The Reign lost a close game to a refreshed Chicago Red Stars squad in the first road game of the season. Head Coach Laura Harvey had only one chance going into the game, given the opening day success in Seattle. Chicago also went into this fixture after an opening day victory, defeating the Utah Royals on the road. Ji So-Yun, yet again, proved to be a major asset to the Reign squad by putting on another fantastic display, scoring her first Reign goal in the second half. By the end of the match, the result did not play into the Reign's favor. Head Coach Laura Harvey spoke about the team's circumstance of chasing the game, directing responsibility on the the team as a whole: "I think it was us, totally us."
The Reign were looking strong during the beginning of the first half, creating a number of opportunities within the opening minutes. The Red Star defense came into the game sharp, however, did not allow clean shots towards the goal easily, and ended up blocking several Reign shots. Maintaining the majority of momentum, the Reign kept the majority of possession and yielded a greater number of chances than the opposition. Despite the promising start, a defensive giveaway sparked a late first-half push from the Red Stars, resulting in a goal by Julia Bianchi that saw the Reign trailing at halftime. Claudia Dickey managed to get a solid touch on Bianchi's shot, but the ball ended up in Dickey's top corner.
Mackenzie Hudson / Seattle Reign FC
Ji So-Yun, in her second competitive game, made a significant impact on the Reign squad. The South Korean midfielder logged an 83% passing accuracy, registered six total shots, and most notably, opened her Reign FC scoring account with a banger. Similar to her first game, Ji's immaculate vision and passing ability opened the game and created chances while she was on the pitch. The grand moment came in the 63rd minute after the Red Stars defense cleared Sofia Huerta's cross. From a distance, Ji found herself unmarked at the top of the penalty area, and after controlling the ball nicely, she hit a perfectly-timed rocket, where it dipped into Naeher's top-left corner while knicking the post while on its way into the net.
Five minutes after Ji's equalizer, frustration struck again for the Reign when Maximilane Rall regained the lead for Chicago. Rall, the German defender, snuck around the far-post area following a Malham cross to execute a clean one-touch finish. In such a close-range moment, Claudia Dickey could only make herself as big as possible, hoping to find touch on the ball. Thus, Coach Laura Harvey will certainly be raising questions on her defense.
Mackenzie Hudson / Seattle Reign FC
Since joining the Reign, Ji So-Yun has rapidly opened her scoring account, officially becoming the first South Korean to score in the NWSL. Additionally, per Reign club records, Ji became the 50th Reign player to score a regular-season goal. Ji, after the game, showed her care about the result over her first goal: "Obviously, I'm happy to have scored with the first goal in the NWSL for Reign. We didn't get points; it was disappointing."
Defender Lily Woodham spoke about the learning opportunity of the negative result, while taking responsibility on the team conceding the game winner. Woodham inferred that she needed to cover the far post, and the team will reflect on the downsides to come back stronger in the next game.
The Reign will return to the west coast for the next road match against the San Diego Wave on Friday, March 29th. In 2023, the Reign were a sharp thorn in San Diego's side, and after playing five times in all competitions, the Reign won against San Diego all five times. The Wave has played only one game thus far, losing at home to the Kansas City Current.
Cover Photo by Mackenzie Hudson / Seattle Reign FC