OL Reign 1
Orlando Pride 0
September 3, 2023
Lumen Field – Seattle, WA
NWSL Regular Season
The NWSL regular season final run in is in full swing as clubs jostle for playoff position, points are at a premium, and the margin for error is now very small to get and stay above the playoff line. World Cup duty is now behind everyone, so teams are as full strength as they can be.
Seattle’s OL Reign find themselves in a much tighter crunch than a few weeks ago as dropped points have placed their playoff position into a much more precarious position than it would have looked coming out of the world cup a few weeks ago.
Orlando Pride enter the match in position to jump up the table and make a late playoff push. Road points in Seattle would place them in an excellent spot as the late season run in commences as the cluster at the top has not had teams fully pull away.
The match had early drama. Orlando keeper Anna Moorhouse was red-carded in the third minute for a foul on Bethany Balcer. The resulting free kick was outside the box, so not a penalty and the Pride survived the early attack, but was faced with being a player down for 87 minutes. Balcer would leave the match moments later as Jordyn Huitema was called in as an early substitute.
The Reign would attempt to take advantage of the early changes with heavy pressure. Orlando would grind out the first 45 minutes, managing to bend but not break and still getting a few chances of their own. To go into the interval level was a solid response to the challenge.
Coming out of the half level and a player up, the hosts pushed hard on the pedal, getting several goal opportunities in the first few minutes. Jordyn Huitema would break through in the 49th minute, slotting in a low shot from near the spot.
Marta would nearly place her stamp on the match. Reign keeper Claudia Dickey managed a fantastic clearance on a near Olimpico the Brazilian legend almost pulled off in the 69th minute.
Dickey was making her second consecutive league start, having only appeared in cup matches and splitting time. The depth of the Reign goalkeeping has been an ongoing story this season and was on display with the clean sheet in this match.
Even with playing with 10, Orlando worked to counter and use its up front speed. Holding their defensive shape against the Reign pressure, the Pride often looked to go long and diagonal to stretch the Seattle defense, often targeting Messiah Bright and late substitute Ally Watt.
Carly Nelson came off the bench in the third minute and was huge all match in the nets for Orlando.
In the end, the Huitema goal would hold up for the Reign, the home side seeing out the one nil victory.
The points won and dropped here are huge in the standings for both sides. Orlando remains in striking distance of the last playoff spot. OL Reign moved to within a few points of the top of the table in much better shape than after the three consecutive losses.
Throughout the match the rain would pour, the intermittent deluges soaking the crowd of 10,106 and adding to the atmosphere.
With a Challenge Cup semifinal in just three days, the Reign line up brought back the bulk of their internationals to allow for the cup line up to be fresh and what has been so successful to continue.
BOX SCORE
Scoring
RGN: Huitema – 49′
ORL: None
Discipline
RGN: None
ORL: Moorehouse (Red Card – 3’)
Lineups
RGN: GK Dickey, D Huerta, D Cook, D McClernon, D Barnes ©, M Fishlock (Latsko 66’), M Quinn (Van der Jagt 66’), M Sonnett, M Lavelle (Angelina 85’), F Balcer (Huitema 10’), F Rapinoe (Bennett 85’)
Unused substitutes: GK Tullis-Joyce, M Stanton, F King, D Hiatt
Total Shots: 18 (Fishlock, Huitema – 5)
Shots on Goal: 7 (Three tied with – 2)
Fouls: 16 (Three tied with – 2)
Offsides: 3
Corner Kicks: 7
Saves: 1 (Dickey– 1)
ORL: GK Moorhouse, D McCutcheon (Villacorta 71’), D Souza, D Madril, D Strom, M Listro (Nelson 5’), M Cluff, M Marta ©, F Abello (Martinez 64’), F Doyle (Watt 64’), F Bright (Larroquette 71’)
Unused substitutes: M Tymrak, D Celia, D Montefusco, F Yates
Total Shots: 4 (Marta – 2)
Shots on Goal: 1 (Marta – 1)
Fouls: 13 (four tied with– 2)
Offsides: 0
Corner Kicks: 5
Saves: 6 (Nelson – 6)
Referee: Ricardo Fierro
Assistant Referee 1: Noah Kenyawani
Assistant Referee 2: Baboucarr Jallow
4th Official: Christopher Calderon
VAR: Shawn Tehini
AVAR: Benjamin Wooten
