D.C. UNITED 4, COLORADO RAPIDS 1
D.C. UNITED HEAD COACH TOM SOEHN
On whether the game was a tale of two halves:
"[It is] Anytime you play new guys, regardless of them understanding the system. It takes a while to have the comfort level to play positive balls and I thought we were very conservative early. Especially the new guys in the lineup, they were playing backwards or sideways instead of taking a chance. We addressed that at halftime. You need to play positive and be a little more direct. I thought as the second half wore on we got better and better."
On the comfort level of the team:
"I think it's getting the first half out of your system, especially for some of the guys who haven't played a lot. They go a hundred miles an hour and are afraid to make mistakes. I told them not to worry about making mistakes because we have guys to cover for them. I saw as their comfort level was there and their confidence level grew that we started to possess the ball a little better. We did a good job of that."
On the play of Nicholas Addlery:
"I give him a lot of credit because he came into a difficult situation and he worked his keister off. He won some balls pretty deep where he could have laid off and brought some more guys into the play, but in the end he made some really good plays. He scored a big goal and set up [another] one."
On how Addlery's size helped him:
"Yeah it was helpful, you saw him mixing it up with some of their backs and their backs were having a real tough time with it."
On his sentiment following the Real Salt Lake loss:
"I try to forget the Salt Lake game."
On the play of Devon McTavish:
"I thought Devon did really well and was a help in the middle. He continues to grow and again, I talk about his versatility. I thought it was a move that made us better in the back."
On how difficult it was with the absences of key players:
"You always expect that injuries are going to happen, as well as call-ups. We work hard to make sure that we have a staff that works well with everybody and when their chance comes, they are ready to go in. It was the reserves today that really energized us, with Addlery. We have a deep team and as we give those guys more experience, they are going to get counted on to come in and do things they did."
On how the team responded after the 28-minute delay:
"It looked like we had a lot more energy [than Colorado] and I don't know what it equates to but, again, I'm not worried about them - I'm worried about us. We came out and gave the energy we were looking for and the soccer was getting better and better as the game wore on. I was happy the way we ended the game."
On how Fred has progressed:
"I think you can say that about a lot of our guys. He has made a lot of strides. He is definitely energetic going forward. He's got great ideas. He's getting in [behind the defense] - we don't always reward him with that. As we now stretch the flank and he understands how to play the flank position. He's pretty valuable to us. We understand him better and he understands us better."
On the play of Justin Moose:
"I told Justin he is a kid who does a lot of things in training, taking people on, and he seems afraid to do it in the game. I told him that he needs to do the things he does every day of the week, taking people on and beating people, because he is good at it. It's more or less a confidence thing."
D.C. UNITED FORWARD NICHOLAS ADDLERY
On Guy-Roland Kpene's injury and being put into the game early:
"In this game you always have to be prepared mentally. Injuries happen, it's tough luck."
On getting in the flow of the game:
"It took a little bit (of time). I had about 80 minutes to get into it, so..."
On his goal:
"The corner kick came in and I headed it. It was simple, no razzle-dazzle, ya know? No Harry Potter magic. Sometimes you just get lucky."
On D.C. United rarely converting corner kicks:
"That was before tonight though, right?"
On his assist to Fred:
"He was making a run, which told me that when they're making the runs they're working, so I slipped him the ball, he got in and it was good. It's good that Fred scored, too, he doesn't really like to shoot. I'm happy for him."
On the team without three of its key players:
"Everybody played their part - we're professional soccer players and we get paid to play. So, its good that everybody came in and we did our job today."
D.C. UNITED DEFENDER DEVON MCTAVISH
On the difference between first and second half:
"Just the mentality. I think we kind of realized that we were just going through the motions in the first half and Tommy talked to us a little bit and kind of got us fired up and we came out gunning for them, because we forgot what they did to use the first game of the season."
On what caused the slow start:
"It was a combination [of things]. It's an unfamiliar group. We have a lot of new players in there and it was ridiculously humid out there. So, it was just a combination, but we finally sorted it out."
On being more comfortable on the right or in the middle:
"I don't even know anymore. I used to be more comfortable on the right, but I'm kind of falling into the middle a bit. So, I like the middle - I could say that."
On playing with Facundo Erpen:
"Yea, we do pretty well back there. It takes time to get used to playing with him, but I think we're doing a pretty good job overall."
On the Rapids goal:
"We just weren't tight enough on our markers, and that was it. I don't think we came out ready to play in the first half there."
D.C. UNITED MIFIELDER FRED
On his first career MLS goal:
"I sort of felt like crying, because it was my first goal in a D.C. United uniform, so I was very happy."
D.C. UNITED MIDFIELDER JOSH GROS
On the lightning delay:
"We just keep the legs moving until they say go. Yeah, I can't stand waiting around. I would rather we played with the lightning."
D.C. UNITED GOALKEEPER TROY PERKINS
On the inexperienced backline:
"It was tough in the beginning with communication and getting to know each other but I'm proud of the guys, they did their job very well."
On making big saves:
"That's my job; I don't sit there at home and watch. That's what I'm there to do and that something I wasn't doing the first three or four games of the season, not helping my team out. And in a situation like this you just have to step up and do that and I just felt that I needed to do something for the club."
COLORADO RAPIDS HEAD COACH FERNANDO CLAVIJO
On the absences of key players and the game:
"[It's] Too late for that now. I thought we played well. We made some mistakes."
On the second half :
"We opened up, we created, but we have to be very careful on the ball."
On Mike Petke's injury:
"He's going to the hospital right now, hopefully it's not broken."
COLORAD RAPIDS FORWARD JACOB PETERSON
On the game:
"We played pretty well; we had a few chances in the first half."
On Troy Perkins' save on his shot:
"It was a good save. I tried to keep it on frame. Troy is a good goalie. I should have had a couple more. I've got to finish those."
On having lost five in a row:
"I don't know, I guess we just have to keep working. But, the Fourth of July game's coming up."
COLORADO RAPIDS MIDFIELDER PABLO MASTROENI
On being subbed out:
"I came out of the game because I felt like I was a liability. I didn't have my legs. I traveled from the Gold Cup back to Arizona for a few days. I'm 30 years old and I think that sometimes I try to take on too big of a load. I came out because I felt I was a liability. A lot could happen and it was still 1-1 and I felt we could use some fresh legs."
On the game:
"I think in the first half we had a good deal of the play and we were dangerous and getting behind the defense. I think we won a lot of second balls in the midfield. I think the backs played their forwards really tight and had a lot of runs. I think overall the first half we were doing a good job, and then we started losing our shape a little bit, the heat set in and they started playing with a little more confidence and put a little more pressure on us. I don't think we did a good enough job and then reciprocate that with long balls but I think the heat definitely played a role."
