“It’s a lot better than losing. It’s a lot better than tying. I think the boys did well. I think they worked hard, I think they put in a solid effort. I think the first half we should have came in 1-0 up. It was a mystery decision, a mystery call and it led to the goal. It’s one of the things we’ve been dealing with all year. But it’s a lot easier to talk about that when you win. I think the group effort tonight, you can see the camaraderie within the group. You can see what it meant to them to win this game. And I think it’s good for the organization, and it repays the fans for some of the pain that they’ve gone through.”

“I think we have been maturing as a group. I think you start to look at some of the road performances, I think you look at that Toronto game, we’re unlucky not to get a PK and maybe come away with three points. The New York game, we created a lot of chances, we should have put that game away at the start of the second half. I think as a group, we’re starting to mature. We’re starting to take responsibility for what we’re doing, and I think that’s a positive. I think the guys have responded very, very well. I think when you start to look at the way which we’re playing, trying to keep the ball, trying to move it, trying to create chances and dominate games. I think getting a win like tonight solidifies what we’ve been trying to do, and it’s been a lot of work to get to this stage.”

“Winning the Cascadia Cup is something that we’ve got to focus on, to be honest, and every game in the league is very, very important. But I think the Cascadia Cup is extremely important to our fan base, it’s extremely important to the organization, and the players understand that. They get the rivalries. There’s a lot of games left, and for us to be in this position, I think we’re going to take each game as it comes, but it’s something that’s very important to us, and it’s something that we’ve all put a lot of effort in to.”

“Over the last three games, he [Darlington Nagbe] has been outstanding. Absolutely outstanding. I think he’s finding the ball, he’s finding space. Tremendous player. When we talk about a young team that’s starting to mature, I think he epitomizes what I’m talking about. He’s had a lot of distractions over the last thirty-six hours. They’re doing a whole tv program about him, so his personal life has been invaded an awful lot. To have the maturity to deal with that and them come out and perform the way he did – I think it’s tremendous for him. I think he is a talent. It’s our job to keep developing him and keep giving him an opportunity to succeed. I think where he’s playing in our group, in the system that we’re playing, it brings out the best in him.”

“Darlington himself, I think [on what has sparked his recent form]. Understanding how good he is and trying to make the most of it. He’s somebody, by the end of the year, I’d like to see on ten or eleven goals. I think he’s capable of that. When you see him in training, he’s a real talent. He has a low center of gravity, he changes directions, has a quick burst of speed and a tremendous touch. And though he scored again, we’ve still got to work on his finishing. There are some things there to improve on but when a person is as nice as he is, we want him to do as well as he has.”

“Steven [Smith] was huge. I think the first save off that was tremendous. And Steven, I think that’s his fourth game in a row where he’s done very, very well. He’s had a lot of consistent performances. It’s very easy to put the same players out when they’re doing well.”

“I think he [Bright Dike] put in another good performance. He was unlucky not to score. But we’ve got Kris Boyd, who is a very talented player. So with Bright Dike, I still say he’s a young player when it comes to games, when it comes to MLS experience. And we’ve got Kris Boyd who is a very talented individual. We’ve got Danny Mwanga. But the system we’re playing at the moment only allows for one up top. The best will get to start and the best player is the one that performs the game before and also puts the effort in in training.”

“I would say we showed maturity. When you get scored on in the last five minutes in the first half, it’s hard to get the locker room back very, very quickly. Get them focused on the second half. I think it’s a positive to see the maturity in the group to actually climb back into the game in the second half. For us to take that isolated moment, yes [it was a lack of maturity to allow the goal]. But if I was to look at the game, I would say no.”

“It was more about psychological than tactical [at half-time]. We thought that they would bring that attack up top and we addressed that very, very quickly. We also thought that they were changing they way they were defending with [Alain] Rochat playing a little bit tighter up to Sal Zizzo and YP [Lee] playing a little bit tighter. So we asked Bright [Dike] to find the channels a little bit more to see if we could find him and play off him. But as far as that, most of it was mental. Basically making sure that they knew they were good enough to go out and win it. We’re getting a lot more participation from the players in the locker room, as well, which is a positive.”

“I thought he [Eric Alexander] was very, very good. I thought he tired a bit at the end of the game but we need to do a better job of keeping him match fit so that when we do need him for ninety minutes, he can contribute. But he takes tremendous care of the ball. He’s a very smooth player. Technically, tremendous. I think he’s a very, very smooth player. I’ve said for a while that we’ve got a lot of young players that have ability. Now it’s a matter of, maybe the losses that we’re going through, the tough times, they start to mature a little bit. They start to realize what is needed to excel.”

“I would say yes [the team is close to a permanent starting XI]. But I would also say that the performances of Eric Alexander keep you honest. Keep you very, very honest. Because now he’s come in and he’s done well and we want to reward players for good performances. But a player who wasn’t available tonight, Diego Chara, is also a very, very good player. I would say that if you start to look at our line-up, there haven’t been a lot of changes. What I would say is that we’re starting to give a value to having a starting position. And now you have to earn that. Eric Alexander did a tremendous job tonight so we have a difficult decision. Coaches, I think, generally want difficult decisions.”