OL Reign 2
Chicago Red Stars 0
NWSL Regular Season – June 22, 2021
Cheney Stadium – Tacoma, WA
OL Reign hosted Chicago Red Stars in Tacoma in midweek action. The Reign entered the match in desperate early season need of points, having lost three in a row for the first time in eight years coming in to the match.
The visiting Red Stars travelled to the Pacific Northwest in good form, having grabbed a weekend draw and a win over North Carolina in their previous two matches.
First Half
It didn’t take long for the scoring ledger to open. Less than a minute in, Shirley Cruz volleyed a blast near post past the Chicago defense for a quick, cathartic goal for the home team. The Reign defense has been reasonably solid, conceding few goals, but a lack goals has meant dropped points.
Chicago faced an early up hill battle after Bethany Balcer powered a second goal in for the hosts off a Sofia Huerta cross in the 18th minute, netting the cross with a header at the far post in full stride.
The Reign held their lead, and did not concede, as they stayed mostly on their front foot and with possession, limiting the Red Stars in their chances to cut into the lead. The lead would hold and the match would to to time at two nil.
First Half
The Red Stars do not have time to dwell, as they travel back home to face Louisville on Saturday. The middle of the standings is a bit of a cluster, but some points this weekend can help the Red Stars in drifting more into the top four.
New Reign players have been incorporated into the rotation in recent weeks and matches. The individual quality of internationals like Rose Lavelle, Alana Cook, and Dzsenifer Marozsán is not in doubt, but even good players need time to gel. The flow of play as these players have come into the line up had yet to produce the most important stat of points in the standings. Having now had a couple of matches and weeks of training together was visible in the early success in the match, even on short turnaround. The three points for one match in June do not always seem essential, but for a club sitting near the bottom of the table at the start of the evening, those three points were needed before a season started to get away from them.
The short turnaround also applies to the host Reign, who remain at home to face Gotham on Saturday in Tacoma.
The match also saw the NWSL debut of French all time leading scorer Eugénie Le Sommer in a Reign uniform, coming on in the 65th minute.
First Half
Goal Summary
RGN: Cruz 1’, Balcer 18’ (Huerta)
Disciplinary Report
RGN: Balcer 25’ (yellow card), Marozsán 79’ (yellow card), McNabb 90+4’ (yellow card)
CHI: Gorden 40’ (yellow card), St. Georges 46’ (yellow), 90+2’ (second yellow card, red card)
Lineup
RGN: GK Bouhaddi, D Hammond, D Hiatt, D Cook, D Jimenez (McNabb 66’), M Quinn, M Cruz (Rapinoe 57’), M Fishlock, F Balcer (Le Sommer 65’), F Marozsan (Weatherholt 81’), F Huerta
CHI: GK Naeher, D Gorden, D Sharples (St. Georges 64’), D Davidson (Milazzo 45’), D St. Georges, M Woldmoe, M DiBernardo (Stevens 62’), M Stanton, F Johnson, F Mautz (Luebbert 62’), F Doniak (Goralski 62’)
