Yet more missed chances sink Reign

Going into the Challenge Cup semifinal match against Racing Louisville FC on September 6, 2023, the top seed OL Reign had high expectations but a good opponent, as Louisville finished the Challenge Cup group stage just two points behind the Bold for first seed, making the playoffs as the wild-card team.

However, the game was ultimately marked by an unfortunate pattern of the Reign getting great chances and squandering them with an inaccurate shot. This pattern began in the second minute with a beautiful cross from Sofia Huerta to Angelina, who was waiting just outside the goal box, preparing to head the ball into the net, but Angelina knocked the ball high and onto the top of the net.

But Racing Louisville also created chances of their own, and although the Reign defense and goaltender Laurel Ivory kept Louisville at bay for a while, Racing striker Kirsten Davis intercepted a backfield pass from Sam Hiatt in the 28^th minute and swiftly ran and shot the ball into the back of the net. 1-0 Louisville.

The Reign created more chances to equalize over the rest of the first half and the beginning of the second, but following the pattern set by their first drive, they were never able to finish. In the 36^th minute, Sofia Huerta, on the right side of the box and under pressure, tried to cross to Tziarra King advancing from the left next to the goal, but the pass was slightly errant and went out of bounds for a goal kick. In the 56^th, King made a pass just outside the box to Huerta, who had a somewhat open shot to hit the upper right post of the net, but her shot went high and to the right.

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It seemed the Reign would gain their best chance yet in the 58^th, as Huerta was tripped by Racing forward Thembi Kgatlana as she brought the ball into the box for a penalty kick. The fans certainly thought the penalty was inside the box, but upon review it was determined that the foul occurred just outside it. This, combined with a 65^th minute Veronica Latsko goal that was negated by a phantom foul, left the Bold and their fans bitter at the refereeing.

The Reign grew more aggressive as the game wore on, bringing Sonnett, Huitema, Rapinoe, and Fishlock off the bench to reinvigorate the attack, but still couldn’t capitalize on the chances they created. Perhaps the best shot the team had towards the end of the game was in the 82^nd minute. After some pressure around the box, Sonnett crossed to Huitema in the goal box, but Huitema headed the ball just on top of the net just as Angelina had done eighty minutes earlier.

Ultimately, the Reign were unable to score, and Racing Louisville won, 1-0. Across all competitions, this match was the eighth straight semifinals loss. Harvey was visibly frustrated in the postgame press conference. She commented on the refereeing in the game, implying that it was not up to snuff.

“You know, we have a penalty that gets taken away. I’ve watched it back. Was it really clear and obvious that it was wrong? No,” she said. “I think Louisville have always been a team where, when they’re up, they try and kill games, and you’ve got to have strong referees that can control that moment, and…”

She didn’t finish that sentence, but the end of the thought almost certainly was some variation of “we didn’t.” She later clarified that she didn’t want to expand on the refs.

“There’s no point in me even mentioning anything because I’ll just get fined,” she stated. “My level of frustration, you can tell, is very high, so I’m just going to keep everything that I have to say to myself.”

Harvey was also frustrated at the inability of the Bold to convert their chances, noting that the team has been struggling in their execution for quite some time.

“In regards to just the game, we were the better team. But, we’ve probably played in however many semifinals and been the better team. But, goals change games, I’ve said that for the longest time, it’s true,” she noted. “If you don’t take chances, if you don’t make saves, if you don’t put the ball in the net, you’re not going to win games. And it’s not just this game, it’s not just in semifinals that it’s happened, it’s consistent right now.”

She stressed that the Reign need to fix this problem if they want to achieve their other goals.

“We have to put that right, we have to acknowledge that,” she said. “I think as a collective group, we have to find a way to score some goals, because if we don’t, it’s not going to be the challenge cup that we’re going to miss out on, it’s going to be bigger things that we probably care more about.”

The OL Reign’s missed chances are the elephant in the room. Although the refs’ decisions weren’t favorable, the team on the field had ample opportunity to score, and simply couldn’t capitalize on it. Had they done so, I would be writing about the Reign advancing to the Challenge Cup Finals and not about another semifinals loss.

The Reign return to the regular season on September 16^th on the road against the Thorns. Hopefully, they will have sharpened their spear by then. It could very well be a make-or-break match.