D.C. United head coach Ben Olsen
On the mentality of the team
I thought our mentality coming out was good, and that’s where good, experienced, hungry guys that understand that’s what’s at stake right now. We’re looking forward to going back home and trying to get more points against Chicago (Saturday, October 18 - BUY TICKETS)
On the status of Luis Silva
I don’t know. I don’t want to speculate, but he grabbed it. I don’t like to see guys grab their hamstrings.
On Taylor Kemp scoring
So nice to have a guy like that get on the scoresheet to kind of give him a little press, a little ego boost because he’s done fantastic for us. I’m glad his name’s going to be mentioned.
D.C. United defender Taylor Kemp
On the goal
[Chris] Pontius made a good run, got in behind the defense, they slipped him in. I knew that him and the keeper were going to get there at kind of the same time and so I took a little bit of a step out and it fell right to me. I thought about hitting it first time but I thought it would be a little bit difficult. So I took a touch, goalie was kind of near post so I thought I would just bang one far post and it just came out well, then it ended up being a goal.
They were scrambling, they were all trying to recover. In those situations you kind of learn just hit it across the goal, at worst it doesn’t go in and we get a rebound or something. Just thought if I kept it on goal we would have a chance and it went in, so I was happy.
What does it mean to finally get a win in Houston?
It feels good. Especially after the tie we gave up earlier this year where we gave one up right at the end. That one hurt, we thought we were going to get out of there with a win. Obviously the club knows we haven’t won here before so it felt good, but especially because of the one earlier this year to kind of get that one off our back, get a win here and keep building momentum going into the playoffs.
D.C. United defender Bobby Boswell
On the team getting its first win in Houston
It’s for you writers and the media. It’s a whole new group. I don’t even think [Chris Rolfe] sent a text before the game saying “Go get a win there.” I don’t think any of the guys — like I said, it wasn’t talked about. We played a team that had to play three games this week, it was hot as hell like usual and we were up for it. It was kind of back and forth for a while and took our good goal in the first one and Fabi [Espindola] just showed why he’s a great goalscorer in this league on the second one. We knew they were going to throw up crazy numbers forward, upset not to get the shutout but I think anyone takes a win in Houston; anyone in this league would take that no matter how it’s done. Credit to the guys, we’re a group that’s motivated. I talked to you this week, I said we want to make sure we’re playing well going into the playoffs, so this is the game that was most important. We took care of it and now we have to get ready for Chicago.
On being on the brink of clinching first place
For me, it was bigger picture. It’s two things. It’s bigger picture and it’s also not quite as big. Meaning: we’re focused on Chicago. Right now we’re going to enjoy this win but we’re not going to look beyond anybody. Right now it’s more focused on recovering and getting ready for another tough game against a team that has really nothing to lose. So yeah, we’re going to enjoy this.
Houston Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear
On the result
Luck wasn’t our way. Made a good charge in the second half which we talked at halftime that we had to do. We got on the break on the last one, which was questionable, but it makes it a big hill to climb. Getting the goal back and creating a couple of other chances there makes you want more but obviously we know what the score is.
On the overturned penalty call
I’ll be honest with you, it wasn’t a penalty. We came in and watched it and that was the correct call. I would’ve loved for it not to have been, it would’ve been a great little change of momentum going into the locker room.
On the locker room atmosphere after the loss
It’s not good. Real quiet. They know what’s going on. We talked about it before the game and they put a lot into trying to get it. They’re disappointed; I don’t think any of us envisioned it when we stepped on the field for the first day of preseason this was going to happen. I think the guys are exhausted a little bit. I think physically they’re tired with the amount of games we’ve played in a short period and it was a hot muggy afternoon and the result’s a mental downer as well.
On the season as a whole
A whole lot of stuff didn’t go our way this year. To get knocked out of the playoffs is a sickening feeling because we’ve had some magical moments here and our playoff record here over the years is fantastic and to not be a part of the second season is a real disappointment.
It’s been one of those years. I can’t say one of those years plural because I don’t think we’ve ever had one like it. It’s been an odd year from all sides. There’s some stats that are wonderful to look at and some stats that are not. It’d be nice to go into Thursday’s game playing for a playoff position rather than ‘Hey we’re playing the game to be competitive and making sure we approach the game the right way.’
On the difficulties in attack
We just didn’t get the ball going. We weren’t connecting passes. We were just a enough off. The game was a bit choppy and there was some stuff going on out there that was out of our control that left some guys shaking their heads. The first goal in my mind came from a play that we probably should’ve had a free kick in their end of the field and then they go down the field and score. A lot of penned up frustration and we weren’t really looking fluid.
Houston Dynamo midfielder Brad Davis
Thoughts on the match
Obviously it ends our season. It’s highly disappointed. I didn’t think the result was going to go this way today. We’re a team that’s usually continuing to push and actually hitting our stride right now. To be totally honest, over the last 11-12 games we’ve been playing some pretty good ball. But we’ve got to continue to do that throughout the year.
Thoughts on the remainder of the season
We got two games left. This group is going to still come out and play with heart and play with pride and try to get as many point as we can and finish as high as we can. But right now as you can see in our locker room it’s not the best of moods.
Thoughts on the season
When you look at over I think like the summer, right before the summer or whatever it was, we went like 10 games where we didn’t pick up any points. We can’t have that throughout the year. Tonight, it ended, but it’s not the reason we’re not in the postseason. We have to be better throughout the year. We all know that. That’s something we obviously got to work on and got to get better at. That’s what we plan to do.
On the difficulties the team faced this year
We’re a team that’s been battling a lot of injuries this year. For sure it was a weird year, with injuries and World Cup, and guys coming in, and the league not having FIFA dates. We’re missing Boni [García], Luis [Garrido] and Jermaine [Taylor] right now at a pretty important time of the year. That’s one thing we definitely feel needs to change. We have to have that. We have to have all guys at your disposal. There were a few games when I think we dressed only 15 guys. We only had 15 guys. Those aren’t necessarily excuses, but I think as a league, if you look at it overall, those are things we can better to make our teams better, make our teams a little bit better. We battled lots of injuries. Maybe that’s something we need to look at, but three ACLs—that’s just weird. There’s no real getting around that. That’s just an odd thing. There’s nothing you can really do. You just have to keep pushing through. But as far as the absences, I think that’s something we can all be better as a league.
What could the team have done better this game?
I think just kind of settling in. There were times where we moved the ball well and I think we have to be a little more confident. I think we all need to be a little bit better about being comfortable on the ball, controlling the ball. I think those types of things and opening things teams up. When you start to play direct over-and-over it’s kind of easy to start defending. We just need to be a little bit more confident. Play, move the ball a little bit and stretch teams out.
