Draw with Courage Brings Seattle One Point Closer to Hosting Playoff Match
In its last regular-season home match of the season, Seattle Reign FC (11–4–8, 41 points) played the North Carolina Courage (16–1–6, 54 points) to a 1–1 draw. Theresa Nielsen scored the first goal of her NWSL career with a header in the 67th minute. Seattle’s shutout streak came to an end with Lynn Williams’ stoppage time equalizer to salvage a point for North Carolina.
Reign FC won two corner kicks in the match’s first two minutes. While neither resulted in a goal, they gave Seattle two chances to play in North Carolina’s defensive third. The action alternated between ends of the pitch in the first ten minutes, but neither side could get a shot on goal.
Merritt Mathias launched a shot at Lydia Williams in the game’s 12th minute. The low, skipping shot might have gone wide of the post, but Williams dove to knock the ball out of play. North Carolina’s ensuing corner ended with an off-target shot, ending the team’s best early opportunity. In the 14th minute Jess McDonald laced a shot toward the center of the goal. Williams stood tall and deflected the ball with her hand, allowing Megan Oyster to charge in and clear it away before it could enter the net. A hydration break soon followed, giving the teams a rest after a frenetic first fifteen minutes.
When play resumed, North Carolina had a free kick from 35 yards out. After a bungled attempt to get the ball in the box, Jasmyne Spencer grabbed possession and led her team the other way. The speedy forward made it into North Carolina’s penalty area before losing the ball wide for a Reign FC throw-in. Not long after, in the 23rd minute, McDonald earned a yellow card for the Courage.
Williams made a tremendous save in the 28th minute. Playing on the right wing, Mathias served a well-placed cross into the middle. Her pass connected with McDonald, who made a run into the six-yard box. McDonald’s header was on frame but sent right to Williams. Seattle’s keeper made a quick-reflex save to keep the ball out and preserve Reign FC’s shutout streak.
After the second hydration break, Seattle came out with a set piece. Megan Oyster slid a pass to Theresa Nielsen, who whipped one of her trademark crosses into the box. Spencer leapt for the header and was knocked to the ground just beyond the penalty spot, but the referee deemed the play was not a foul. The Courage would answer minutes later with a set of their own crosses. Each one ended with Seattle easily clearing the ball away. Williams stepped up for another save in the 38th minute after North Carolina’s corner kick bounced around in front of her.
Sam Mewis tried her luck on a deep shot from outside the box in the 41st minute. Tracking the ball all the way, Williams lowered herself to scoop the ball and gathered it calmly. The 44th minute saw the Courage’s brief push end when Dunn was whistled for fouling Nielsen in the midfield. The teams coasted into halftime after trading fouls and free kicks during the four minutes of stoppage time added to the half.
Denise O’Sullivan drew the Courage’s second yellow card just before halftime. Her foul on Elizabeth Addo at the midfield line resulted in a card and marked the last significant play of the first half. North Carolina outshot Seattle 14–4 in the first half, logging six shots on goal to Seattle’s one. Reign FC was able to win four corner kicks in the first 45 minutes but couldn’t push one into the net. First half possession numbers were virtually even, with the Courage having the ball 52% of the time.
Two of Seattle’s best-looking chances early in the second half turned out to be offside. Both Spencer and Jodie Taylor drew the linesman’s flags after appearing to get in behind the Courage backline. Just prior to the third hydration break, Williams kept the Courage at bay with two miraculous saves. The first denied Mewis when the North Carolina midfielder attempted to score with her left foot. For the second save, Williams made a headlong dive to stonewall Jess McDonald.
A Lauren Barnes hand ball gave the Courage a free kick in the 65th. Standing in the box, Sam Mewis received the free kick and re-directed it toward the goal. Her attempt was hit too far, whizzing past the post and out of bounds. Williams had the shot covered, choosing not to touch it upon realizing it was headed wide.
Reign FC would soon get their first goal. Standing at the flag in the 67th minute, Fishlock lofted a corner kick to the top of the box. Theresa Nielsen got under the ball and sent a header into a sea of bodies. Evading both Reign FC teammates and Courage defenders, the ball squirted through the scrum and toward the goal. Shielded by the group in front of the net, North Carolina keeper Katelyn Rowland couldn’t get to the ball, watching it go into the net for Nielsen’s first career NWSL goal.
The 1–0 lead for Seattle forced North Carolina into a substitution. Five minutes after the goal, Courage head coach Paul Riley brought Heather O’Reilly off the bench. O’Reilly came on for Denise O’Sullivan, who had picked up a yellow card during the first half. Jodie Taylor got Seattle’s first yellow card in the 78th for shooting after being called for offside. This dead ball spurned another substitution, as Kristen Hamilton replaced Jess McDonald with ten minutes left in regulation.
One minute after the substitution, the match came to a brief delay as the medical staff tended to Elizabeth Addo. The Ghanaian forward looked to be nursing her arm after taking a spill in North Carolina’s half. She would stay in the match after a quick trip to the sideline. Mathias garnered the Courage’s third yellow card of the match in the 85th minute by grabbing Spencer’s jersey as the Seattle attacker tried to break free from the defense.
Nielsen played hero again in the 88th minute. Standing on the goal line during a Carolina corner, she headed the ball away just before it could enter the net.
The referee soon announced six minutes of stoppage time to the end of the match. During the 91st minute, Addo sent a cross from inside the box that looked to be played with a hand ball. The referee allowed play to continue, depriving Seattle of a penalty kick.
In the fifth minute of added time, North Carolina took a corner kick. The ball pinged around the front of the goal, and after several blocked shots, Lynn Williams poked it home for a late equalizer.
After getting a point on Saturday, Seattle still has a chance to host a semifinal match in the playoffs.
Reign FC occupies the second spot in the NWSL standings and can clinch a home match with a win or draw over Portland on Friday, September 7, or a loss or draw by Portland in their match against the Washington Spirit later today. The September 7 match against Portland at Providence Park will be featured as the Lifetime Game of the Week.
