Real Monarchs 1 vs. 0 Tacoma Defiance
August 26, 2022; Zions Bank Stadium, Herriman, Utah
Real Monarchs (4-14-3, 15 points); Tacoma Defiance (13-5-4, 46 points)
Head Coach Jamison Olave
On how they shutout Tacoma
“I think the players have been doing really good. We are getting our momentum and the players’ confidence was showing on the field. Their first fifteen to twenty minutes of the game was a great game for us the first twenty minutes. After that Tacoma got the ball, and they kind of dominated the game, but in the second half, the mentality we put in was amazing. That says a lot about this team.”
On message at halftime
“At halftime, we were getting desperate. We had Terron [Williams] and [Tyrone] Mondi just pressing the center backs, something we knew that if we did that was going to overload the middle. That was happening at the end of the first half. That was the message. Just be patient with the ball, let the center backs have it. We force them to decide then we want to press and we want to win the ball and then from there we have the quality to play. We need to be a little bit more aggressive without the ball just to get close to them and close it down.”
On playing a man down
“Mentality. Being a man down, most of the team is going to sit back, we did it at times, but we showed actually that we can play. With a man down, we defended well, we were more compact, more deep defending, but when we got the ball we created better chances than with 11 players in the second half.”
Goalkeeper Gavin Beavers
On shutting out Tacoma
“It was a great effort from the team. Collectively we all defended as a team, we worked as a team. I had a big save at the end, but the team literally kept out every other ball. I needed to do what I needed to do at the time and it became a big save. Great win, great performance from the team, and a tone of fun.”
On biggest takeaway from the win
“That we fight. That we’re scrappy. That we’re willing to go 90 minutes, down a man for the last 30. We’re here to battle and try to get three points.”
On how he’s grown through the season
“Definitely learned a lot. A lot of learning moments. I expected learning moments, but it’s all part of the game, and we’re all willing to play for each other.”
Defender Jaziel Orozco
On how it feels to beat Tacoma
“I feel great. I feel proud of the group, proud of the team, proud of the coaching staff. We’ve been working really hard. It’s been a long season, final games coming up. I’m proud of the group that we keep on pushing even though we know we’re not going to the playoffs. It’s been a tough season, but in the end, we keep learning, we keep getting better individually and as a team. We’re just trying to look forward to ending the season correctly.”
On how it felt to face Tacoma at home
“It felt better, better as a team because the team’s more compact and now we have more chemistry with each other. Back then it was more up-down players coming from the academy and first team. Right now, as you guys can see, we know each other more than the last couple of games, and I love how we fight through the game, even though we are a man down in the final minutes. That’s how you see the spirit of the team, that we keep fighting no matter what.”
On Jamison’s message at halftime
“Just keep fighting, keep doing what we were doing in the first half. Try to keep the ball more, try to keep a hold of the ball. In the second half, I saw we were doing that well with the ball. Unfortunately, we got the red card and defensively we were there. As you can see, even with a man less, we can work defensively and it’s hard to break us down.”
