The 8th match of the Reign's season would see Sam Laity's first home match as interim head coach, on a sunny day in Tacoma, Washington. OL Reign came into this came coming off of back to back losses, dropping four of their last five. The only team that had put up less points in the NWSL than the Reign (7 points) would be the opponent for this match, Kansas City NWSL (3 points).
Pre-match
Injury report
International duty: The homeside in Cheney stadium were looking to see if they could begin to put the pieces together that they have, though they would have to play this match without Nicole Momiki, Rose Lavelle, Megan Rapinoe, Quinn, and Angelina, all who were out due to international duty.
Out: Ally Watt would be out of this match due to her continued recovery from her right knee, and Rosie White is still dealing with an undisclosed flare up of a chronic illness. There were no players listed as questionable for this match
Starting lineups:
Defense: Starting in goal for your Reign would again be Sarah Bouhaddi. The backline sees a little different look in Laity's second match as interim head coach, being composed of Celia, Alana Cook, Sam Hiatt, and Lauren Barnes. The backline gets some veteran leadership this match against KC
Midfield: The midfield, something that would be crucial for the Reign in this game as it was something we here at CSS have noted for the past few matches, would be made up of Dzsenifer Marozsan, Jess Fishlock, and Sofia Huerta. That is a midfield that has experience and should prove crucial to the success of the Reign in this game.
Attacking front: The attacking players for the Reign in this home match would see Tziarra King return to the starting lineup, and she would be joined by Bethany Balcer and Eugenie Le Sommer. With that veteran midfield constructed for this game, I would not be surprised to see Le Sommer finally be able to put away a goal in this match.
Bench: Ella Dederick, Amber Brooks, Madison Hammond, Kristen McNabb, Steph Cox, Dani Weatherholt, Leah Pruitt, Shirley Cruz, and Kelcie Hedge all start this match on the bench.
Keys to the match
Midfield efficiency: The Reign will look to get some better opportunities set up for them in the form of their midfield giving them through balls and chances to put balls in the net. The incredibly talented front of King, Balcer, and Le Sommer are amazing as they are, but getting them proper chances to really get balls in past KC keeper Nicole Barnhart would help avoid this 1v1 play that really does not equal efficient offense or even team offense
Take some pressure off of Bouhaddi: Making sure that Sarah Bouhaddi isn't peppered with shots is something that will be key, and it also ties into the first point of midfield efficiency. Possession will be something to watch in this game and it will help keep the pressure off of our French keeper. There has been criticism from the fans about Bouhaddi, but I believe that the heat she gets in terms of shots on her stem from the midfield issues.
First half: In just the third minute, Bethany "boats" Balcer gets a goal in just the third minute off of a bad pass from KC. The Reign capitalize early and are almost able to add a second goal when Eugenie Le Sommer gets off a tough shot as she is being pulled backwards, but it rolls just to the keepers right and out of bounds. Jess Fishlock would get in some shots in the 12th and 15th minutes, but both would hit the LED board above the KC goal and keeper Nicole Barnhart. In the 28th minute, Sofia Huerta would whip in a cross that would find Bethany Balcer, and boats would head it in to bring the Reign to a 2-0 advantage.
Halftime thoughts and what to work on in the next 45 minutes:
Bethany Balcer has absolutely taken advantage of the chances that she has been given, and to her credit Sofia Huerta from her midfield position gave boats a great cross to put away for that second goal.
The Reign have done a good job of keeping pressure off of Bouhaddi, as at the halfway mark she has only had to deal with 2 shots, and both of them were on goal. By contrast, the Reign have 11 shots and 5 on goal.
The Reign are in the drivers seat after 45, backed up by their 81% passing accuracy and 57.5% possession. It would be icing on top of the cake to add more goals and really make Sam Laity's home coaching debut a very memorable one. The Reign have 10 fouls, 6 more than their opponent in this match, but it hasn't seemed to deter them.
The backline that has been lead by Cook and Barnes has been solid, and Barnes has brought the ball up numerous times along the left-hand side for the Reign, which is certainly an added benefit of having her on the field.
It will be important that we continue to see the attacking cohesion that has been displayed in the first half and to ultimately finish strong both offensively and defensively.
Second half: Kansas City would come out of the gate with a furious attack by the backline and Bouhaddi were able to hold off the initial attempts, starting with a 48th minute save. The second half seemed like it would be a struggle of the two teams, as for several minutes we would see shots, (including more from Jess Fishlock and Le Sommer almost netting her first goal for the Reign) but for the most part Kansas City seemed to have the attacking advantage. Their attack would lead to a free kick just outside of the ball in a very unique play. Bouhaddi came out of goal in an effort to block an attack, but as a result clipped the attacking KC player. She would be given a red card, and would have to leave the match. The Reign would sub out Tziarra King for keeper Ella Dederick. The resulting freekick would hit the post, and then be cleared by the Reign after a ricochet. In the 80th minute, the Reign made four substitutions that will be highlighted below. Dederick would make some good saves, and with the Brooks substitution the 5-woman back line would help her make it relatively easy. Dederick would make a few more saves, but ultimately the Reign would win 2-0!
The final whistle blows in Cheney stadium
Substitutions for the Reign
73rd minute: Tziarra King for Ella Dederick (due to Bouhaddi red card)
81st minute: Amber Brooks for Jess Fishlock, Dani Weatherholt for Bethany Balcer, Shirley Cruz for Dzsenifer Marozsan, and Kristen McNabb for Lauren Barnes.
Post game thoughts and what impacted this match:
Bethany Balcer was the engine, (or boat, if we're using nicknames?) that made the Reign run, and her two goals would be the deciding difference in this match against last place Kansas City. It would be embarrassing to not get the 3-points in this match, and the Reign avoided that. The Huerta-Balcer connection would again come through for the Reign, and it would be a great thing to see the cohesion for this team's attack continue going forward, especially with a match against Orlando coming up on the 24th of July.
The backline was able to hold strong and it came to Bouhaddi's rescue a few times when she may have come out too far or was out of goal. Bouhaddi mostly played a solid game, but after review that red card that she was issued in the 69th minute is understandable. We will see over the week what kind of punishment she will get in response to that play. KC had the 11 shots, and while they had an efficient 7 shots on goal, they were not able to convert any of them. KC had 10 less fouls than the home side, but they also had 4 more offsides called against them.
The midfield of Marozsan, Fishlock and Huerta did a solid job of providing chances for the attacking front, and those chances would prove to be enough as the two Balcer goals would be the deciding factor. It will be huge to keep that cohesion going on the offensive/attacking end. They were able to generate 20 shots total, and 9 on goal
But first, we have to look towards next match, which leads into our next segment...
Looking towards the next match: The next match for the OL Reign will see them travel to the windy city of Chicago to take on the Red Stars at 3:00pm on Sunday, July 18th. As mentioned before in the post game section, it will be crucial to continue the attacking cohesion that this team saw in this match against Kansas City but also keeping veterans Cook and Barnes on the backline would be beneficial to this team, as they provide leadership, experience, and Barnes was able to push the ball up the side of the pitch several times, which adds another element of attack to this offense.
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