In a difficult match in front of 2,537 spectators, OL Reign would lose their undefeated streak losing by 0x1 against Washington Spirit at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma.
The first half would be completely in favor to the Reign, with high pressure against Washington Spirit’s defense, generating various occasions where the dynamics of the meeting was quite clear. The OL Reign opted for counter attacking through the wings, where in the right sector the combination of Hammond, Rose Lavelle and Shirley Cruz created quite a few headaches for a troubled Kelley O’Hara. On the right side, Megan Rapinoe would do something similar.
That would make Tziarra King lose prominence: She was seen isolated and unassisted, and had no greater relevance than a couple of times where she rushed the rival goalkeeper at the beginning of the match, where after a mistake by goalkeeper Aubrey Bledsoe, she was on the verge of scoring the first goal.
Something similar would happen to the next minute, where Rose Lavelle rushed the Washington goalkeeper being close to forcing the error and scoring the first one.
In any case, the team led by Farid Bensiti could not reflect this superiority on the scoreboard since they always failed in the final pass. Both Huerta and Rapinoe managed to reach the goal line with ease, only to then have no choice but to shoot straight at the goal or throw a cross that always ended up past. This generated impotence in the Reign, to the point that during many parts of the game they were seen with their heads down, unable to believe what was happening.
This situation would be reflected in the words of Megan Rapinoe:
Really bad, at home, coming from a big win, we need to play a lot better. It just wasn’t good enough (…) We need to be alot smarter tactically and understanding certain moments of the game. (…) Not a good result for us, not the end of the world we’re on the early season but we need to be so much better.
Meanwhile, the Washington Spirit players had few relevant opportunities, the first one in the 14th minute. During the entire first half they had trouble getting past Reign’s defenses, which at all times closed their lines.
A completely different Second Half
The opening of the account would come in the 52, where after a corner executed by Julia Roddar, Megan Rapinoe scored an own goal (it was initially conceded to Sam Staab, then it would be confirmed that it was a goal in own goal).
The good moment for Washington Spirit was evident throughout the second half, even when they weren’t able to score more goals because of great saves by Karen Bardsley, and a coordinated midfield section led by Jess Fishlock.
A big unknown: What’s the status of Bardsley?
Karen Bardsley’s olympic time could be soon to be over because of an injury was carried off the pitch with a hamstring problem on the 84′. The game was stopped for several minutes before she was replaced by Ella Dederick. When asked about this situation, Farid Bensiti acknowledged not having any information regarding the status of the goalkeeper, and the situation could be potentially bad as the Olympic Games are around the corner and there’s no information regarding the injury’s extent.