In their seventh match of the regular season, the OL Reign were looking for revenge in this rematch against the NY/NJ Gotham FC, or as Megan Rapinoe (jokingly) refers to them as, Gotham NY/NJ Skyblue. The first match between these two clubs this 2021 regular season saw Gotham take a 1-0 victory thanks to Ifeoma Onumonu's spectacular performance that was highlighted by her goal in the 13th minute of that match. Coming into this match, the Reign sat at 8th in the NWSL table, a 2-1-3 record, with their last five matches looking like this: WLLLW. Gotham comes into this Saturday contest 5th in the NWSL table, a 2-2-1 record, and their last fives matches looking like this: DWLDW. The Reign look to take some positive momentum into their pride match on NWSL super Saturday.
Gotham will not be an easy feat to overcome. Coming into this match, they had only conceded two goals total. While they only have 3 goals scored for them, is it to note that NY/NJ has Carli Lloyd, Ifeoma Onumonu, and Midge Purce, all who are threats to wreak havoc. Allie Long returns to Tacoma for the first time since being traded to Gotham FC.
Pre-match
Injury report for this match: Ally Watt (Right knee), Karen Bardsley (Left thigh, Season ending injury), and Rosie White (Illness) are the players that were officially declared out for this match against Gotham. Midfielder Rose Lavelle (left ankle) is QUESTIONABLE, giving her a chance to play in this one. Nicole Momiki is still out with INTERNATIONAL DUTY, best of luck Nicole!
The signs above the south goal read: "Balcer's on fire," "Fishlock and Chips," "Pinoe Noir," "Quinn-tessential," "Go Gays," and "Allez Allez Allez!"
Starting lineup for your OL Reign: For your starting lineup, Sarah Bouhaddi makes her third straight start in goal. The backline consists of Madison Hammond, Sam Hiatt, Alana Cook, and Celia, similar to Tuesday's match backline. The midfield consists of Shirley Cruz, Quinn, and Jess Fishlock. And for your attacking front, we have a very experienced veteran three made up of Megan Rapinoe, Dzsenifer Marozsan, and Eugenie Le Sommer. The subs are rounded out by Angelina, Bethany Balcer, Lauren Barnes, Amber Brooks, Ella Dederick, Sofia Huerta, Kristen McNabb, Leah Pruitt, and Dani Weatherholt.
First half: In an effort to recreate some of her magic from Tuesday's match against Chicago, 54 seconds in Shirley Cruz fired in a shot that sailed just above the goal. At the 8 minute 20 second mark, Le Sommer lead a attack along the right hand side of the pitch, where she fired in a cross to Megan Rapinoe that would be just a little ahead and draw her offsides. Le Sommer is driving the attack early, and it looked like it would just be a matter of when, not if, she would score. The Reign had difficulty really getting a solid shot off until the 30th minute, where Megan Rapinoe fired off of a shit that curled to the right of Gotham keeper Kailen Sheridan. That lead into a hydration break, which makes sense considering that temperatures at the moment were 91 degrees in lovely Tacoma, Washington. In the 34th minute, 34:00: Le Sommer and Celia play one touch along the sideline, bringing it into Jess Fishlock in the middle of the box who passes it off to Rapinoe, who’s shot again goes right of Sheridan in goal. In the 37th minute, Gotham gets a goal past Bouhaddi, who came up to contest a shot and Onumonu again gets it past the Reign for a goal.
Halftime thoughts, and what to work on heading into second half: Up until the 37th minute, it had seemed that the Reign had a slight advantage over Gotham in attacking. The Reign were knocking on the door, but could not get off a proper shot that would give them a goal. The 37th minute goal by Onumonu for NY/NJ was a breakdown in communication for the Reign defense, something that won't happen much with Bouhaddi in goal. Even after the Gotham goal, the Reign had several very close chances that you would think could result in a goal. It is just about getting a proper shot off that is competitive enough to make Gotham keeper Kailen Sheridan honest. Shots on goal will be the name of the game for the second half.
Second half: Right out of the second half gate, Sofia Huerta (newly brought in as a sub) fires in a cross that is just BARELY missed by Marozsan. Quinn subs out for Huerta. Gotham after this had stifled the Reign offensively, as they were not able to get those closer opportunities. The 59th minute brings bad news for the Reign, as Margaret Purce beats the defense and chips a ball over Bouhaddi into the top right corner of the goal to put Gotham up 2-0. Shortly after this goal, Rapinoe with another shot that is off to the right of Gotham's Sheridan. Just cannot really make her work today it seems. In the 63rd minute, Shirley Cruz, Sam Hiatt, Megan Rapinoe all come off for Bethany Balcer, Angelina, and Kristen McNabb. In the 66th minute, off of a pass from Bethany Balcer, Marozsan gets off one of the first shots in this match that makes Sheridan work a little. In the 71st minute, Le Sommer draws the set piece right above the half circle at the top of the box. Marozsan will take it: shot right at Sheridan for a pretty relative save. The team would take their second hydration break in the 73rd minute. The Reign were really stifled by Gotham in the second half offensively, not quite getting the spark they would have hoped for after some pretty close chances in the first half. In the 84th minute, Domi Richardson would score for NY/NJ and essentially put the game to bed.
Postgame reflection: In the first half, I would have told you that the Reign let a good effort by Ifeoma Onumonu beat them for a tough goal, and that in the second half they just needed their midfield to give them more push up the ball and get them the real chances that they needed. 1-0 down is a manageable deficit. That second half was difficult to swallow. The midfield connection had not been there, with your great forwards up front not getting the chances they needed to. Le Sommer again brought great energy and got some chances on the goal, but she seemed to be the one that stuck out the most. Balcer came in and conducted the ball well, but more support will be needed going forward from the midfield of this team. Rose Lavelle should help that, with her return hopefully coming in the July 2nd match in Houston. The point that will stick with this team coming out of this game is that the midfield connection with your excellent forwards up front needs to be there. A frustrating loss, but there is still plenty to build off of.
Substitutions for the Reign: 46th minute Sofia Huerta on for Quinn. 64th minute features a trio of subs, Angelina for Shirley Cruz, Kristen McNabb on for Sam Hiatt, and Bethany Balcer on for Megan Rapinoe. 76th minute Leah Pruitt comes on for Madison Hammond.
Looking ahead to next match on July 2nd in Houston against the Dash: Houston (pre-NWSL super saturday) is sitting at 9th in the NWSL table, with a identical record to the Reign at 2-1-3. Rachel Daly is your leading scorer on the Dash, but with Kristie Mewis looming, as well as a seeing Jasmyne Spencer for the first time this season with her new club, Houston should be an evenly matched contest. It will be their first meeting this regular season, with a 5:30pm PST kickoff time. The Reign might have Rose Lavelle back at a higher percentage than she was in this last week of June, but we will still have to check on her progression through that left ankle injury. Inserting her into a lineup with the Reign's newer French acquisitions should be a site to behold. What really sticks out to me is that Houston is, dare I say, a close range team when it comes to their offense. All 6 of their goals have come inside the box and 4 of them are header goals. It will be a good test for the young backline that we have been saying as of late, per Head Coach Farid Benstiti's lineups.
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