Resilient Reign take revenge with help from Lady Luck

On October 23, 2022, the OL Reign, who had won the NWSL Shield that year, lost to the Kansas City Current in the second round of the playoffs, knocking the Reign out of championship contention. On June 10, 2023, the Reign faced off against the Current looking both for revenge on the Current (a prospect made more probable by the Current’s meager 3-7 record going into the match) and for a turnaround after a disheartening 2-0 loss against the Portland Thorns the week before.

But just ninety seconds into the match, the team already had more challenges to face. Star forward Megan Rapinoe went down with leg pain, with Veronica Latsko coming off the bench to replace her. The Reign, as well as Latsko, showed resilience in the face of this, keeping the pressure against their adversary and creating several opportunities to score, none of which went anywhere in the first fifteen minutes.

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For the next fifteen minutes, Kansas City took the initiative, keeping the ball deep in Reign territory for much of the time. This attack culminated in a perilous drive directly towards the home goal, and a kick by Vanessa DiBernardo soared right towards the net, but Tullis-Joyce leaped out and made a diving stop to prevent a Current goal.

After that, the momentum quickly shifted back to the Reign, and in the 33^rd minute, a drive forward led by Tziarra King and Elyse Bennett brought pressure to the Current goal in the form of a corner kick that, in a stroke of luck for the Reign, bounced off Current defender Gabrielle Robinson’s arm in the box, giving the Reign a penalty kick. Sofia Huerta promptly booted it to the left corner of the goal, bringing the Reign up 1-0. The Reign and Current then traded attacks, but the score remained that way going into halftime.

For a little over ten minutes into the second half, the Reign and Current traded a few opportunities, the best of which for the Reign was a 52^nd minute Elyse Bennett kick towards an empty net that rookie Current defender Croix Soto barely managed to boot out of the box. Then, a Reign miscue in the 58^th minute led to a Current corner that was headed straight back to Current forward Michelle Cooper, who softly shot the ball into the goal. But the Reign again caught a stroke of luck as the referees ruled the Current offside on the kick return, rendering the equalizer invalid.

Soon after, in the 68^th minute, the Reign executed a precision strike towards the Current goal, ending in a Sofia Huerta cross that Jordyn Huitema headed into the goal to make it 2-0 Reign. The game took on a slow cadence after that, with intermittent scoring opportunities leading nowhere for either team until the end of the 90^th minute.

But Kansas City came alive in stoppage time. In the 91^st, Current defender Hailie Mace kicked a cross that fellow defender Izzy Rodriguez knocked in to bring the Current right back into the game. Suddenly, the Current aggressively attacked the box. A scoring opportunity in the 92^nd threatened to equalize until Quinn shifted the ball downfield, and Kansas City’s final opportunity was a Mace cross that fell toward the box. Phallon Tullis-Joyce made an aggressive save, colliding with Kansas City midfielder Debinha, to axe the Current’s final real opportunity. The Reign won, 2-1, to bring their record to 6-4-1.

The game also saw defender Laura Barnes become the first player in NWSL history to reach 200 career appearances, all of which have been for the Reign. Head coach Laura Harvey spoke with admiration about Barnes’ accomplishment:

“I think it’s hard to put in perspective how much of an achievement this is for her […] To have done it for the same club, in a league that’s set up for that not to happen, is phenomenal,” she stated. “I don’t think it will be matched. It shows just the level of talent she has, how consistent she is, how big of a role she’s played in the development of what this club is today. She’s willing to put her body on the line for the team and she does it without needing to be the star. It’s just a phenomenal achievement.”

Overall, the team took better advantage of their opportunities than they did the week before against Portland. Harvey was happy to see that and attributed their victory in part to this fact.

“I thought just overall in the game, we had moments of really good stuff, and it probably outweighed the times when we didn’t do that,” she noted. “Last week, we lacked a bit of quality when we needed it, tonight, we had it. To me, that was the difference in the game.”

Sofia Huerta noted that the team’s depth helped them absorb the loss of Rapinoe and go on to win the match.

“It was unfortunate that we lost [Megan Rapinoe], of course, but I think Veronica [Latsko] was ready to take on the chance she was going to get,” she said. “The depth and preparation that Laura does with the team throughout the week obviously makes people feel confident when they’re called upon.”

Next week, the Reign will go on the road to face the Houston Dash on June 17 at 5:30 PM Pacific. The Dash are in the middle of the standings with a 4-3-3 record.

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