Las Vegas Lights Head Coach Dennis Sanchez
On team effort and contributions across the board…
I thought we were really good with the ball.
I thought we were ripping through them pretty successfully. They changed to a 4-2-3-1 which made us adapt. But again I talked to the players all the time and, as part of coaching is giving them structure, giving them ideas, but then giving them queues to look for, but ultimately they have to problem solve and find solutions.
And I thought that again, the goals that we scored tonight were some really top-level goals. The timing of them, obviously, after letting them back in the game was important too. I thought with the ball, we were very good tonight.
On quality of the goals…
Yeah. I think part of our structure is looking at how we can put our attacking players and most dangerous players and really good positions. I’ve been talking a little bit of smack to JC lately about when was the last time he scored, but his finishing yesterday in training was good.
And I said to him before, I was like, yeah, I think it’s your night to just hit one. And fortunately for us, it went in, set the tone. Sometimes scoring goals earlier can be a kryptonite as well, but the guys stayed consistent and kept performing.
But again, kudos to the guys that scored and the guys that are setting it up.
On J.C. Ngando’s performance…
Yeah, JC has so much quality. I think that what I try to challenge him with is it’s really bringing out his strengths at the right time. And I think that, there’s no doubt his ability to create separation from his opponent, create space, make final passes, get on the end, create opportunities for us.
It happens and I think when he doesn’t force it it’s when he’s at his best and just letting the kind of the spaces and the game come to him. Again, I thought he was very good both with and without the ball tonight.
On playoff potential…
It’s probably what my message was before the game, which was “Be proud of what you’ve accomplished and know that we’re heading for the right way and we have a bright future ahead of us.”
But at the same time, what I try to balance it out with is being present. And the reality is this is a really difficult league. It’s never easy to win games and, we’ve been trying to instill this mentality that every time we step on the field, whether we’re playing the first-place team or the last-place team we have to earn the right to win.
We’re going to continue to take it one game at a time, but there’s no doubt there’s a special unity and collective spirit within the locker room. And we’re going to continue to move forward and keep believing in ourselves in the process.