Dash interim head coach Juan Carlos Amorós
(on today’s victory) ”The team was able to overcome a massive challenge and display their character. The players trust in the game plan, for me that is the main takeaway. It was outstanding how they kept working and how they were able to win in a pitch that no has done this season. So, we have proof of character, another step forward in the direction that we really want to go.”
(on the rally in the second half) “Both of those goals probably come in a quick transition. Certainly we will look at that, the main thing is how you react to those. I read recently that only 15 percent of the games are won after you go behind in the league. Doing it twice in a row is practically impossible. It shows the character and the belief this group of players have. Whatever problems are thrown at them, they are able to react, believe and trust. So, I want to look at the bright side, which is how we reacted. We definitely will look at that first half because we weren't ourselves.”
(on earning three consecutive victories) “I was chatting with Jane (Campbell) and Katie (Naughton), they were saying ‘coach, this is a great win for you.’ And I said ‘it’s a great win for us.’ That's how I believe things are and how things should be. I'm extremely proud of the players and staff. They've worked incredibly hard on these long trips on the road. On a personal level for me, I didn't know I was the first coach to achieve that, buy obviously it is a moment of pride. Coaches we take a lot of time away from our families preparing a lot of things not only when you win, also when you lose.”
(on defeating OL Reign) “We knew their strengths. We knew they were going to be a quality team. We wanted to be a better team. We had the individuals to compete with them individually, we needed to be the better team in the first half. We weren’t. As coach I try to be very honest with my players. At halftime we had a chat and they knew we had to be better. Because the first half we seemed disconnected. Technically, it was hard to adapt to a different surface. In the second half, after we had that chat, I tried to help them out with a few things and thankfully, they were able to produce.”
(on forward Ebony Salmon) “She has been fantastic, it is the job of the number nine to make those things happen. She knows that in the first half she wasn't doing it sooner, so she needed to do better. She said that to her teammates, her teammates did better to create the chances for her to get into better positions. When it came to taking the penalty it was about finishing it and when it came to finishing that second chance, it was outstanding.”
Dash Forward Ebony Salmon
(on the second half rally) "As a team, we came in at halftime and we knew it wasn't good enough. We knew from our previous performances that we are a lot better team and we had to come out and turn it around. We went into today's game knowing we needed the three points. Everyone found it within themselves to push more and get more. We ended up getting the penalty and the second goal."
(on six goals in last three games and being in great form) "Throughout my career I have (always) scored goals. One thing I focused on, especially after my move to Houston was consistency. Which I am starting to find with scoring. From now and till the end of the season, I need to find that. Obviously, I am not going to score every game but as many games as I can."
(on the team mentality) "It isn't ideal to go behind in any game, but for us especially in the last game, we came back. We were behind today but it wasn't ideal. OL Reign are a harder team to come back against, but we did and (Juan Carlos Amoros) was straight with us and said it wasn't good enough. He believed in us and knows we can do it - we have the capabilities to go out there and turn it around, we did that."
(on finding consistency and what has been different with Houston) "For me, it is the players that are around me. Players around me have learned how I play and I learned how they play. I think we gel together really well. We are learning how we play, I learn their strengths and as a team over the past couple games we have played to every players strengths."
(on if this is a statement win) "We go into every game wanting to win. We scout teams before (a match) and we know certain teams will be harder to beat than the others. The thing we do as a team, is focus on us, not the team we are playing. No matter what the Reign were doing we know we did what we could and the second half the focus was on us and we turned the game around."
(on what this win means for the group) "It is a huge win for us. We are in a push for playoffs and as we are in third place going into this game - the table is so tight, and we can't afford to lose points. I think every game counts until now and the end of the season."
(on the next game) "For us that is eight games left and we have to keep pushing and getting points. That is three wins in a row now, so we have to keep that consistency going. Momentum is a big thing and we have to try our hardest to keep it."
(on facing former team) "It is a big game for me. It is a chance for me to prove people wrong and I think I have been doing that since I got traded. It's just another game and three points we need to get into the playoffs. It doesn't matter who the game is against - I have got to try and do my best to score goals and do everything for the team."
Dash Forward Maria Sánchez
(on winning back-to-back games on the road) “As a team, we've been doing really well this season. We had a rough (NWSL) Challenge Cup, but I think we fixed everything that that we needed to along the way. Coming into the season we struggled a lot and I think just being able to practice on those little details and building that team chemistry, which has been working for us. It has been a pretty good season so far. I'm just proud to be here and be on a team with girls like my teammates.”
(on playing with Ebony Salmon) “She's had a pretty great start here with Houston. We love that she's able to score for us. It's been great. She's been doing a really good job and hopefully we could keep building on that and keep finding chemistry with her.”
(on Juan Carlos Amoros) “He's been great for us so far. We've been training with him for about two weeks now. We had a break during that stretch and then it's been a tough start for him because he didn't have all the players here with the internationals being gone. He's responded very well to that and I mean, he's won three games. So far so good.
(on her message to fans) “We love when they're out there supporting us. We just hope they can keep doing that. We are positioned in a pretty good spot on the table. More than anything, they are who motivate us and make us want to keep doing better. We have to show the other team that Houston isn't an easy place to go get three points.
(on how the team has grown since the NWSL Challenge Cup) “We have high expectations of each other. Trainings aren't easy. We always have to be ready, have to be doing our best because everybody on this team is good enough to be in the starting XI. It's just that motivation in the team, in the locker room that has helped us get where we are right now.”
