New England 0, Toronto FC 0
Q. I know you're a long way away from the opposing goal but as a goalkeeper, I'm sure you probably admire the safe on Insigne and the penalty, what did you think of?
ALEX BONO: Yeah, he's a good goalkeeper, I thought it was a great stretch. Read it right, Lorenzo put it on target and he made a safe. Good save on the keeper. You know Lorenzo is disappointed but everyone was comforting. It is what it is. Things happen and we move on. But yeah I thought it was a good save.
Q. Congrats on the 150. Wanted to get your take on the team's overall performance in New England, not an easy place to play, and was there more in this game for Toronto? Do you feel you left points on the table?
ALEX BONO: Yeah, I don't know about the history of the club but since I've been here this has been one of our toughest away trips. The years where we were top of the table, coming here was never easy. It always felt like one of the tougher games that we play. Coming way with a draw, I thought we had enough to win and everyone in the locker room thought we had enough to win. Just a matter of the ball we didn't quite put it in the net for us. I thought we defended well. I felt comfortable all game. Center backs were awesome. Michael did a ton of work, and Jayden, too, controlling the midfield for us. Yeah, I thought we had enough to win and just a little disappointed that we didn't.
Again, it's a tough away trip at New England is ever easy, so you take the point and you move on.
Q. Congrats on your 150. How did you feel about the fact that you have recorded back-to-back clean sheets now, and it appears, you kind of mentioned it, but it appears the back line is solidifying in front of you. How does a game like that feel for you?
ALEX BONO: Yeah, it feels great. Like I said, I felt super comfortable for the vast majority of the game. I thought we defended so well. It does seem over the last couple games, the last few games we have taken a turn in terms of being stingy defensively. The guys that are putting the work in front of me have been working their asses off to try to limit crosses limit chances. They had a couple shots from a long way out today and that's exactly as a goalkeeper what we like to see. I've been real happy with the defense and the way we've played as a group defensively over the last few games. It's something we definitely plan to keep going as we come into this final stretch of the season and we push for the playoff spot.
Q. Everyone has asked but the defensive effort so I'll mix it up a little bit. What did you make of that strike -- not I'm not sure I've seen a cleaner hit.
ALEX BONO: I had a really good angle. There was no one in the way of me, Federico and the post. I had my hands up. I thought for sure it was going to go in. Almost just kind of like knuckled the last second and rang off the post. You could kind of feel the air kind of leave the building for a second as it was travel being. I mean, you can always tell how hard a shot when it hits the post by the sound that it makes. Geez, that was -- it was thunder. Yeah that would have been a pretty special goal.
Q. Congratulations on 150 with Toronto. Just talk about, you mentioned the work that Michael did. It's been a tough week for the team having to go out west and then play the final, come back and now play at New England. Talk about the work that Michael did in front of you tonight and the performance that he put in?
ALEX BONO: Yeah, of course, he covers so much ground for us. You know, when he's on his game as he has been, it's so help. For the back line. Tonight, Jahkeele, with jet (ph) popping off, he's always looking over his shoulder to try and relieve some of the stresses on the back line.
It's obviously huge. He's obviously a big player for us, he has been for so long, and he does a lot of work. He does so much work, and Oso, too. Oso coming in and running around like he does. Ball turns over, first thing we see Oso and trying to run the play back. The two of them in there really make it tick for us, and they are both really special players for us.
Q. It was just mentioned that this has been a pretty demanding week with the trip to Vancouver and back, two games an artificial turf, and now to Boston. What has this week been like in that regard and what kind of introduction is it to the League for the Italian?
ALEX BONO: Yeah, obviously it's kind of trial by fire for them. Just kind of, hey, welcome to the League. You get a cross-country trip and time difference to Vancouver to play inside on turf and a final, and then quick turnaround, you have to fly out again and play in a football stadium on turf in New England, which like I said before has not been, you know, has not been a great road trip for us in the past.
So yeah, I'd like to tell them that they have seen some of the toughest conditions with the flights and the fields and I want to tell them that it kind of, you know, it get better. So just kind of stick with it.
But yeah, obviously going to Vancouver and playing the final did not come out on top there. Grueling, mentally, physically for the guys to put in that much effort and fly across, flying back after to try and prepare for this trip and flying again to play on artificial surface, especially the Italians are so not used to playing on.
Yeah, trial by fire for them. Obviously we would like to win the final and come here and get a point but now we can tell them there's brighter days ahead in terms of playing conditions.
Q. What do the next few days look like for you guy asks did you get a chance to say hello to the folks?
ALEX BONO: Yeah, I did. I was really happy that they were able to make. It obviously every time they make it to a game is special for me. I know the time and effort they spend to come up and watch me play. It means the world to me. It's been like that for eight years. I know they enjoy it, so it doesn't feel as much stress to them but they know that I appreciate it, and see them up in the crowd and look up in the game and see their smile, it means the world to me.
I forget your first question because you know, obviously my family -- but the next couple days, rest, recover, took at some tape from this game and take a weekend from it. We should feel confident that we had enough to win the game today. We had enough chances and we had enough opportunities to pull ahead.
Like I said, sometimes that's just the way the ball bounces, and it didn't happen for us, but we can take a lot of positives from this one, rest, recover. There's still so much to play for this season. So get our bodies right, get our minds right and keep pushing for a playoff spot. That's the goal, everyone knows it, and there's not one person that thinks we can't do it. So we're excited to keep pushing.
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