Originally published on August 10, 2014
Kim Little’s goal in the 89th minute preserved Seattle’s home unbeaten record and prevented the Washington Spirit from clinching a spot in the playoffs.
Seattle head coach Laura Harvey gave both Nahomi Kawasumi and Kim Little a rest by excluding them both from the Starting XI. The Spirit took advantage of both the slightly less than full strength lineup as well as quite a few mistakes by the Reign. The Spirit controlled the game for several stretches in the first half.
Washington scored first in the 29th minute as Lisa DeVanna found Diana Matheson who had slipped behind the Reign back line. Matheson knocked a low strike past Reign goalkeeper Hope Solo on the far post to give the Spirit a 1-0 lead.
De Vanna almost doubled the Spirit’s advantage in the 43rd minute after receiving a perfectly timed through ball from Christine Nairn. De Vanna nearly had a 1v1 situation with Solo, but a couple of errant touches and solid defending from Reign defender Lauren Barnes resulted in ultimately fruitless shot.
Nahomi Kawasumi replaced Beverly Goebel to start the second half and Kim Little entered the game about 10 minutes later. As soon as both Kawasumi and Little stepped on the pitch, it was evident the Reign became more composed, more cohesive, and more dangerous. Despite a flurry of opportunities, the Reign didn’t breakthrough till the 89th minute.
Jessica Fishlock threaded the needle with a through ball to Kim Little beating the entire Spirit backline to equalize for the Reign just before the end of regular time.
The draw means that the Spirit still haven’t clinched a spot in the playoffs and will likely need points in their final match of the season against Sky Blue FC. Despite SBFC’s seventh place standing in the NWSL table, the New Jersey team hasn’t lost to a team other than FC Kansas City in two months (that impressive stat is courtesy of Chris Henderson of the All White Kit).
Meanwhile Seattle has clinched both the regular season NWSL shield as well as home field advantage. They will play Cascadia rivals Portland Thorns FC to cap their season. The Reign will be without the services of Fishlock who will be on national team duty with Wales. Harvey mentioned following last night’s game that she is unsure which US national team players will be used in the game against Portland because of the USWNT friendly on August 20th that falls between the final NWSL regular season game and the NWSL semifinals.