Reign FC Score Four to Cruise Past UCLA in Final Preseason Match
In their final match of the 2018 Preseason Presented by UW Medicine, Seattle Reign FC defeated UCLA 4–0. This was the second all-time meeting between the two teams.
“We want to focus on the positives from tonight. If we get the process right, we’ll get the outcomes we’re looking for,” Seattle Reign FC head coach Vlatko Andonovski said after the match. “The players turned up the intensity in the second half and you saw what happened. I was very pleased with the mentality of the players.”
The game marked Reign FC debuts for defender Theresa Nielsen, forward Jodie Taylor, and midfielder Allie Long, with all three starting the match. Ghanaian National Team captain Elizabeth Addo made her first Reign FC appearance as she came into the match at the beginning of the second half.
UCLA started off the first ten minutes of the match well, having the better of possession and firing a couple of early shots to test Reign FC goalkeeper Michelle Betos. But as the match settled, Reign FC took control, controlling possession throughout the remainder of the first half. Debutant Jodie Taylor nearly found the back of the net in the 27th minute when she was through on goal, but she pushed the ball just wide. Theresa Nielsen was extremely active in the first half as well. She got down the right side with relative ease to whip in cross after cross, resulting in several unsuccessful shots from her Reign FC teammates. The teams went into half deadlocked at 0–0.
It didn’t take long in the second half for Seattle to break the deadlock. In the 52nd minute Megan Rapinoe found Jodie Taylor, who chipped the ball past the UCLA keeper to put Reign FC up 1–0. In the 56th minute, after some high pressure on UCLA’s back line, Seattle forced a turnover and made a series of quick passes to find Rapinoe, who fired a shot that resulted in the second goal of the match. Reign FC kept the pressure going throughout most of the second half, finding the back of the next again in the 61st minute. This time, Lauren Barnes made a long run down the left side of the pitch and placed a perfect cross to Bev Yanez, who put the ball in the back of the net with a sliding finish to see Reign FC take a 3–0 lead. Yanez got onto the scoresheet again in 71st minute as she lashed in a shot from 20 yards out to put Reign FC up 4–0.
“The atmosphere was incredible.” Andonovski said of the crowd at SilverLakes, “I would love to have crowds like this at every preseason game. The fans were great and the SilverLakes facilities were very well run and the staff welcoming. Despite the rain it was a great night for the fans.”
Up next, Reign FC will travel back to Seattle on Friday ahead of their March 24 home opener against the Washington Spirt at 7:00pm on the UW Medicine Pitch at Memorial Stadium.
