Racing Louisville FC came to Cheney Stadium on the last day of July to take on the OL Reign in the Reign's 12th contest of the 2021 NWSL regular season, with the home side coming off of a huge win against the Pride down in Orlando. The Reign began the day with a 4-6-1 record, 2-2-1 at home in Tacoma and just the three points out of 6th place in the NWSL table (Orlando and Houston both sat at 16 prior to the start of the Reign match).
Pre-game of Reign vs Louisville
Last weeks recap: The Reign were able to travel down to Florida and take 3 points from the Pride on the backs of Tziarra King and Jess Fishlock. King assisted Fishlock on a goal in the 10th minute of the match, and later on Eugenie Le Sommer flicked a great ball to King who found the back of the net in the 51st minute to give the Reign the insurance goal that they needed to win, 2-0. The Reign would have been able to put the lead to 3-0, but Jess Fishlock's penalty kick shortly after the King goal was saved by Pride keeper Ashlyn Harris, who has now saved five straight penalty kicks in 2021. The Reign are unbeaten against Orlando with a record of 3-0-7, and recorded their first victory in the Pride's Exploria stadium.
Injury report:
Out: Ally Watt remains out while recovering from her right knee surgery, and Rosie White continues to recover from her illness. Best wishes to both Watt and White in their recovery!
Questionable: None
Olympics: Megan Rapinoe, Quinn, and Rose Lavelle continue their quest for Olympic gold as the US will face Canada. Angelina and Nicole Momiki remain in Tokyo but their quests for gold have ended.
Key points to watch:
Ebony Salmon: This will be the Reigns first time facing off against Louisville, and someone they will need to pay extra attention to is Ebony Salmon. Salmon is Racing's 20 year old (yes, 20. I am the same age as Ms. Salmon, just younger by 4 months and some change.) from England that has played in 6 matches and has already recorded 3 goals. It will be important for the Reign backline to keep Salmon's touches far and away from the box, as her goals have all come within the box.
Score early and in bunches: Obviously, if you score multiple goals you will likely win matches. But, statistically, the Reign are undefeated this season (4-0) when scoring multiple goals in their matches, and have not won a match while only scoring once or not at all. The Reign have scored six of their ten total goals this season within the first 15 minutes of their matches, so getting off to a hot start could be key. It will be important for the young attackers Tziarra King and Bethany Balcer to continue their hot streak of play. Balcer is currently fourth in the league in goals scored, with 4.
Keep the momentum rolling: The Reign (heading into this match) had won 2 of the last 3, and with some key matches coming up in the month of August including a rematches with Houston, Gotham, and the Portland double header at home, staying hot would be huge for the Reign who will welcome back some key players in the near future once the Olympics wrap up in the forms of Angelina, Megan Rapinoe, and Rose Lavelle. Congratulations and best wishes to Nicole Momiki on her loan to Linkopings FC! Momiki will be returning to the club before the start of next years preseason.
Starting lineup:
Goalkeeper: Sarah Bouhaddi continues to be the mainstay in goal since joining the club. Obviously this is not something that is of imminent worry, but with Karen Bardsley returning to Man City, who will the Reign turn to in goal past the 2021 season? Ella Dederick should make a strong case.
Backline: The Reign backline sees Madison Hammond, Alana Cook, Sam Hiatt, and Lauren Barnes create the wall that hopes to keep Ebony Salmon and Louisville at bay.
Midfield: Dzsenifer Marozsan, Dani Weatherholt, and Jess Fishlock make up the midfield up for the Reign. It would be interesting to see Bethany Balcer slated into the midfield, but we will wait to see if that happens.
Attacking front: Tziarra King, Eugenie Le Sommer, and Sofia Huerta make up the attacking front of this group for the July 31st match.
Bench: The bench for this match is rounded out by Phallon Tullis-Joyce, Amber Brooks, Celia, Kristen McNabb, Leah Pruitt, Bethany Balcer, Jimena Lopez, Shirley Cruz, and Kelcie Hedge. notably Ella Dederick and Cosette Morche are missing from that list, but Cosette's name is absent from that list as she has been loaned to GSPO 92 ISSY of the French D1 Arkema. Morche's option was extended through the 2022 NWSL season as well with this loan.
