In the first ever meeting between Seattle Reign FC and the Chicago Red Stars at Toyota Park, the match ended in a 2–2 draw. It was the final meeting between the two teams this season.
With the tie, Reign FC (6–5–6, 24 pts) has still never earned a victory on the road against the Red Stars. Seattle has not won on the road this season since April 24th against the Boston Breakers.
Reign FC came out of the gates firing, scoring two goals in the first ten minutes of the game. This was just the second time this season Seattle has scored multiple goals in back-to-back matches.
The first goal of the match came in the 5th minute from Manon Melis. Beverly Yanez was able to slot her pass between Chicago’s defenders to put Melis in on goal. Melis finished near post for her fifth goal in five games.
Four minutes later, Lauren Barnes doubled the lead with one of her patented left-footed free kicks. Barnes curled the ball into the near post to put Reign FC up 2–0.
Chicago would cut the lead in half in the 27th minute. Vanessa DiBernardo’s corner kick was headed home by Sofia Huerta to make the scoreline 2–1 going into halftime. Seattle has led going into the half for the past three games.
Both teams created dangerous chances in the second half, forcing goalkeepers Haley Kopmeyer and Alyssa Naeher to make big saves. Naeher denied a diving header from Beverly Yanez in the 55th minute, while Kopmeyer made a diving save to keep Christen Press from leveling the score in the 64th minute.
However, Press would go on to tie the game 2–2 when Chicago was awarded a penalty kick in the 79th minute. Merritt Mathias fouled Casey Short in the box to give the Red Stars the penalty kick.
Tonight’s result means Reign FC now has 24 points this season and is in fifth place on the NWSL table. Due to results in other games this evening, Seattle remains four points out of the fourth and final playoff spot.
With the tie, the Chicago Red Stars (8–4–5, 29 pts) move up to third place in the NWSL standings, with 29 points on the season. The Washington Spirit are currently in first place with 36 points after their tie against the Western New York Flash on Saturday.
Up next, Reign FC head to Washington to face the Spirit in the final leg of a two-game road trip. Kickoff is scheduled for Wednesday, September 7 at 4:00 p.m PT and the match will be streamed on youtube.com/nwsl.
