SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES HEAD COACH DOMINIC KINNEAR
On the game:
“Punished for our mistakes and punished for not finishing our chances. We had some good chances, we made some silly mistakes that led to opportunities for them on set pieces and we got punished for it.”
On the team’s morale after conceding an early goal:
“The morale was good. I thought the guys worked hard the entire game. Obviously you’re chasing the game. With an early goal like that, you have 85 minutes now to try to get back into it. I don’t think it shook us. We still pressed forward, we got a lot of chances. Like I said, the second goal makes it a little bit harder to get back into the game and get something out of it. Now there was Victor’s goal there, and we obviously had some other opportunities.”
On how damaging the loss is to playoff hopes:
“It’s an opportunity missed, and it’s a big one. Even though they’re at the bottom of our conference, they’re still a tough team to beat. They’re organized and they have closed lines where they try to sit deep and defend and catch you on the break. For us it’s an opportunity missed because you win this game, you jump Portland, you get a little bit closer to Kansas City, you still have some games in your pocket. So it puts pressure on teams when they wake up on Saturday morning to see what happened Friday night – unless they’ve watched the game, obviously. So it’s a big opportunity missed for us.”
On Henok Goitom’s debut:
“I’d love to see him score on that first touch he got. He put himself in a good spot. Good movement. He has a good attitude, he’s been finishing well in practice. You put him on, obviously it adds more scoring punch. A ball never fell perfectly for him or for us, and they defended well. He’s getting some more minutes here in the next couple weeks, a lot of games packed in, so hopefully he gets a good first goal for us and maybe some more.”
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES MIDFIELDER SHEA SALINAS
On the match:
“It’s frustrating. They got early goals in each half. We came out to play in the second half. I thought we were winning tackles and getting second chances. The ball just wasn’t going in the back of the net. The keeper made some great saves and we missed some chances. We really wanted the win tonight.”
On second half adjustments:
“Our energy in the second half was very different from the first half. We came out flying, We came out desperate at the first whistle in the second half. I think that is something we need to build off of.”
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES FORWARD HENOK GOITOM
On his debut:
“It’s frustrating. I hate losing. It seemed like we were half a meter here, and half a meter there from scoring. They get the 2-0 lead in the exact moment they had their opportunities. We didn’t give up. We made it 2-1 and kept attacking and almost tied it up. This is what happens. Sometimes soccer is not fair.”
On getting match fit:
“My physical adjustment will come with time. It felt good to be playing after a long time off. There is not much to say. We lost and that is the only thing that counts."
