[author’s note: The Coach and I are shaking up the lineup a bit this week, so you get his recap, and my analysis. We thought we’d follow Laura Harvey’s lead and give you a little different look.]
Tonight, the Seattle Reign took to the Moda Pitch intent on showing last week’s outing at Sahlen’s Stadium against the same Western New York Flash they faced tonight was an outlier.
With World Cup Champions Megan Rapinoe and Hope Solo back in Seattle, although inactive for the match, the Reign put an emphatic 4-2 victory on the ledger, to the delight of the 5778 fans in attendance.
Jess Fishlock tries to split defenders.
Even with the Reign coming out aggressively – taking a first minute Kim Little cross just out of the reach of a streaking Bev Yanez, and the ball staying in the Western New York defensive third solidly for the first minutes, it was the visitors from Rochester who drew first blood. This opening marker came against the flow of play, and featured an excellent cross from Samantha Mewis to Amanda Frisbie, whose diving header just beat Haley Kopmeyer inside the far post. It’s hard to fault the Reign defense on this one, as their marking was good- both from Rachel Corsie on Mewis’ shoulder leaving her just the far post cross option or a shot on a well-positioned Kopmeyer from a difficult angle, and from Lauren Barnes and Kendall Fletcher tracking Frisbie. This goal is simply an excellent effort from Frisbie (the Reign’s 2014 first round draft pick, seventh overall, who went to the Flash with Sydney Leroux in the deal which brought Amber Brooks to Seattle along with the negotiating rights to Abby Wambach) in getting onto the lofted cross from Mewis more quickly than Kopmeyer can traverse the 24 feet from post to post. The goal was Frisbie’s first professional tally.
Kim Little controls as three Flash defenders collapse toward her.
Reigning NWSL Player of the Year and Golden Boot winner Kim Little is scoring fewer goals this season. There are a few reasons for this. She took the league by storm last season, and almost by surprise. She scored just under one in three of the team’s goals, and was involved in just under half of the total scoring (16 G, 7A of the 50 goals for). She’s rarely one-on-one with a defender in scoring areas as a result of adjustments defenses have made to try to prevent Kim from beating them single handedly. She’s still leading the team in scoring, with four goals and four assists, just ahead of Beverly Yanez (6G, 1 A) and Jess Fishlock (5G, 2A). What we’re seeing is a Reign team which is developing more rounded scoring – ten players have rippled the twine so far this season, in contrast to eight all last year – and which is both creating and taking opportunities where they’re available. It does seem as if Little is taking her runs on the ball from wider positions and going deeper than last season, but much of this is likely a player with exceptional vision taking what defenses are giving her rather than forcing plays. It’d still be nice to see Kim create her own opportunities a bit more and defer less based on her sheer game-breaking ability.
Haley Kopmeyer has made huge strides in her development from her days as an amateur understudy to Michelle Betos while Hope Solo was on recall to the US National Team in 2013, and has established herself as a goalkeeper with bonafide starting talent. She’s currently leading the NWSL in wins, backstopping the team to three points five times in her eight starts while remaining undefeated. She’s also tied for the league lead with a 1.00 goals against average. It’s also wonderful to watch the student becoming the mentor as she works with Caroline Stanley, who is very much in the position Haley was two seasons ago.
Fishlock rounds out the scoring for the Reign, finishing past Western New York goalkeeper Sabrina D’Angelo.
The team has the best goal differential in the league, at plus-eleven, and has scored five more (at 24) than their nearest opposition. There are still points of concern, though. Eight of the team’s thirteen goals conceded have come in after the sixtieth minute, and half of those after the seventy-fifth. Whether this is a result of a lack of focus or the onset of fatigue late in matches, it’s an area the team will want to tighten up, particularly heading into the stretch run with a mere four points separating first from fourth place, and eight the margin from seventh to the top of the table.
Next up for the Reign, a road clash with the Washington Spirit. The Reign took the previous matchup with the Spirit at Fortress Memorial, 3:1, and the two sides will close out the regular season on September 5th. Washington are tied with FC Kansas City at 17 points, four back of the Reign and Chicago Red Stars. These four represent the teams presently in playoff positions, and with the standings reasonably tight, they’ll want to make sure not to leave any points on the table. The road hasn’t been overly friendly for Seattle, as the Reign have struggled a bit to a 1-2-2 road record, and will look to even it at twos across the board Saturday at 4pm Pacific Time.
Reign celebrate a goal breaking open the game against the Western New York Flash.
Photography by Melissa Levin for ProstAmerika.com.
