Seattle Reign FC tied Portland Thorns FC 2–2 in the first of three meetings between the teams this season. This is the only match between the Cascadia rivals at Providence Park, where Reign FC’s all-time record now stands at 2–4–2.
The tie marks the first time Reign FC (1–1–2, 5 pts) have scored two goals at Providence Park. Seattle’s all-time goal differential against Portland remains positive, having scored 18 goals and allowed only 13.
“Our fight and desire was back and that’s what we have to bring to every game,” said Seattle Reign FC head coach and general manager Laura Harvey. “You can’t just do it when there’s 20,000 people in the stands, you’ve got to do it every week. We showed tonight we’re a threat when we go forward and score goals any different way we want. We showed we can be on the back foot and be under pressure but fight for it.”
Reign FC was on the scoreboard almost immediately, with the first goal of the match coming in the 1st minute. Co-captain Jess Fishlock won the ball outside the Thorns box, and after taking a touch, fired a shot into the far corner of the goal. The ball went past a diving Adrianna Franch for Fishlock’s second goal on the season.
Portland tied the match at one goal apiece in the 37th minute, when Fishlock scored an own goal. Hayley Raso sent a low cross into the box, and the ball deflected off a sliding Fishlock and into the back of the net.
Merritt Mathias responded two minutes later, scoring her first goal of the season to make the score 2–1 heading into the half. Rebekah Stott dribbled her way into the box, and was able to slide the ball to Mathias inside the six yard box. Mathias then slotted the ball past Franch.
The Thorns would find another equalizer in the 82nd minute of the match to bring the final score to 2–2. Meghan Klingenberg chipped a ball into the box, where Allie Long headed the ball just under the crossbar.
Fishlock was named player of the match for her performance, with two shots and three tackles to go with her goal. This comes on the back of Fishlock earning NWSL Team of the Month honors for April.
“That’s just who Jess is,” said Harvey. “She can lead with her performances and when she leads like she did tonight we have a chance that she can drag people with her.”
Tonight’s result sees Reign FC points total for the season improve to five, sitting in sixth place on the NWSL table. Other results today saw the Chicago Red Stars and Washington Spirit earn wins.
Up next, Reign FC return to Memorial Stadium to host the Washington Spirit. This is the first meeting between the two teams this season, with kickoff set for 1:00pm PT. The last meeting between these two teams was September 11, 2016, with Seattle earning a 2–0 victory in their final home match of the season.
