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Portland Thorns Head Coach Paul Riley, forward Jessica McDonald, goalkeeper Nadine Angerer and midfielder Allie Long answered questions from the media following the Thorns 3-1 victory over FC Kansas City.
Head Coach Paul Riley
"Well, I think again we can play better. You’ll probably hear that a lot for the first couple months of the season. I don’t think it was a great performance, but we hung around long enough. I still think we created some good chances in the first half probably a little bit more in the first half maybe than the second half. I think Kansas got a grip of the game after they scored and I think we were in trouble for about 10-15 minutes. Then, funny enough, the changes helped us. We changed formation a little bit; we tweaked it a little bit and Jess [McDonald] got a great goal. I thought the movement off the ball was really good. Then Jess [McDonald] iced it. It was a great ball from Mana [Shim] for the third one. We rode our luck a little bit in that 15 minute patch. I think just to get through that 15 minutes was critical for us, which we did."
Forward Jessica McDonald
"The first one, I was just working off the shoulder of the defender and I was looking to stay wide, stay on side and I saw that Allie Long was keeping the ball. I was calling for it, calling for it and I didn't give up on that run. I just focused on finishing low and far post. The second goal, I was just looking to play high and split the two central defenders. I saw Mana Shim wind up with her left foot to play that long ball and I just ran onto it. I saw the goalkeeper come out and just wanted to get it over her and into the net."
Goalkeeper Nadine Angerer
"It was amazing. During the game I thought I was playing in the World Cup. It was so loud and the crowd was amazing; it felt like a World Cup game...I think no club in the world has fans like we have in Portland; I haven't seen it anywhere else."
Midfielder Allie Long
"Jess and I went to school together at North Carolina, so I’ve known her for a while. I know her tendencies, she knows mine and we’ve kind of grown together from college players to professional players. It’s been a good journey with her and learning each other through the years. I know what she brings and she kind of knows what I bring, so we feed off of that."