By Marilia Macedo
This Saturday (30), the last match of the NWSL regular season ended with the OL Reign’s 0-3 victory against Kansas City Current – which announced a new crest on the shirts after the break – at the Legends Field.
In the first half, a balanced game was played, but the biggest changes came from the visitors, with Dzsenifer Marozsán and Rose Lavelle bringing danger to the home team. On the other hand, the keeper Franch was able to make good saves, and also the defenders could prevent their attempts.
However, in the 35th minute, the KC player Kiki Pickett scored an own goal to open the scoring, and it would be 0-1 until the break.
Back to the second half, Laura Harvey’s squad maintained the intensity and it took only three minutes to double the lead.
After a corner kick, Lavelle touched the ball and it went right to Eugenie Le Sommer’s feet – who just had to kick it into the back of the net, 0-2.
Later on, in the 64th minute, Megan Rapinoe and Marozsán combined a great play. To conclude, Le Sommer – assisted by Rapinoe – scored her second goal with a perfect header, 0-3.
During the game, the keeper Sarah Bouhaddi did not have any troubles and the Reign’s defensive system was very solid, finishing the game with clean sheets. The final whistle secured the 2nd place for the Tacoma team, completing the regular season with 42 points.
Now, the OL Reign will have time to get ready for the semifinals. The match will happen on Sunday, November 14th, at Cheney Stadium.