First half: The Reign were not able to put away a pre-15th minute goal in this match, as for the most part this game was pretty evenly matched, with a slight edge to Louisville in terms of shots and shots on goal. Several corners and attacks would result in saves and missed shots. That would all change in the 26th minute as Eugenie Le Sommer would get the ball in a 1 on 1 situation with a Louisville defender, crossing her over and putting away a laser of a goal to give the Reign a 1-0 lead and giving Le Sommer her first NWSL goal! The Reign would keep the pressure on, with corner kicks in the 28th and 35th minute and a cross by Jess Fishlock in the 39th, but none of those attempts would result in a score. If you know Jess Fishlock, though, you know that she is a bottle of electricity on the field, and she continued this as in the 42nd minute her beautiful pass would lead Eugenie Le Sommer perfectly for her second goal, putting the Reign up 2-0! In stoppage time, Lauren Barnes would continue the attack, getting a cross in to Sofia Huerta in the box, but Betos would save that attempt and we go into half with the Reign up 2-0
The Reign celebrate after Le Sommer's second goal!
Halftime adjustments and notes: The Reign played an incredible half, and there is really not much to critique them on at this point. The match, aside from the goals, has been pretty well balanced. Reign led passing accuracy by 3% (Reign 76:.4% passing accuracy and Louisville with 73.4% passing accuracy), and Louisville led possession 51.1% to the home sides 48.9%. The biggest things seperating the two teams may lie in the duels won, where the Reign have an advantage of 27 won to Racing's 18. The Reign had also been far more efficient, despite both teams having 7 shots a piece at half. The Reign had 5 of those 7 shots on goal, while Louisville only with on on goal. The late goal by Le Sommer towards the end of the half may be the nail in the coffin, but this is the NWSL after all. It will be key to continue the aggressive play, winning duels and tackles while getting another offensive weapon in like Bethany Balcer (who will have fresh legs) in order to keep the pressure on.
Second half: The second half of this match was like seeing both teams go through the motions of finishing this game, just with two different situations. Louisville was playing as the side down by 2 goals, but they really did not show the aggressiveness or urgency to bring them to score even a goal in this match. The Reign played this match with some aggression, effectively keeping their foot on the gas while also making sure not to create a potential opportunity for Racing via a mistake. Ebony Salmon would get a few chances, even inside the box, but they would not result in a goal. The Reign took care of business and ended this game with a 2-0 win over Racing Louisville FC, their third win in the last four matches, improving their record to 5-6-1 and moving them up to 16 points,
Reign substitutions in this match:
14th minute, Celia comes on for Madison Hammond
68th minute, Bethany Balcer comes on for Tziarra King
83rd minute, Leah Pruitt comes on for Jennifer Marozsan, and Kristen McNabb comes on for Jess Fishlock
Post game thoughts: The Reign got off to a hot start, it just came a little bit later in the half. Le Sommer's brace came 16 minutes apart, with her scoring in the 27th and 43rd minutes. From that point, the Reign and their attack did just enough to keep the pressure on and make sure that Louisville stayed on their toes. Louisville seemed drained after the 43rd minute by Le Sommer, and that was basically all she wrote for Racing as they had some chances, but really did not possess the aggressive nature or shot creation in order to bring them back into this game. The Reign did have that aggression, winning 10 more duels thatn Louisville and 10 more tackles. The Reign did a good job of keeping the pressure on and momentum going as they look towards their next match, a home contest against the Houston Dash which will see Jasmyne Spencer's return to Cheney Stadium, but as a member of the Dash. Although the Olympic medal rounds will finish up August 5th, it may be too soon to see Megan Rapinoe, Quinn, or Rose Lavelle in those medal rounds. We will just have to see, but I would say that it is doubtful that any of those 3 suit up against Houston on the 7th.
The Reign celebrate their victory against Racing Louisville FC
Player of the game: Eugenie Le Sommer with a statline of 2 goals, 4 shots, 3 on target.
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