Seattle Reign had every opportunity to climb up the NWSL table on Sunday afternoon. After going up a goal and a player in the 10th minute, the Reign couldn't find the offensive momentum they needed to get a second goal. Instead, the team shut off defensively on a free kick at the end of the match – allowing Racing Louisville to equalize and steal a point.
The Reign (2-9-3, 9 points) could have ended the weekend four points out of the final playoff spot. Instead, Racing Louisville (3-4-7, 16 points) retained sole possession of that eighth-place spot.
The Reign have two more regular-season matches before the Olympic break and the NWSL/Liga MX Femenil Summer Tournament – which should also come with some new signings and transfers for the Reign. Next Sunday, June 30, the Reign travel across the country to face Gotham FC. That match kicks off at 10 AM PT and will air on ESPN2.
Highlights
Stats
SCORING SUMMARY
10' - Bethany Balcer (SEA)
90+7’ - Reilyn Turner (Assist: Jaelin Howell) (LOU)
LINEUPS
62’ - O. Van Der Jagt (In)/B. Balcer (Out); S. Holmes (In)/R. Brown (Out); V. Latsko (In)/T. King (Out)
74' - A. Cook (In)/L. Barnes (Out)
86' - N. Stanton (In)/Quinn (Out)
94' - O. Athens (In)/Ji So-Yun (Out)
45' - E. Jean (In)/T. Flint (Out)
58' - R. Turner (In)/E. Bahr (Out); K. Fischer (In)/S. DeMelo (Out)
80' - P. Goins (In)/E. Sears (Out)
ATTENDANCE
10,715 (Lumen Field, Seattle)
POSSESSION
Reign: 59.8%
Louisville: 40.2%
EXPECTED GOALS
Reign: 2.04
Louisville: 0.66
TOTAL SHOTS
Reign: 13
Louisville: 7
SHOTS ON TARGET
Reign: 3
Louisville: 4
SHOTS OFF TARGET
Reign: 6
Louisville: 3
SHOTS BLOCKED
Reign: 4
Louisville: 0
SHOTS FROM INSIDE THE BOX
Reign: 11
Louisville: 4
TOUCHES INSIDE THE OPP. BOX
Reign: 28
Louisville: 9
PASSES
Reign: 529
Louisville: 359
PASSING ACCURACY
Reign: 84.7%
Louisville: 77.2%
PASSES IN FINAL THIRD
Reign: 154
Louisville: 61
PASSING ACCURACY IN FINAL THIRD
Reign: 70.1%
Louisville: 50.8%
CROSSES (EXCLUDING CORNERS)
Reign: 13
Louisville: 5
CORNERS WON
Reign: 9
Louisville: 2
OFFSIDES
Reign: 1
Louisville: 3
FOULS
Reign: 15
Louisville: 7
YELLOW CARDS
Reign: 1
Louisville: 1
RED CARDS
Reign: 0
Louisville: 1
Quotes
Head Coach Laura Harvey
Overall thoughts on the match: "I'm going to repeat myself, not enough quality. That's it."
On Ryanne Brown getting her second consecutive start: "Yeah, I thought she did well last game. I thought she did well today, until she had to come off. I think she has trained really hard and earned this opportunity and she's taken it and played really well and unfortunately, had to come off today with a little hamstring."
On what Louisville did that caused them trouble: "Worked hard, kept going, that's about it. I think the rest of it was a story of our season of us not showing enough quality in the moments that we need it."
Jess Fishlock and Sofia Huerta
Overall thoughts on the match: Sofia Huerta: "I mean, it's disappointing. I think we have to get points when we can get them. I felt like we should have gotten three points last weekend versus Portland and then I'm feeling the same way leaving this game. They go down a man - of course, if they're going to score, it's going to be on a set piece. I think we lacked a little bit of focus in certain moments. We probably could have won the game, scored a couple of more goals in the first and second half. So yeah, I feel really disappointed. Obviously, trying not to be too down about it because we have to move forward and continue to put in the work and try to get points, but it feels like a major loss getting a point at home."
On what happened during the goal they conceded: Jess Fishlock: "I think we just switched off – we weren't ready. They obviously knew that probably the only way they were going to score a goal was probably from a set play of some kind and I think it took us too long to set up. We weren't tracking our runners. We didn't win first and second ball. I mean, it was everything that you wouldn't want to happen happened and kind of to Sof's side, I think when the game is kind of like this, you have to really – it's easy to switch off in those moments because you do have so much of the ball and you just have so much moments to attack all the time, you can end up losing a little bit of focus in those kind of really important moments. So yeah, extremely frustrating today, given, I believe, some of our play was great. We created a number of chances to score more than one goal and yeah, it sucks. I mean, every time I come and do press conference, I go, 'We're so close and we're so close and we're so close,' but every week, it stays at being so close and we can't quite get over the line. We really have to have a look at why that is."