“It’s one of those games where the ball doesn’t want to go in.”
That’s what Leandro González Pirez told reporters after the match on Saturday, and it summed up the mood of the locker room well. There was clear disappointment for a good opportunity at three points lost, but also confidence that they were still building in the right direction.
“I can definitely say that we were the most dangerous we’ve been all year, and I can say that we played well as a team tonight, too,” said Jeff Larentowicz. “Losses where you don’t play well are the hardest. A loss like this is tough but when you have a lot of positives you end up being okay. I think their goalkeeper had an outstanding game. When you’re creating the chances I think eventually it’ll come around where you’re putting them away.”
“I believe we really made progress with how we played today,” added Frank de Boer. “I told them after the game that I can’t expect more from you. Of course we don’t want to concede goals, but they created chances and dominated the game. They played well, but we didn’t score the goals. I told them, if you play like this, I think from the 30 games remaining, you will win 28."
That’s the key to getting out of a slump on the pitch: focusing on the positive and building on that. While the result wasn’t there, the players are aiming to replicate the stretches of dominance that they did have –– and clean up the slips that are holding them back.
“We had pressure, intensity, chances on goal, they weren’t getting on our goal. I think they had two and a half chances and they scored two goals,” said Leandro González Pirez. “But I like the team’s attitude, the fans who are still supporting us, and next week, we have a game against Colorado that we’ll try to play in the same way.”
The players are confident they’re building toward something positive, but don’t take that as a team that’s happy or complacent with the result or their place in the standings.
"It’s never fun and never good to lose,” said Julian Gressel. “It’s disappointing for sure. It gives you a better feeling though when you actually had a chance; you’re with a better team. We’ll get better and work on some details over the week and hopefully, next week we can play like this again and end up scoring goals."
“We have to put it behind us, we have to learn from it,” said Michael Parkhurst. “These opportunities are here and gone. The next opportunity is Saturday, and we don’t want to waste that one, too. We want to win in front of our home fans. We want to make sure these fans are coming to our games, give them something to cheer for, and they keep coming back. We don’t take them for granted. Let’s put in a good performance on Saturday, score goals and hopefully, pick up three points.”
That’s the focus for a team who’s eager to get back out on the pitch to right the wrongs of last weekend and start their ascent in the Eastern Conference Standings –– and they need your support now more than ever. Make sure to reserve your tickets for the match here.
