In front of a franchise-high crowd of 6,303, and powered by goals from Beverly Yanez and Jess Fishlock, Seattle Reign FC beat both the Portland Thorns and a steady rainfall to move into first place in the National Women’s Soccer League.
“The crowd was great. It was amazing to see the stands full and hear them even behind us” noted Reign midfielder and former Thorn Amber Brooks.
Memorial Stadium hosted more fans than at any other time during the Reign tenancy.
This victory comes on the heels of a mid-week 1-0 win over the Thorns at Providence Park, again to a record crowd- this one in front of a league record 21,000+ at Providence Park.
The game opened with Portland looking the better side, as they were winning the 50-50 balls and working to separate the Reign midfield from the back line, but generated few chances going forward. Seattle pushed their attack on both flanks with some success, particularly on the left, with Stephanie Cox stepping up on the overlap with Megan Rapinoe, and finding some space, but without successfully finishing
Jess Fishlock celebrates her goal, assisted by Kim Little.
Unlike the match mid-week, the Reign wouldn’t wait for second-half Kim Little heroics to place their stamp on the match, striking in the 38th minute with Jess Fishlock running onto a ball slotted through the defenders by Little and finishing neatly past Nadine Angerer to open the ledger. Linking up still wasn’t coming easily against a robust back four for the Thorns, but the balance of play shifted toward the Reign.
The half closed at 1:0 for the Reign, but the second opened with a blitz, resulting in a Yanez brace powered by assists from Little and Rapinoe in the space of four minutes to break the match open
Yanez said, “I was really excited to just be able to come out and shock them. And with the second one, it was just like, wow, there’s the ball, just right there. The first one, well, whenever Kim [Little] has the ball like that, I just make a run. She played an amazing ball in, and I was fortunate to finish the chance.”
“Goals change games, and once we scored to open the second half, I said, ‘It’s game over'” noted coach Laura Harvey. “This team doesn’t often give up a lead, and not here.”
Megan Rapinoe threads a perfect pass for Bev Yanez’ second goal of the match.
Yanez’ second looked like the sort of execution coaches draw up in practice. It started with Kendall Fletcher intercepting a pass, getting the ball to Kim Little, who then dished it out wide to her left onto the foot of Megan Rapinoe. Rapinoe challenged her defender and beat her on the outside, and looked up long enough to spot two runners heading into the box – Rachel Corsie, on the near side to Angerer’s right; and Yanez at the far post. The cross came in with pace at about the top of the six-yard area, leaving Angerer in the unenviable position of being trapped, and she was in no position to make a save on the ball Yanez ripped into the top right corner of the cage.
Kim Little challenges Kaylyn Kyle in midfield.
For the visitors, their closest chance came in second half stoppage time, with Ayo Anonma slipping a ball far-post past Haley Kopmeyer, but after the play had been flagged offside. Christine Sinclair and Tobin Heath were largely held in check by the Reign back four. In defensive midfield, Kaylyn Kyle had a strong outing after coming on for Rachel Van Hollebeke.
The win vaulted the Reign to the top of the table, their 8-3-3 record being good for 27 points, one better than the Chicago Red Stars. The Thorns fall to 3-6-4, and will be hard-pressed to make a playoff run – but have eight World Cup participants back in the lineup, which may make the task a little less daunting.
With two assists, Kim Little now leads the league in that category with six total. Yanez’ brace raises her tally to eight on the season, one in arrears of Washington’s Crystal Dunn for the goal scoring lead. Fishlock’s fifth ties her for third, and Little’s five on the season are good for a tie in sixth. Haley Kopmeyer’s 7-1-3 record, 1.000 goals against average and four clean sheets are good enough to lead the league in all those categories.
