Columbus Crew SC Assistant Coach Josh Wolff

On Crew SC missing chances to score...

"Yeah, I think so. I think you hit it on the head there. I think we had some opportunities to reestablish the lead. Give Toronto [FC] credit. They made plays, the few plays that came their way they made them. They’re critical in this game and as far as taking care of chances in and around the box, they took two of them late, they didn’t have a lot, but they were enough. For us I think we missed some chances and probably let ourselves down on some defensive chances that we just could have dealt with better. Controlled the game for most of the night and had some spells where it dipped, but I think we are a little bit surprised to not come away certainly with some points here."

On the difference between the first half and second half...

"Again, I think they [Toronto FC] start taking a little more risks and getting numbers around the ball and advancing the ball. I think we stopped moving and our tempo when we had the ball certainly lessened than it was at the end of the first half and I think that cost us time on the ball. You can see in numbers, the first half possession and accuracy was extremely good. The second half they put us under a little bit of pressure and again, in those moments we have to be more mobile, more brave, more willing to get on the ball and we just didn’t do that and it cost us possession, which in the end cost us legs. Both of these goals came late and I think that can be somewhat attributed to that."

On what to say to young players after tonight’s game...

"I think it’s always a learning moment, whether it’s a young player or an experienced player. I think Alex [Crognale] has had some good moments in a short time for us and today is going to be a learning experience. I think there are some plays that come his way that even he would attest to, that could have been dealt with better. Again, on the day we didn’t make those plays and Toronto [FC] did and it cost us points. Again, I think for Alex it’s an opportunity to learn, but we’ve got to brush ourselves off. We’ve got a game that comes quickly in a few days, so we get everybody as fresh as possible and back up to speed."

On Alex Crognale’s positioning on the final Toronto FC goal...

"I’d have to look at it again, but certainly from where I was it comes through a few people and you’d like to think that we would be able to beat their [Toronto FC] center midfielder to that spot. We had a couple of guys that could have made a play on it and I’ve said it a couple times, they made the plays that mattered the most at the end of the night. For us, that’s the disappointing part. This is the gig. Now we brush ourselves off and get ready for the next game to try and go get points away from home, the points that we dropped tonight."

On starting in a 3-5-2 formation...

"I think we still had our 4-2-3-1, we just moved our personnel around just to build up with the idea of how Toronto [FC] was going to start the game. We felt that was going to give us a little more flexibility in the midfield and cause them some stress as far as having to shift across the field. Again, I think once we got the tempo right it certainly showed to be the case. Again, with Pipa [Federico Higuain] and Justin [Meram], now Mohammed [Abu] and Wil [Trapp] were able to break lines and able to get into pockets and were able to get into some spots that challenged their back line al little more, we started to have a little more success in the latter part of the first half. As the game went on, they [Toronto FC] made some changes and so did we to try to adjust to the game and unfortunately it wasn’t to be."

On his team’s tempo and changes in the second half...

"I think the tempo was much better at the end of the first half. We talked about it in the second half coming out and certainly trying to utilize our freshness, but utilize playing wide and having them have to move across the field. Again, I think we stopped moving as much as we needed to, which allows us space and time on the ball and they made some adjustments and now when they had the ball we just weren’t able to catch up to the game and maybe win some balls when we needed to. Again, it comes down to plays. It’s a few plays that are certainly devastating for us. They had some of the ball in the second half, but there weren’t a ton of chances to be out there. We had a couple that we should have probably taken better and could have reestablished the lead, but it didn’t happen."

On if he had pregame jitters...

"No. I think we prepare all week and it’s a lot of dialogue with our staff before the game in the course of the week for training. There’s probably a little bit of nervousness, but once you get out there it’s similar to how we typically run our game days. We’re all still active even as assistant coaches, we’re giving input to Gregg [Berhalter] and to the players. I think that subsides once the game gets moving."

Midfielder Ethan Finlay

On a tough loss against Toronto FC...

"For 87 minutes we played well tonight and there was probably three moments in the game where we just weren’t quite good enough and that was their three opportunities. It’s obviously disappointing to walk here when you feel like we put in an effort that was worthy of at least a draw. So disappointed."

On Saturday’s match at the Montreal Impact...

"It’s a team that needs points and they’re obviously going to be playing at home. It’s a big game for them, and now, because of some dropped points here at home, it’s an even bigger game for us. But, it’ll test our depth and I think we’ll see what we’re made out of. We talked a little bit before this week that this week will show us where we are in the campaign. I think we could already agree that there is still a lot of work to be done, but a bounce back performance on Saturday will say a lot."

On his team’s performance so far this season...

"A little bit of a mixed bag. Again, when you play well and you lose 2-1, it doesn’t really feel that way, but that’s probably why it hurts so much. I’m not disappointed with how we’ve performed for eleven games. I think there has been a lot of positive stuff. Like I said, we are still trying to figure out exactly where this team is and where we can get better."

Midfielder Wil Trapp

On the game-changing factors...

"I don’t think anything changed, I just think it was sensing the danger and realizing the situation at hand and how one wrong decision can cost you a goal. It’s split second moments and we were on the wrong side of them."

On Alex Crognale’s performance...

"We’re all learning from this one, you can’t put your worth on one performance; one good one or one bad one. So, we’re all obviously disappointed, plain and simple. But we live and die as a team and this is one of those where we just have to rebound from and learn from."

On his team’s response to a loss...

"You look at how we how we’ve done after a loss, we’ve come back and pretty much won every game after losing but this one hurts because for 87 minutes of the game we were in control for the most part and could’ve held the result but we didn’t."