The Lane United Women’s Team lost a close battle 1-0 to United PDX Friday night. Here to give their thoughts after the game is head coach Jurgen Ruckaberle, and forwards Lilly Nowatzke and Leslie Monjaras.

HEAD COACH JURGEN RUCKABERLE

On the performance of Goalkeeper Olivia Riddel and the rest of the team:

“Liv is great. She’s a rock back there, but I would say today was really a team effort. I was proud of every single [player]. Even the kids on the bench who didn’t get in, their whole heart and soul was in it and I love that part.”

On the continued growth of the team:

“I’m really pleased. You don’t hear a lot of coaches praise their team when we have one point on the board, but for us, game-by-game, practice-by-practice, I see them really growing together, playing good soccer.”

On the upcoming match against PDX FC:

“It’s the same preparation. We go back to training, we work on the areas that we need to work on, and then we hopefully finally get that three pointer [victory].”

FORWARD LILLY NOWATZKE

On her first start:

“Felt pretty good. I don’t usually play the nine and don’t usually play [in the] center, so today was a little more mentally tough for me. But it felt really great.”

On the team’s improvements over the last few weeks:

“Just being able to play well together has come a lot faster than most teams, and it’s been connecting pretty well on the field.”

On the focus of the next match against PDX FC:

“I think the next big focus would be playing a little faster, getting more shots off and being a little more ‘attack-minded’.”

FORWARD LESLIE MONJARAS

On how it felt for her first career league start

“Honestly, the energy was great. I feel like even in the warmups, we were focused. We really wanted it.”

On what is working better defensively

“I feel like every single game, every single training session, everyone’s showing up with the right attitude. We’re getting better and our confidence is growing.”

On the focus on the upcoming match against PDX FC

“Honestly, just do what we’ve been doing, but put them in the net next time. I think we can hang with all the teams in this conference and we’re just, as I said before, getting better and better. So it’s just a matter of getting on the scoreboard.”

(Main photo credit: Barbara Minkler)