HC TOM SERMANNI: “[I was watching the Seattle-Kansas City game] very closely. It was probably as stressful as being on the sideline at the Portland game at the weekend. To make matters worse, I was watching it with some supporters and friends, and the stream kept stopping, but it didn’t stop when the ball was out for a throw-in at the halfway line. It stopped when a Seattle player was about to cross it or shoot or do something. So, that made it even a little bit more stressful. But, you know, all in all, after the whistle went to the end, it was a very good time.”

“I was just happy. I mean, just delighted for a whole range of reasons and a whole range of people. You know, I think, first and foremost, the players. You know, they stuck by us and what we’ve tried to do this season even though we had a really shaky start, and they could’ve kind of gone another way and not quite believed in what we’re trying to do, but they, you know, stuck with us. Obviously, the support staff behind have been fantastic; the support we get from [the media] has been great. And our supporters and the people in the club. So, I feel really happy for everybody involved with Orlando City and Orlando Pride.”

“[It’s a huge relief]. It was huge. I mean, it’s funny—as it gets—you know, when we were a ways off being in contention, in some ways, the stress was less. As we got closer and closer, and as you kinda got one foot in the door, the stress levels tend to get higher because you know that you’re really close and that, you know, but you’re just still not quite over, you know, quite all the way through the door. So that became a little bit more stressful, and, you know, obviously, if Seattle had won 3-0 last night, then this would be an entirely different week to what it’s going to be.”

“[Training was] just happy a bit. It’s kind of relieving. They’re still tired from Saturday’s game ’cause Saturday was a tough, tough game. You know, Portland are probably one of the most physical teams in the league. And everybody—I think there’s a sense of quiet happiness, rather than euphoric—you know, you’re jumping up and down in the dressing room kind of happiness.”

“[A confirmed playoff berth changes our strategy] probably quite significantly. You know, what we do if there’s any doubts about players, then, obviously, we’re not going to play them. An opportunity, perhaps, to give a start to some players that have really deserved a start, but, because of the run we’re on, we haven’t been able to do that. So we really need to sit down and think about all those issues, as opposed to sitting down and saying we need to win this game at the weekend. What do we need to do for that? So, it will be a different strategy, had we not been in the position we’re in now.”

“It’s really out of—it’s almost completely out of our control what happens. You know, we could end up third, we could end up fourth. So we might end up playing Portland, and we might end up playing Carolina. I mean, we won’t know that until probably, potentially after the game at the weekend. So we’ve really just got to look and plan and be ready to play either of those teams that come a week [from] Saturday.”

“Well, I think when you’re in the top four like this, any team can win it. I mean, if you look at last year, who would have put any kind of odds on [the] Western New York [Flash] winning the championship, and they’ve come from behind twice, I think, and gone away to Portland to win when they—when people gave them no chance. So, when you’re in the situation you’re in now, anything can happen. Anything can happen. It’s down to the day; it’s down to how your players turn up in the day. Little bit of luck here and there, and, quite often, what I’ve found, when you get into big games, it’s usually all about big players. You know, and if you look whether it’s men’s soccer or women’s soccer, when it comes to World Cup finals or it comes to major, major things, you know, they’re the ones that usually make the difference, and, you know, we’ve got some major players, big-time players who turn up in the big occasions, and hopefully we can do that.”

F ALEX MORGAN: “Yeah, it’s really nice. I mean, I feel like we played really well against Portland and know that we very well will probably face them either in two weeks or three weeks, but not getting that win was, you know, was a little frustrating ’cause I felt like we dominated most of the game, so we were eagerly watching as Seattle played, and, yeah, luckily for us, it’s not coming down to the very last weekend of regular season.”

“Yeah, I think everyone was kinda watching on this team, and we have a little group text that we have going, and we all kind of congratulated and were super-excited after, and Seattle had a good run, you know, but I’m just really happy that we’re not finding out the last weekend. We’re not leaving it to the last minute. I feel like we’ve done really well to turn our season around in the last two months, so it’s nice to see this hard work paying off, but, at the same time, the work has just begun.”

“You know, I—playing North Carolina next weekend and Chicago playing Portland, it’s those four teams that are gonna be possibly facing the same teams or facing each other kinda mixed up little bit. So I just don’t want us to, you know, take anything for granted, even if we are playing the same team twice in a row. I want us to take it as a new opportunity, and I feel like this team just is really excited and so invested in the fact that we have made playoffs and the fact our season is extended a week and hopefully two weeks. It’s—this team is just very unique. I think everyone is just emotionally, mentally just so in it.”

“Yeah, well on the club level, this is the highest that we possibly can attain in the U.S. We don’t have a Champions League or anything like that, so this is the biggest thing that we work for once a year. And I was lucky enough to, you know, achieve something similar in France earlier this year, but, now, you know, focusing just 100 percent on Orlando moving forward, I feel like this is something that I haven’t achieved since I was with Portland for the inaugural NWSL season. So that was a long time ago, and it feels really good to be back in this position and have the opportunity to bring a championship here in our second year. But, you know, this is the biggest thing that we’re looking to go after right now. I’m not having World Cup on my mind or anything like that right now. It’s all about NWSL championship.”

“I think we’re very confident. We have been playing some of the best soccer of the season. We are continuing to play better and better and for longer period of time during matches. It’s not just five minutes here we’re stringing together passes. It’s 20 minutes, 30 minutes. It’s having really great periods of time where we’re possessing the ball and imposing our style of play, and I think that’s really important. But, at the same time, we’re in our second season, so I think to say, ‘Oh, you’ve never beaten this club or this team.’ It’s difficult to look at those stats when you’re only in your second year.”