LUMEN FIELD ā Seattle soccer was treated to a highly physical and exciting game on an early Saturday afternoon when the OL Reign rescued a crucial home point, forcing a 2-2 draw against Racing Louisville within the final ten minutes. The FIFA Women's World Cup roster call-ups and camps left the OL Reign without eight key players ā the most out of any other NWSL team.
Having played two other games this week, alongside the international circumstances, the players came into the Louisville match at a disadvantage. After the match, Head Coach Laura Harvey expressed her determination to maintain the club's winning momentum despite the current adversities, stating, "We're going to need everybody during this period."
The referee handled the Reign-Louisville game with a high concentration of fouls, with a total of 32 fouls (14 for Reign and 18 for Louisville) being called between the two sides. Lu Barnes said after the match, "I think it's a tactic for Louisville to be physical."
Momentum shuffled back and forth between the Reign and Louisville, turning this fixture into a classic end-to-end fiesta. Louisville was the first to open the scoreline with a penalty, conceded due to the arms of Jess Fishlock. Shuang Wang stepped up to take the penalty and sent Phallon Tullis-Joyce in the opposite direction.
Following the opening goal, the Reign kept pressing Louisville for the remainder of the first half. However, they found their next-best opportunity in the 65th minute when Tziarri King was denied by the post. Eventually, Paige Monaghan doubled Louisville's lead with a top-right corner strike from a tight angle, forcing an uncharacteristic error from Tullis-Joyce at her near-post.
Jess Fishlock, who was making her return from injury, took a hard knock after the 50th minute and could not immediately get up. After staying down on the turf, Fishlock continued playing for about another ten minutes before being substituted. When asked about it, Coach Laura Harvey reassured the media that Fishlock's substitution was merely precautionary for her fitness, as she experienced muscle tightness around that time. Harvey elaborated that while the knock was relevant to Jess' substitution, it was not anything serious.
As the clock ticked closer to the final whistle, the Reign had the majority of the momentum. Louisville sought to steal a third goal through counter-attacking football, keeping numbers in their final third. With the match entering the final ten minutes, after attempts to find an opening, a low cross from Bennett found Veronica Latsko's head, as she halved the deficit from close range.
One goal was all that was required to inspire the Reign. Just minutes after their first goal, a corner kick from Barnes found Nikki Stanton kindly. Stanton headed the ball deeper toward the goal, and Elyse Bennett was there to head-flick it past goalkeeper Katie Lund, breaking the hearts of Racing Louisville fans.
Daring to steal all three points, the Reign were not satisfied with just one and kept the high press active. However, despite a promising free kick, a Louisville counter-attack followed, leaving insufficient time to find a winning goal. Despite the odds being against them, the exhausted OL Reign refused to give up.
Lu Barnes explained the players' mentality for inciting a comeback, stating, "We love the drama," and Veronica Latsko, the goal-scorer, reinforced the mindset by mentioning that she is always up for a fight. Laura Harvey praised the substitutes, recognizing their positive effect on the game. She also credited the spark of the Reign's comeback to their first goal, which allowed the team to play smarter afterward.
All photos courtesy of Jane Gershovich / OL Reign
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