Match Recap: Reign FC Faces 4-2 Defeat in Portland
Under the scorching sun at Providence Park, the 43rd edition of the Cascadia Rivalry featured a series-high six goals as the Reign fell 4-2.
Seattle got the scoring started early, led by captain Jess Fishlock. The Welsh international threaded a defense-splitting pass to Emeri Adames, who perfectly timed her run to get onto the end of the ball just above the six-yard box. The 19-year-old expertly tapped it around Mackenzie Arnold in goal to give the Reign the lead away from home.
After the early wake-up call, Portland began to press forward and put the Reign under pressure. Goalkeeper Claudia Dickey made a stunning save in the eighth minute of the match to maintain the Reign’s lead, but the momentum quickly shifted in favor of the home side, as they earned a penalty kick in the 16th minute of match. Their captain Sam Coffey stepped up to convert it two minutes later with a shot to the lower left corner of the goal.
With the game now level, Dickey was called upon in the 19th minute, thwarting Hina Sugita’s close-range effort to keep the game tied. Portland responded in the 26th minute, netting a second goal. Jessie Fleming was stationed well outside the 18-yard box and cleaned up a corner kick, chipping the ball over the heads of the backline to Reilyn Turner, who took one touch and put the ball into the far side of the net.
The second half got off to a hot start, with Portland pressing high into the Reign’s defensive line. They broke through ten minutes into the match, as Olivia Moultrie took a shot toward goal, but her attempt was blocked, falling directly to the head of Reyna Reyes, who put it in the back of the net.
Fishlock answered back in the 64th minute of the match, as defender Madison Curry looped a ball to the back post from her spot out right. The midfielder dove to get her head on the end of it and cut the Reign’s deficit down to a single goal.
The one goal difference was short lived, as Portland quickly worked the ball up the field, Sugita playing a direct ball to Pietra Tordin to put away.
Both teams brought on a flurry of substitutes to combat the heat as the rest of the rivalry match played out. The Reign fought until the final whistle, but it wasn’t enough to find the two goals needed to steal points from the match.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
ADAMES LEADS: Forward Emeri Adames gave the Reign an early lead with her goal in the third minute of the match. She has now scored five times this season, the most of any Reign player this season.
FISHLOCK DIFFERENCE: Midfielder Jess Fishlock, who captained the team, has now scored in back-to-back matches for the Reign, bringing her season total to three goals. She also notched an assist on the opening goal of the match.
NEXT UP: Reign FC returns home to Lumen Field to take on Chicago Stars FC in the club’s first annual Queen’s Match. Get tickets to the match HERE.