By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – The OL Reign and defending NWSL champion Washington Spirit played to a scoreless draw in their May 22nd matchup. Similar to the other Reign vs Spirit matchups that we have seen so far this season, the Reign dominated the match but could not come away with a winning result. There were a few notable achievements in the match for the Reign, by Lauren Barnes and Veronica Latsko. Lauren Barnes hit the 15,000 minutes played mark in NWSL Regular Season matches, the only player to do so in league history and all of them coming with the Reign. Latsko played in her 50th NWSL match, becoming the second player for the Reign to hit that mark this season, joining Bethany Balcer.
Bethany Balcer is honored pre-game for reaching 50 regular season appearances (Photo Paul Hamaker)
Offense stagnancy continues
Since the controversial NWSL Challenge Cup semifinal, the Reign have struggled to get much going offensively. While the team hasn’t really exploded offensively yet (With the group stage matches against San Diego and Angel City being partial exceptions), they have failed to score more than twice in all but one regular season game so far. Granted, it is very early in the NWSL season and I would not be close to panicking yet. With that being said, it is more of a “The pieces are there, they just needed to start clicking” issue at hand for the Reign. Expect to see this club start rolling sooner rather than later.
Alana Cook looks to bring the ball up (Photo Paul Hamaker)
Historic day for Barnes and Latsko
I want to take the time now to acknowledge the historical marks hit by Lauren Barnes and Veronica Latsko. Firstly, for Barnes, hitting 150 matches played with a single club last season was its own amazing achievement. Barnes has already cemented herself as one of the greatest players in league history, let alone club history for the Reign. Hitting the 15,000 regular season minutes played mark in this league, doing so with only one club, and being the first to do that in league history? The legend of Lu Barnes continues to grow.
Latsko hit the 50 regular season matches played mark with this match against the Spirit. She joins teammate Bethany Balcer for players who have hit the mark this season for the Reign, as Balcer did it last match against Portland. Latsko has scored eleven goals, and is playing with her second NWSL team, as she previously spent three years with Houston. Latsko has shown some solid upside with the Reign, and figures to be a valuable piece to the depth in the Reign attack.
Phallon Tullis-Joyce kicks the ball (Photo Paul Hamaker)
Balcer takes scary fall late
Right around when stoppage time began, the Reign drew a corner kick in what appeared to be the final opportunity for them to win the match. The cross came in, and several players from both clubs landed on each other. It seemed that Bethany Balcer got the worst of it, ending up on the bottom of the pile. Balcer needed assistance from the trainer to get off of the pitch, and teammate Laurel Ivory also helped her off the field. She spent some time on a trainers table, and was noticeably limping. It is good to see that the 2019 rookie of the year did not have a brace on or any other medical assistance, but the limp may indicate an injury that could hold her out. We will find out more as the opportunity arises.
Emily Sonnett goes for a header towards the Reign goal (Photo Paul Hamaker)
The Reign played the first of three matches this week in the draw against the Spirit. It will be a busy week for the Reign as they take on the Kansas City Current on May 25th, with a kickoff time of 7PM PST. Following that match, the Reign wrap up the week with a contest against the San Diego Wave on Sunday, May 29th with a kickoff time of 12PM PST. The Current are also winless in NWSL play so far this season.
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