Reign FC defeat Boston 3–2 on the road to extend unbeaten streak to five
Your Seattle Reign FC returned to league action with a bang on Sunday afternoon and defeated the Boston Breakers 3–2 on the road. Not only did the club pick up its first away win of the season, it also extended its league unbeaten streak to five games.
The win moves Reign FC to 4–2–2 on the season and up the standings as they now sit tied with the Washington Spirit at 14 points, just one point behind the first place Chicago Red Stars.
Midfielders Kim Little and Jess Fishlock and forward Beverly Yanez all tallied goals in the victory as Reign FC grabbed its first away win of the 2015 campaign.
“The biggest thing for us today was getting three points. It’s our first three points on the road this season. In previous games we had conceded late,” head coach and general manager Laura Harvey noted after the match. “Getting the three points was vital to us. I think our performance could have been better but our priority today was getting the three points.”
Boston opened the scoring in the 14th minute off the foot of midfielder Kristie Mewis. After earning a free kick near the corner outside of the box, Mewis whipped in a curving ball that hit off defender Stephanie Cox and into the net to give the home side a 1–0 lead.
In the 44th minute, Fishlock received a hard tackle from Boston’s Julie King and the ball fell to Little just inside Boston’s half. The referees signaled advantage as the Scottish international ran with it all the way into the box before slotting it past Breakers goalkeeper Jami Kranich to tie the match up at 1–1 just before the half.
Reign FC ramped up its pressure early from the start of the second half in search of a winning goal. Moments after defender Elli Reed entered the match as a substitute, Reign FC found its stride once more.
Midfielder Keelin Winters received the ball at the top of the box before spinning it out wide to a rushing Reed. Reed slotted the ball across the face of the goal and Yanez was there to tap it in to give Seattle the lead in the 66th minute.
Reign FC’s lead was short lived though as Boston equalized just 10 minutes later. Mewis carried the ball up the sideline before sending in a low driven ball across the face of goal. Goalkeeper Haley Kopmeyer saved the first attempt by forward Nkem Ezurike but couldn’t keep the ensuing follow-up by Boston’s Morgan Marlborough out of the net.
In the 86th minute, Reign FC put away the winning goal of the night, solidifying its first away win of the season. Little carried the ball towards the center of the box before sending it through to Fishlock who calmly turned and fired it past Kranich to give Reign FC a 3–2 advantage.
“Kim does what Kim does. She was one-on-one and I always gamble when I see Kim one-on-one because in my mind, she’s going to win it… She’s the best in that situation,” said Fishlock when asked about her game-winning goal. “I saw the big gap. She saw my run and played a perfect ball. All I had to do was stay onside… It was a great goal but it was Kim’s work.”
While Reign FC were outshot 18 to nine, they registered a total of three shots on goal and all three found the back of the net. Little notched her second goal in two games while Yanez and Fishlock moved their season tallies to four goals apiece. Little also now has four assists on the season while Fishlock has three.
Reign FC now return home for a rematch against FC Kansas City on Saturday, June 27. Kick-off is set for 7:30pm PT and tickets to the match are still available.
