Lights FC Head Coach Dennis Sanchez
On his overall impressions on the match…
It took us a little bit to find rhythm. We started off playing with a double 10. Sacramento was pressing us well. The game changed in our favor when we went to more of a single-pivot and double 10 and moved Khori [Bennett] higher up the field…The guys are continuing to believe whether they’re down goals or need to find one more, they’re more than capable of doing it. We could have probably had a couple more at the end and maybe managed the last few minutes a little bit more professionally, but obviously pleased with the win.
On having almost 70% possession and planning for Sacramento conceding that much space…
We knew that if we could break their first line of pressure that we were going to have the ball. If you look back at our last game against them, I thought we did that well in the first half. The guys were way more consistent with it tonight. When there’s a level of simplicity, rhythm and tempo to our game, that’s when we’re at our best. Credit to the guys tonight.
On getting the better of a good Sac Republic team twice this season…
I have a lot of respect for Mark [Briggs] and Todd [Dunivant] for what they’re doing there. Every team has to face it, but traveling on Wednesday [to New Mexico] and traveling on Saturday [to Las Vegas] is an advantage that we want to take. Ultimately, everything that we do is on us. We’re in control of our own destiny. We know we can compete with anybody on any given day. It’s about consistent performances and finding wins like tonight.
On Valentin Noël and Khori Bennett’s continued partnership in the final third…
It takes time to build that chemistry. The more that we can feed Khori [the better]. He finds such dangerous spots and he’s really turned into a clinical finisher this year. Hopefully we continue to see that connection through the remaining part of the season.
On Shawn Smart’s attacking play…
Shawn was top tonight, both with and without the ball. With him, his ability to arrive is obviously there, it’s just the timing and the right moments. He was very good with his decision-making of when to be a little more patient and allow the game to play out versus finding moments where there was space to exploit and really taking advantage of those.
