Toronto FC 2, Atlanta United 1
Q. Talk us through the goal.
RALPH PRISO: I took it short, played Mike. Mike tried I think a reverse pass to Jack, and I think the Atlanta guy slid and touched it and it came to me and I just hit it, just instinct. I think it takes a little deflection, but I'll take it.
Q. What does a goal like that mean to you?
RALPH PRISO: I think it's big. Helped the team get the points. The crowd, a big crowd on a special night. So it's big, and now I've scored on both ends, which is good.
Q. Tell us about the celebration. You made a beeline for that corner.
RALPH PRISO: Honestly it, was -- Kosi was in my ear, telling me, "Knee slide, knee slide, knee slide." So the grass was looking good. Maybe if it was earlier in the year, I wouldn't have done it. Grass was nice, wet. So just did it and it was clean. It looks good.
Q. Maybe just a larger view on the game?
RALPH PRISO: From a personal standpoint I think obviously it's a good goal but the performance can be better. I think I'll go back and watch and see what I can improve because I don't think it was great.
On a team standpoint, I think in the first half, we were the better team. I think we were controlling the game. Then I think we lose control of the game a little bit. They score a goal.
I think our goal comes in a moment in the game where we are back in control. I think we are vindicating a play in the half -- obviously after the goal, I think we buckle up a little bit and just, see it out.
Q. Seems like your team is rounding into form at a nice time. What can results like this and victories like this do for your team as you head into the second half of the year?
RALPH PRISO: Yeah, at the moment we have a pretty young team. So I think just winning games, and the feeling you get after wing, makes you not want to lose that much more. I think it just helps us get even more, and just going into the games with an even bigger desire to win.
I think, like you said, there's guys that are going to come in now and help us keep pushing forward. Until they get here, I think we have good players that can get wins and steady the ship until we get here.
Q. Bit of a general one. What's the mood like in the locker room?
RALPH PRISO: It's good. I think it's really good. Obviously we are back-to-back wins, clean sheet, Cup final coming in, some other guys coming in. Happy, excited. A lot of the guys from the academy, we love playing for the first team. So it doesn't get much better than that.
Q. All five of the teams wins have been at home. Is there a sense amongst you and the boys that this place is becoming a bit of a fortress again like it was in previous regimes?
RALPH PRISO: Yeah, I don't know if I can speak for everyone but certainly, it's a little bit weird, but I feel like it's one of my best games at BMO. I don't know why. I just play better when we play here. So, I don't know, it's just -- it's just something that you can't explain. It's weird.
Q. You signed in the pandemic, the end of 2020 and you haven't experienced a BMO that's somewhat normal. Have you gotten a taste that have?
RALPH PRISO: Tonight is probably the most packed it's been since I played here. Obviously last year attendance wasn't too great. This is probably the first game where it felt like one of those 2017 nights when I was in the academy.
Q. Tell us your experience playing at TFC 2 and playing at a bigger stadium and getting more used to the players, and are you going to start getting used to the caffe macchiatos?
RALPH PRISO: Personally, I didn't play too much in T2. I think I played maybe -- I played a lot in the academy. I was in the academy from 14 years old and then I played maybe four or five games in T2 and then I was brought up to the first team.
T2 was a good bridge to get me used to playing against older guys that are more physical. Playing against other players helped, and what the Italians drink, we're all going to try it.
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FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports