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In front of a sold-out crowd, the Washington Spirit fell 0-2 to the Kansas City Current in the club’s home opener at Audi Field. After the match, Head Coach Jonatan Giráldez, goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury and forward Ashley Hatch spoke with the media.
Jonatan Giráldez, Head Coach
On how the Spirit played:
When compared from the last week, I think the team played much better … I think we had space to play today, and we had a much better advantage today than the last week … In general I cannot say that I am sad with the performance because last week I was not happy with the performance but we got the result. We got the three points, and today we didn’t. I cannot be happy because we didn’t win, but I cannot complain about the performance because I have to recognize they scored two goals, they won, and we have to keep working to try to improve.
On the video assistant referee (VAR) reviews and how the team responded:
I cannot speak a lot because you know how it works, but I know that there are difficult situations–difficult plays, and they have to make quick decisions about what happens in the game. We missed a lot of time reviewing actions because of something. I cannot complain about that because it seems like I am [making] excuses … but I think the reaction of the team was good. What I would like to know is a little more criteria. When you have to review, when you don’t have to review, why one action is a fall and the other is not a fall, but now as we are at the end of the game we can put [focus on those calls] or we can put focus on the new week because we know that everything will depend on us. We have to analyze it and try to do better for the next week … We have to accept it and look forward.
On the fans in the sold-out crowd:
It was bad news that we didn’t win the game because of them especially. I think the team deserved it today. Tried to get a better result but especially for me, for the supporters, they have been doing a good job. We knew last season how important they were, and I am sad because of them, because they did a good job today. They were there the whole time, the full game, 90 minutes, pushing us, and we couldn’t. Let’s see next week. We are going to need them again and I hope we can get the three points to give them the big three because they deserve it.
On constant improvement:
In terms of learning I think we are in the beginning. We have a good starting point if we compare with the last season in the way that this team competes I like. I think today is a good example of after conceding the goal in the next 10-15 minutes we created two or three chances to score. So when we do concede a goal and we can react like that, that’s very, very good … This is just the beginning. I know that it’s going to be a long, long season. For me the most important thing is to improve our performance every week. I think we improved our performance compared to the last week but that was not enough. So, what we have to do is keep learning about the good things and the bad things and try to be a better team.
Goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury & Forward Ashley Hatch
On improving from last week but not getting the win:
Hatch: It’s a long season but it hurts because we’re here at Audi [Field]. We know we were the better team when it came to playing against Houston, and we scored in our only two good opportunities in that game, but then here we had a lot of opportunities but couldn’t find the back of the net. These games are always hard to swallow as a competitor when you feel like the opportunities are there but you just don’t take advantage of them. It’s a long season and we definitely want to win every game, especially at home. It hurts to drop points to Kansas City, knowing they are going to be one of the better teams when it comes to the end of the season. We are building. It’s a marathon, and I think some good lessons were learned. We played more of the style that we want to play so that is a win, and we can take that as a positive and build on that for Friday’s home game.
On reigning MVP Temwa Chawinga:
Kingsbury: She is a great player so we prepared for her, and again we played close cover with her. I thought Tara [McKeown] did a great job on her, and Chawinga didn’t have many opportunities until the end when we were pushing numbers forward. Kansas City had that break there, which was kind of unlucky as it went off my hands and into her body. That sucks because I thought we were going to get that equalizer at the end—but you know she’s a great player, she was MVP last year and Golden Boot winner. It’s great to have her in our league, and we are up for the challenge. We’ll continue to be ready for whatever any opponents throw at us this season.
On Rebeca Bernal having an impact:
Hatch: She is super fun to have around. Since the second she got here, we’ve been asking a lot of her: to play different positions and different roles. The first thing she said when she got here was that she was excited to contribute to the team and do whatever the team needed of her, so from that first interaction we knew she was a good one … She’s a tremendous player, super aggressive, and is always good with her long balls and distribution.
On the atmosphere of the sold-out crowd:
Kingsbury: Honestly, I felt like it was even better than the playoffs last year. I thought we would kind of come back and start at that level, but I thought we raised the bar again. I was just like kind of pinching myself at times where I just felt like the stadium was just ready to erupt. It would probably have crumbled if we scored because people were just on the edge of their seats. Especially during the penalty kick. It was so loud. So thank you to all of our fans. I missed nights at Audi [Field] this off season and being here tonight reminded me that it’s just the best feeling ever playing in front of our fans at Audi.
On the team’s reaction after the Current converted the penalty kick:
Kingsbury: This team is used to coming back from behind. Both of our playoff games at Audi we came back from behind so there was always belief that we would find an equalizer later in the match, and we thought we did at one point. I think we responded really well tonight, and we have historically. There’s been a ton of late winners–late equalizers in our history at Audi. I think that’s credit to the fans being kind of our twelfth man, but just came up a little short [tonight]. I think that’s a part of our DNA—we always fight to the end.
On the progress the team is making:
Kingsbury: I’m excited about where we’re at and where we’re headed. This preseason was the most competitive I’ve ever been a part of as a Washington Spirit player. Yes, we have a lot of injuries, but we will get those players back. It’s going to be really hard even to make the 18 gameday roster and the 11 starting line up so we’ve got the pieces there. We just need to get the points which is important to put us in a position to hopefully win the shield and be at the top of the table.”
