Originally published on April 24, 2014
Seattle Reign FC are now at the top of the NWSL table with six points after winning 3-1 over the Washington Spirit on Wednesday night.
Rainy conditions meant the pitch at Memorial Stadium was quite slick and both teams struggled to string together passes at times. However, there is no doubt that the majority of that struggle was from the Spirit. Apparently half of the Spirit squad think they’re Oprah, otherwise there is very little explanation for the volume of giveaways last night.
Seattle earned their first corner in the second minute. Nahomi Kawasumi sent in a low driven ball to the near post and Bev Goebel got a touch, which sent the ball dangerously toward the net, but Spirit goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris made a tremendous save and sent the ball over the goal.
Seattle scored just 30 seconds later after Kawasumi played the second corner short to Fishlock. Fishlock launched the ball into the middle of the box to Kendall Fletcher who beat Danesha Adams on the inside and got enough of her foot on the ball to force it past Harris.
Although the Reign went into the half with only a one goal advantage, they clearly had control of the game and that confidence was evident as they started the second half with fervor.
In the 49th minute Kawasumi continued her excellent service from the corner to connect with Keelin Winters who charged into the box and got her head on the ball to put the Reign up 2-0.
The Spirit finally got on the scoreboard in the 73rd minute after Seattle was called for a handball. Diana Matheson stepped up calmly to take the penalty kick and, as she does, easily slotted it past the best goalkeeper in the world, Hope Solo. Matheson’s execution of her penalty kicks is absolutely masterful. Maybe Matheson can be brought in to teach a master class to the USWNT during their next camp.
Despite a poor defensive performance from the Spirit, the Reign only scored one goal in the run of play. Jess Fishlock’s low screamer from the top of the box was just outside the reach of Harris and went in the lower left corner of the net to make it 3-1 in the 80th minute.
Once again the Reign cruised to a win at home with a 3-1 victory over the Spirit.
Despite an impressive scoreline, Seattle displayed fairly poor finishing throughout the game. Seattle had 14 shots (8 on goal), but only scored one goal from the run of play. There were numerous attacks on goal that resulted in nothing because the shots ended up high or wide, notably not because of any impressive defensive maneuvers from the Spirit. Those chances will need to be converted when Seattle plays a higher quality side like Portland.
The Spirit are now 1-2-0 on the season. The tired squad will head to Chicago for their third game in a week to face the Red Stars on Saturday April 26th at 8 PM EDT.
Injury News
Earlier in the day on Wednesday, the Spirit announced that forward Tiffany Weimer had torn her ACL during training last week and will miss the 2014 NWSL season. It is terribly unfortunate for both Weimer, who seemed incredibly enthusiastic about her new club, and the Spirit, which had envisioned Weimer as a central part of their offensive plans for the season.
In more bad news, midfielder Christine Nairn went down in stoppage time yesterday after a non-contact injury suffered during a corner kick. She had to be assisted off the field by training staff and put limited weight on her left leg. The team hasn’t released an injury update on Nairn, but there is no doubt her absence would take a heavy toll on the Spirit’s offensive attack.