Seattle Reign FC 1
North Carolina Courage 4
June 23, 2018
NWSL Regular Season
Seattle, WA – Memorial Stadium
The top two in the NWSL table at mid-season squared off in Seattle on a grey Seattle Summer afternoon. There were several other interesting subplots in the match that would play out in interesting ways.
An 8th minute penalty from Lynn Williams was saved by Reign FC keeper Lydia Williams, maintaining the early nil nil scoreline. The Courage offence had much of the early play, with Williams called on to stop a 15th minute breakaway as well. The Reign FC keeper was called on to deal with several dangerous situations and the four goals against, including the first goals against the Seattle defense in the first half in 2018, does not necessarily reflect the quality of her play.
An 18th minute goal on a set piece by Megan Oyster was a bit against the run of play and found Seattle protecting a lead near the mid point of the first half instead of being down a goal on the PK or being level. The Courage had the best of the play but were suddenly playing up hill. A 23rd minute offsides negated a potential Allie Long score, keeping the match close.
The Courage are not well ahead of the rest of the league in the table on accident. Two goals in six minutes after the Oyster goal and the near two goal deficit took Seattle’s early lead and negated it, putting the home side on their heels instead. Coming out of the break, Seattle looked to re-level the match, instead they quickly went down another goal.
Whoever Seattle eventually drafts with the pick that they got for Merritt Mathias will need to replace her three lines of play and the ability to overlap or step up and crack a long range shot. Mathias’ return to Seattle saw her foul on Megan Rapinoe be converted into a goal for Seattle on the set piece that followed, but also her 48th minute goal put her new side up 3-1. Mathias gathered a long clear, beat Rapinoe on the dribble and launched a near post strike that hit the net with emphasis.
McCall Zerboni crossed the 10,000 minute milestone in the 21st minute to become the first NWSL player to do so. Zerboni continues to make her case for making the 2019 USWNT roster for France.
Crystal Dunn nabbed a brace, putting any real chance of a late rally out of reach. This was a game with early swings of momentum, but once North Carolina grabbed the lead, they kept their foot on the gas and finished off Seattle.
Seattle had their chances in this match. The disallowed goal would have set them up with a two goal lead. Rapinoe placed several set pieces in to the near post creating havoc, including the first goal. North Carolina certainly played well, but the 4-1 scoreline could have been a truly high scoring affair.
Even given the final scoreline, the quality of both sides in a wide open match was still evident. Seattle will bounce back. North Carolina appears set to keep rolling. It does not seem too much of a stretch to envision these two teams playing in September in Portland.
photos by Vanya Tucherov
Box Score:
SEA: Lydia Williams, Megan Oyster, Stephanie Catley, Alyssa Kleiner (Nahomi Kawasumi, 65’), Kristen McNabb, Allie Long, Elizabeth Addo, Rumi Utsugi (Morgan Andrews, 58’), Megan Rapinoe ©, Beverly Yanez (Adrianna Leon, 65’), Jodie Taylor – Subs not used: Michelle Betos, Theresa Nielsen, Jasmyne Spencer, Maddie Bauer
NCC: Katelyn Rowland, Jaelene Hinkle, Abby Erceg ©, Kaleigh Kurtz, Merritt Mathias, Debinha (Meredith Speck, 83’), McCall Zerboni, Crystal Dunn, Denise O’Sullivan, Jess McDonald (Darian Jenkins 86’), Lynn Williams (Kristen Hamilton, 78’) – Subs not used: Sabrina D’Angelo, Cari Roccaro, Yuri Kawamura
Score:
SEA: 1
NCC: 4
Goals:
SEA: Megan Oyster (Megan Rapinoe, 18’)
NCC: Lynn Williams (Jaelene Hinkle, 27’), Crystal Dunn (Lynn Williams, 33’), Merritt Mathias (Unassisted, 48’), Crystal Dunn (Lynn Williams, 70’)
Cautions / Ejections:
SEA: —
NCC: —
Attendance: 4,032
