Seattle Reign FC 3
University of Washington Huskies 1
Seattle, WA – Husky Soccer Stadium
March 8, 2018 – Preseason Friendly
New Seattle Reign FC head coach Vlatko Andonovski brought his heavily revamped Seattle Reign roster across town to face local Seattle college side the University of Washington in a preseason friendly Thursday evening. Weather conditions were best described as miserable at kickoff with horizontal but misty rain fall.
Seattle had a surprising coaching change to begin the off-season. What had continued for a while as a quiet Winter changed with a massive roster overhaul in a short period of time around the NWSL draft. There were few familiar faces on the pitch for Reign FC fans. Some of those familiar faces have played in Seattle, but not in Reign blue.
Many of Seattle’s potential starters were not available for this match, with eight just returning from international duty this week. The line ups and rotations in this first public friendly are likely not to be repeated in the upcoming UCLA match in Los Angeles, or the home opener the 24th against Washington Spirit. Local fans who braved the weather did get to see a number of new faces in blue.
Seattle controlled play in the first half, taking a single goal lead into the half on a finish by Kiersten Dallstream. Seattle kept its starters in for the early stages of the second half, eventually grabbing a second goal from newcomer Morgan Andrews. Non-roster invitee Stephanie Verdoia got on the end of a string of passes to convert to make it 3-1 with roughly 20 minutes remaining.
Reign FC and the Huskies have now played five times, with the Reign now having defeated their college opponent in each instance. However, Leslie Gallimore’s Husky sides have continually showed a willingness to go toe to toe with their professional opposition and Thursday night was no exception, grabbing a goal when down two to keep the match interesting.
Seattle Reign FC open NWSL play on March 24 in Memorial Stadium versus Washington Spirit.
Scoring Summary:
SEA – 21’ Dallstream, 64’ Andrews (Barnes), 69’ Verdoia (Yanez).
UW – 65’ Smith
photos by Jeff Lageson
