Las Vegas Lights FC Head Coach Dennis Sanchez
On his overall impressions on the match…
The guys worked extremely hard. It was our fourth match in 14 days coupled with an East Coast trip. It was around 106 degrees around kickoff, it was a warm one tonight. From an effort standpoint, the guys pushed through. For all the possession that we had, we need to be more dangerous in the final third and create more goalscoring opportunities especially for the quality that we have. The guys showed that they can be resilient and fight back when we go down. It’s a point we’ll take. Obviously we want more, but it’s something we can build upon.
On how Memphis stifled the False 9 and how bringing on a true No. 9 like Khori Bennett helped…
Memphis actually changed systems about halfway through the first half with more of a 5-2-3, which really clogged the middle not only for our 6 and 8, but also our pocket players. We had to adapt slightly. Khori is a guy who has the ability to score goals. When Christian Pinzón came on, he made a really good impact for us too. As we’ve said all year long, we have a lot of depth and guys we can trust in those moments. They stepped on and made something happen.
On Khori Bennett’s composure to convert from the penalty spot for the third time this year…
A goal is a goal. The goalkeepers are studying him in these moments, so he’s had good variety in the way that he’s gone about his PKs. He’s obviously confident right now as well.
On recovering from this busy stretch of games and readying for the Pittsburgh Riverhounds at home next weekend…
We’ll take a couple days off, which is needed for players and staff. The message that we continue to relay to the team, and they say it as well, is that we can compete with everybody. We just need to keep building, keep building on our performances, keep refining things, and we know that these performances will turn into wins.
