Every so often throughout the football world, we see a play develop so perfectly that it’s almost an idealized version in real time of how a coach might draw it up on a white board. This goal – the third of the Seattle Reign FC 3:0 win Sunday over the Portland Thorns FC on the Moda Pitch at Memorial Stadium is just such an example. Thanks to burst mode photography enabling this reporter to chronicle the play visually at somewhere over 12 frames per second, we’re able to show you this as it unfolded from a unique angle.
The play starts with a Megan Rapinoe corner, taken short to Kim Little, who plays it into the box, where it’s won in the air and partially cleared by Portland’s Allie Long. Long isn’t able to get the ball completely out of her defending third, and it falls to Seattle defender Stephanie Cox about 30 yards from goal. Cox is able to see a seam between Portland’s Tobin Heath and Claire Polkinghorne, and slots the ball for Megan Rapinoe, who is able to take it in stride behind the Thorns’ back four.
The separation shown here is about two and a half yards, and affords Rapinoe the time to take a quick look at her options. The shot is possible, but not a good option, because Thorns goalkeeper Nadine Angerer is in excellent position to deny the chance – Rapinoe can see the short side, but has a fairly limited target area which Angerer can take away taking a step to her right, and can’t see the remaining portion of the net. Across the six-yard area, though, she can see teammate Beverly Yanez making an unmarked run.
Rapinoe plays the cross pretty much square across the face of goal with pace toward Yanez.
Long and Polkinghorne are coming back, but are too far off the ball to be in a position to break up the pass. Angerer is reading the pass and is beginning to shift to her left accordingly.
Just entering the frame is Reign center back Rachel Corsie, who has found open space between the holding midfielder and the other center back, and is making her own run at goal. Angerer has clearly shifted in expectation of a shot coming from her left, but is still locked in on the ball.
Angerer looks up quickly and assesses the situation. She likely sees both Yanez, coming in far post; and Corsie, who is running pretty much down route 1, but angling ever so slightly toward the near post.
Seeing the dual threats, Angerer takes a bump-step to her left, makes herself big, and tries to position herself in such a way that she’ll be able to attempt to square either shooter.
Yanez and Corsie are now both nearly equidistant from the ball, and closing hard.
Positionally, Angerer has taken away much of the Corsie threat, even as the ball passes her.
Yanez is able to get to the ball, and Angerer is in reasonable position, but not completely able to square the shooter, leaving her momentum going toward the far post and her weight largely on her left foot. If the ball is touched toward frame flat and to the far post, she is in good position to make the save, and is starting to make herself big again. Rhian Wilkinson [I think] has made the run back with Corsie, but is arriving just a bit too late to deny the scoring opportunity.
Yanez does get to the ball, but doesn’t just touch it in.
Instead, her sliding shot comes back across the grain, leaving Angerer in no position to react.
And leaving the Thorns defenders unable to do much other than watch the ball go into the net.
Which it does, emphatically rippling the twine,
completing Yanez’ brace and providing the final margin of victory for the Reign in this contest.
