Swope Park Rnagers head coach Paulo Nagamura
On the draw…
Overall, the performance was okay. The first half we did really well. We moved the ball well, we defended well and we minimized Reno’s opportunities at our goal, so I was pleased with the first half. We did not consistently transfer that to the second half. Kudos to Reno who came back with a little more energy than we did. Overall, it was an okay performance and a good fight at the end by the guys.
On building on the performance…
To be honest, we created enough chances to win the game. We could have scored one or two while we were up 2-1. We gave away three goals at home, so a little disappointing in our defensive point of view. It’s a step in the right direction and the guys were much more dangerous running forward and better at creating chances.
Swope Park Rangers forward Tyler Blackwood
On what went right…
I think we have been frustrated recently with the results we have been getting. The team would be putting forth effort knowing we should be getting results and I think it just came to a breaking point where we knew we had to attack with purpose and start delivering the ball. We’ve been working this week on not just keeping possession around the box, but making that final killer pass. You saw it today the amount of times we tried to play that killer ball and it worked a couple of times.
On winning the point…
We’ve got to start somewhere. It’s always disappointing, especially at home, to throw away a lead. If we came out without scoring that equalizer, our spirits would have been crushed.
On the rain…
There was one point where (Amer) Didic played the ball into me and I could see it and by the time it got to me I was blind, so I had to just guess. I thought they were going to call the match a couple of times. It actually helped us at one point because Reno messed up a corner by kicking a puddle. For me, it was an advantage because you want to strike on goal in the keeper’s blind spot. I think we literally weathered the storm because it was pouring down and they were attacking and once the rain went away we got the ball and played our game. Felt a bit like home to be honest.
Reno 1868 FC forward Brian Brown
On preparing for the match…
We did the usual. We knew this team was a pretty good team and that they like to play out the back, so we worked on most of the defensive part of the game in trainings to try and stop them from playing. It was hard for us up top. We made it work, but unlucky we didn’t get the three points we wanted.
On what was said at half…
The coach said that we were a good team and that we needed to step our game up and go out there and play soccer. That’s what we did and everything changed for us.
On the weather…
This is a second time we’ve played them where the weather played a big part in the game. We made it work. It was tough, but we played through it.
