The chants, the cheers, and the calls of 2,703 Reign FC fans echoed through Memorial Stadium on Saturday night.
For the first time in almost three weeks, the team was back in the friendly confines of Seattle Center, and extended its undefeated streak on the Moda Pitch with a 3–1 victory against the Washington Spirit.
“We love our home field, we love our home fans, we love the supporters group, we just love playing in Seattle,” forward Beverly Yanez said. “I think we were very pumped to be back on our home field and prove something today.”
Yanez started the scoring on Saturday night in the 36th minute, with the help of forward Merritt Mathias. After a drive into the box, Mathias sent a cross toward the net and found the foot of Yanez, who put a shot over the head of Spirit goalkeeper Kelsey Wys to give Seattle a 1–0 lead.
“I know Merritt’s a one-v-one type of player,” Yanez said. “So I saw her pick up the ball, saw her go at our defender, and so I immediately headed toward the net. I tried to check away and check in to kind of break in that near post, and she put a great ball in.”
Just three minutes into the second half, Seattle doubled its lead, this time with Mathias on the back end. In the 48th minute, Scottish international Kim Little sent a cross into the box, connecting with the head of Mathias to extend the lead.
“I actually was in practice the other day, and got made fun of for my header that I completely messed up,” Mathias said.
Washington got one back in the 63rd minute with a goal from Joanna Lohman, but Seattle put the game away 12 minutes later, thanks to midfielder Jessica Fishlock.
Little picked up her second assist of the night, connecting with a sliding Fishlock on a through ball that she pushed past Wys for the game’s final goal.
“Jess’s goal settled us back down again,” head coach Laura Harvey said. “I’ve said it before, and it will always be the case that goals change games, both ways. I thought [the Spirit] were getting some momentum.”
Seattle was also buoyed by a strong showing from goalkeeper Haley Kopmeyer. Kopmeyer made four saves in place of U.S Women’s National Team goalkeeper Hope Solo, who is now training in preparation of June’s FIFA Women’s World Cup alongside forward Megan Rapinoe.
Kopmeyer said while she dealt with pre-game jitters before her first start of the year, it was the home crowd that helped her settle down.
“The fans are amazing, they’re so supportive, and they’re so wonderful to me that I truly can’t thank them enough,” Kopmeyer said. “It’s fun to go out and win in front of a home crowd.”
Seattle is now 2–0 at home on the season, and 10–0–4 all-time in the shadow of the Space Needle.
Reign FC head back out next weekend for its third road game in its last four matches. Sky Blue FC awaits Seattle next Saturday at 4 p.m. (PT) at Yurcak Field in Piscataway, N.J., before Reign FC returns home for two matches, starting with an international friendly against the Chinese Women’s National Team on Friday, May 22 at 7 p.m.
NWSL Match Report
Match: Seattle Reign FC vs. Washington Spirit
Date: May 2, 2015
Venue: Moda Pitch at Memorial Stadium (Seattle, Wash.)
Kickoff: 7 p.m. PT
Goals by Half 1 2 F
SEA 1 2 3
WAS 0 1 1
Scoring Summary
SEA — Beverly Yanez, 36’ (Mathias)
SEA — Mathias, 48’ (Kim Little)
WAS — Joanna Lohman, 63’ (Crystal Dunn)
SEA — Jessica Fishlock, 75’ (Little)
Misconduct Summary
N/A
Lineups & Stats
SEA: GK Haley Kopmeyer, D Elli Reed, D Kendall Fletcher, D Lauren Barnes, D Stephanie Cox, M Keelin Winters, M Jessica Fishlock (Amber Brooks, 79'), M Kim Little, F Kiersten Dallstream, F Beverly Yanez (Danielle Foxhoven, 79’), F Merritt Mathias (Rachel Corsie, 90’+)
WAS: GK Kelsey Wys, D Estelle Johnson, D Megan Oyster, D Katherine Reynolds, D Tori Huster, D Alex Singer (Amanda Da Costa, 84'), M Christine Nairn (Amanda Da Costa, 76’), M Joanna Lohman (Angela Salem, 84’), F Estefania Banini, F Francisca Ordega, F Crystal Dunn
Referee: Karen ABT
Assistant Referees: Joshua Haimes, Alicia Messer
Fourth Official: Kelsey Harms
Stats Summary
Shots: SEA 14, WAS 14
Shots on goal: SEA 7, WAS 5
Saves: SEA 4, WAS 4
Corner kicks: SEA 2, WAS 5
Fouls: SEA 2, WAS 3
Offside: SEA 4, WAS 8
Attendance: 2,703
To join the crowd at Memorial as Reign FC for the friendly, visit ReignFC.com.
If you can’t make it to the stadium, download the official, free Reign FC app to watch every match home and away live via YouTube on your iPhone.
Images by Catie Bergman Photography
