Reign FC Offense Dominant in 2017 Season

Reign FC
Reign FC
Jul 26, 2017 · 3 min read

In a match called “wild” by Seattle Reign FC forward Megan Rapinoe and “mental” by assistant coach Sam Laity, Reign FC defeated Sky Blue FC 5–4 on Saturday. The match tied an NWSL record for most combined goals in a single match, with nine goals.

“Football is all about momentum,” said Seattle Reign FC head coach and general manager Laura Harvey after the match. “If you’ve got momentum, you’ve got to score goals when you have it. It’s going to swing. We had it and scored four goals. They had it and scored four goals. It’s crazy.”

It wasn’t the first time this season the Reign FC offense has broken out at Memorial Stadium, as it was the third time the team has scored at least five goals in a home match. Earlier this season Reign FC defeated the Houston Dash 5–1, and the Washington Spirit 6–2.

Saturday’s five goals bring Reign FC’s goal total for the 2017 season to a league-leading 30 goals. That surpasses the club’s goal total for the entire 2016 season, 29, and there are still nine matches left.

Leading the way offensively are Reign FC forwards Megan Rapinoe and Nahomi “Naho” Kawasumi. Both Rapinoe and Naho are in the NWSL’s top five in scorer points, goals plus assists, and lead the league in goals and assists respectively. Rapinoe’s hat trick on Saturday was her first since the 2015 NWSL season.

“She’s on fire,” said Harvey. “She’s such a threat, people are worried about her, so teams try to stop her as much as they can which sometimes opens the space for people who get her the ball in the second phase. This is the best form she’s been in for this club.”

Both players have been involved in or scored a goal in 10 of Reign FC’s 14 games this season. They’ve been particularly dangerous at home, with 11 of Rapinoe’s league-leading 12 goals coming at Memorial, and five of Naho’s league-leading seven assists coming in home matches.

This offensive success at home isn’t necessarily new for Reign FC. The club has scored in 26 consecutive home matches, dating back to the 2015 NWSL season. During this run, Reign FC have outscored opponents 38 to 16 at Memorial.

“We’ve created a mentality now against the opposition, in that they know it’s going to be tough when they come here,” said Harvey. “We just have a swagger about us at home. We portray this real confident performance a lot of the time and when we do that it’s hard for the opposition to break us down.”

Looking forward, Reign FC will have to find a way to keep their attack going on the road. Seattle has been shutout three times this season, and all three have been in matches away from Memorial Stadium.

With six of the club’s final nine matches this season on the road, and the next five matches against teams in the top five on the NWSL table, points and goals will be at a premium as Reign FC battle for a playoff spot.

“This league is so tight, that if you can get points off the teams in and around you, especially ones above you, you can catch up to them,” said Harvey. “We have five huge games coming up that I think change our season. North Carolina twice, Chicago, Sky Blue, and Portland. Can’t get much tougher than that.”

Reign FC

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Reign FC

Reign FC is a founding member of the nine-team National Women’s Soccer League. #LetItReign

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