Quotes From RSL Match

KANSAS CITY WIZARDS HEAD COACH CURT ONALFO
Overall thoughts on the match:
“I thought our team competed very well. They were a little tired, having played a lot of minutes on Wednesday in a game we put a lot into. I thought Kevin Hartman had a great game in goal. I thought we played well for the first 30 minutes; the last 15 [minutes of the first half] we really didn’t have the energy to compete with them, and the second half was pretty much even.”

On what changed between the first and second half:
“It is just fatigue. We came out and pressed them. We were hoping to get a goal early, which was our game plan. When you exert that kind of energy on the road, and you don’t decide to sit back and try to press them, you expend energy. The hope is you get a goal, and then you can drop back and look to counter, but we weren’t able to score a goal and they started to get in the game, as they should when they are playing at home. There are going to be stretches when you have to endure pressure. I was pleased with the group effort and the will of the guys to work for each other and not give up any goals.”

On some of the Wizards play coming off of injuries:
“As we move forward I think it is a real positive that Davy Arnaud gets some more minutes. We are trying to work him back into playing fitness through playing games so we can get him up to speed. As we continue to progress, we will continue to get better. Sasha Victorine and Carlos [Marinelli] have struggled a lot with groin injuries; getting them back to health is good, but we need to get them some good training before they can really be able to contribute for more than 45 minutes or so.”

KANSAS CITY WIZARDS MIDFIELDER DAVY ARNAUD
Thoughts on the game and playing on the Rice-Eccles Stadium field-turf:
“We battled hard for each other tonight. I don’t think it is going to be the prettiest game anytime you play on field-turf, it is just the way it is. [Real Salt Lake] has been good at home all year. The positive thing is we came out and battled and scrapped, and we shut them out, which is good, and we got a point on the road, which isn’t bad.”

On the change of momentum in the last 15 minutes of the first half:
“We started out pretty well. I thought we were moving the ball well and we created a couple of chances. For whatever reason, we kind of got out of rhythm in the last part of the first half. Credit to [Salt Lake], they did well. For whatever reason after that first 30 [minutes] we just couldn’t find the rhythm we had to start with.”

On getting a point on the road:
“What is really important is that we really worked hard together, and that is something we really tried to establish – to be a hard team to play against. If we have that mentality, especially now that we are going back home after we have been on the road for six games, it is really going to benefit us. A point on the road is a point on the road, especially against these guys who have been really good at home.”

KANSAS CITY WIZARDS DEFENDER/ CAPTAIN JIMMY CONRAD
On the play of Real Salt Lake:
“I think Salt Lake does a pretty good job of pressuring the ball; if you can get past that first line of pressure and kind of get running at their backs, I think that is where you can be dangerous. I think we did that a few times tonight, but it didn’t turn into anything, and that was disappointing on our end. I thought we did a better job in the second half of limiting their chances. We just have to make more of our opportunities.”

On the Rice-Eccles field-turf:
“What is funny about turf is that every turf field plays a little different. You hit long balls, sometimes they chuck straight up and sometimes they skip out of bounds. You just got to be ready for the unexpected out here. That is what turf does though – the ball doesn’t slow down on turf when it is on the ground. We have turf to practice on at home, but the turf here is still a different turf than we practice on at home. Both teams are playing on it though.”

KANSAS CITY WIZARDS GOALKEEPER KEVIN HARTMAN
Overall thoughts on the result:
“I thought our guys battled well tonight. We were able to get a shutout, so hopefully that helps our confidence defensively a little bit. We have to continue to try to be more effective offensively, and get more chances. We were able to keep our shape in the second half, and they were not necessarily able to get as many chances as they did in the first half. Possession was good for maybe the first 25 minutes of the game. The second half when Carlos Marinelli and Sasha Victorine were on the field helped. I think they are two guys who value possession a little more.”

On grabbing the away point:
“We always want more points, but we have to keep things in perspective. It was a six-game road swing. If we had won tonight we would have got seven points from six road games, which is not the worst thing in the world. Fortunately we were able to come out with five points.”

On his save on RSL striker Kenny Deuchar:
“We knew Deuchar was their most dangerous attacking player in terms of flighted balls into the box. It is frustrating that on the first corner kick he gets an opportunity from ten yards out. I might have laid into some guys at that point. It was a team effort to keep it out of the goal though.”