win the game and that I’d be part of the winning goal. It was really amazing, I’m so happy.”
On being able to bounce back after losing a two-goal lead:
“As you see in the game, we were 2-0 up, then we come down. The team, we know that we have to win, it’s been a long time since Swope won – sometimes tying, sometimes losing – so this was the real time to be on a good level. It was really good and we kept on fighting, that’s what kept us in the game.”
Swope Park Rangers midfielder Felipe Hernandez
On getting the first win of the season:
“It’s good. It’s been a struggle. Once you finally get a result, it feels good.”
On the high-press causing the mistake from the goalkeeper that led to his goal:
“Yeah, we heard that the starter got injured, so we wanted to put some pressure on the backup because it’s always hard to come to the stadium not knowing you’re playing, then 10 minutes before the game you’re on the field. We just wanted to get in his head a little bit, press him, see what happens.”
On the rollercoaster nature of the game:
“It’s good. This is what we needed, we gave away a lead like a month ago (against Bethlehem Steel) here at home and we lost. Everything was thinking the same thing (today). The team kept pushing, kept striving, ended up getting a result and it’s big. It shows in the locker room, the vibes and everything.”
Louisville City Head Coach John Hackworth
Thoughts on the match:
“Our overall performance and execution just weren’t up to our standards. That is not the level of play we expect in our club and we have to improve. We need to improve nearly every aspect from tonight.”
Louisville City Forward Luke Spencer
Thoughts on the match:
“I thought we started the game with a poor mentality. In our challenges and our fifty-fifties it showed. We went down two-nil, but we were able to fight back in the second half and show what we’re capable of when we have a good mentality and a good approach. Still, we have so much to improve on and get better at. We can’t be allowing a set piece goal that late in the game.”
On losing goalkeeper Ben Lundt during warmups:
“It’s definitely frustrating. We’ve had our fair share of injures this season, but that’s part of it. We can’t do anything about it but improve. We just have to have that next man up mentality.”
