Seattle Reign FC 2
Houston Dash 0
NWSL Regular Season
Seattle, WA – Memorial Stadium
August 21, 2018
Seattle Reign FC hosted Houston Dash in a Tuesday night tilt in Memorial Stadium in the smoke and haze. Playoff implications were the secondary story on the evening, as whether or not the match should even go on hovered over the action.
The match did happen. Another goalless first half in Seattle defensively is hardly shocking in 2018, as their defense has proven to be stingy throughout the campaign. The overall clean sheet gives the Reign FC 12 out of 22 matches, making their spot in the standings unsurprising.
Seattle presses high, with their forwards, wings, and midfield all playing a role in both maintaining possession and keeping the offense often working a short field.
The deadlock finally broke. Jodie Taylor scored a brace in the span of three minutes, altering the match and ending Seattle’s playoff drought. The first goal in the 58th minute when a near post run from Taylor got her on the end of a Theresa Nielsen overlap and cross in what was a solid team goal.
A minute later Taylor nearly got her brace, but Houston keeper Jane Campbell continued her stellar play with a point blank save.
The second goal in the 61st was all Taylor from the top of the box, lifting the ball to the upper corner. Minutes later in the 69th she nearly again got her hat trick, but Campbell was there again.
The match ended a long day of waiting for the local fans and Houston fans at home planning to watch online. The NWSL waited until less than an hour before kickoff to officially confirm the match would even go on, with oxygen tanks on the sidelines.
Seattle won the NWSL Shield and lost in the final in both 2014 and 2015, but found themselves on the outside looking in in both 2016 and 2017 as the fifth place finisher. A major roster overhaul and coaching change in the offseason only left a handful of players from those previous seasons, yet after match 22 with matches to play Seattle finds itself back in the postseason with a chance to host a first round match.
Seattle now looks to secure second place and remaining at home and potentially only playing in Cascadia for the entirety of the NWSL playoffs should they win to advance to the September 22nd championship match in Portland.
Houston still has some work to do and needs help to break their own playoff drought.
Photos by Vanya Tucherov
Match Report
Attendance: 3,193
Scoring Summary
SEA – Taylor, 58’
SEA – Taylor, 61
Misconduct Summary
SEA – Oyster, 28’
HOU – Brooks, 83’
Seattle Reign FC
Lydia Williams, Steph Catley (Christen Westphal, 86’), Megan Oyster, Lauren Barnes, Theresa Nielsen, Morgan Andrews, Jess Fishlock, Kristen McNabb, Megan Rapinoe (Nahomi Kawasumi, 70’), Jodie Taylor, Jasmyne Spencer (Elizabeth Addo, 82’)
Substitutes Not Used: Michelle Betos, Jaycie Johnson, Alyssa Kleiner, Adriana Leon
Houston Dash
Jane Campbell, Taylor Comeau, Amber Brooks, Janine van Wyk, Allysha Chapman (Nichelle Prince, 90 + 2’), Linda Motlhalo, Sofia Huerta, Haley Hanson, Kealia Ohai (Thembi Kgatlana, 78’), Rachel Daly, Veronica Latsko
Substitutes Not Used: Lindsay Agnew, Savannah Jordan, Kimberly Keever, Clare Polkinghorne, Sammy Jo Prudhomme
Referee: Ekaterina Koroleva
Assistant Referees: Benjamin Hall-Volpenheim, Shane Kennard
4th Official: Levi Rippy
