Grit and Resilience Fuels Reign FC to Road Win
Seattle Reign FC traveled to Louisville, Kentucky to take on Racing Louisville FC for the first time this season and weathered a storm to bring three points home to Seattle.
The match, originally slated to be played at 4:30 p.m. PT on Friday, May 16 was postponed to 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 17 due to inclement weather in Louisville. Though the circumstances were not ideal, the Reign did well to stick to their game plan as close as possible through the road trip.
Storm-free, the match kicked off on Saturday in sweltering southern heat, that was paired with high winds.
“Yeah, I mean, it wasn’t the prettiest game,” said Reign FC Head Coach Laura Harvey. “It wasn’t the best possession or playing game we’ve ever played, but I’m very proud of the group for competing, making it difficult. I think they had 20 shots, but they had one on target. That says a lot about our grit and resilience.”
It was a match won by determination, as the Reign held just 37.7% of possession, conceding the majority to the home side. Every one of the Reign’s chances on goal was earned during the first half. The team managed four shots, three of which were on target.
The game-winning goal was scored in the 39th minute, by rookie forward Maddie Dahlien, whose exuberance fueled the Reign’s attack. Midfielder Sam Meza recorded her second assist of the season when she won the ball from Louisville and kickstarted the play with a perfectly placed through ball to Dahlien.
The 20-year-old carried the ball into the box, drawing out Louisville’s goalkeeper, before calmly slotting the ball to the back post to give Reign FC the lead going into halftime.
“In the first half we had the wind, in the second half, they had the wind. So, we just knew in the second half they were going to keep putting it on us – it’s why we came here and played a back five, because we thought we were going to have to deal with that a lot,” shared Harvey.
Seattle’s defensive work stood out in the second half, as Louisville entered the attacking third of the field more than 50 times in the final 45 minutes of the match. Nine successful tackles and six interceptions shut down the home team’s attempts at goal. Though Racing tallied 10 total shots in the half, not a single one was on frame – a testament to the dedication of the defensive efforts from the Reign.
“I thought inside the box, we put our bodies on the line. We made it really challenging for them. I don’t think Claudia [Dickey] really had to make saves. She had to deal with a lot of crosses and again, the wind was swirling around here, so that was more challenging than it normally is.”
Harvey added, “I just said to some of the players that I think that’s our evolution now. How do we compete as hard as we just competed and show quality? Because in some games, we show our quality, but we don’t compete the way we did today, and that might mean the difference between us getting three points and not. But when we compete the way we did today and we show a little bit of quality, not only will we win these games, but they’ll be more comfortable than they were today.”
This win marks the Reign’s fourth of the season and though it may not have been picture perfect, the team can be proud of bringing home three points to maintain its position above the playoff line. Riding the momentum of this win, the team looks to prepare for next week's match up.
“Whenever you come away and you can grind out three points like this in such a, you know, not pretty game, that’s something you can hold onto and push on from because we’re going to need that moving forward,” said Harvey.
The Reign now travel back to Seattle to take on the fifth place Washington Spirit at Lumen Field. Fans can get tickets for the match on Friday, May 23 at 7:00 p.m. PT HERE.
