Reign vs. Royals: Summer Cup highlights, stats, quotes

Seattle Reign kicked off the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup match on Friday evening, defeating the Utah Royals 2-1 at Lumen Field in Seattle. Olivia Athens and Sofia Huerta scored the goals for the Reign.

Head coach Laura Harvey put out a heavily rotated lineup that saw Maddie Mercado make her first start and Julia Lester, Sam Meza, and Ainsley McCammon make their club debut.

The Reign are back at Lumen Field on Sunday, July 28 at 3 p.m. PT to play another Summer Cup match against Club Tijuana.

Highlights

Stats

SCORING SUMMARY

43' - Olivia Athens (SEA)

49' - Cameron Tucker (UTAH)

77' - Sofia Huerta (Assisted by Tziarra King) (SEA)

LINEUPS

45' - Sofia Huerta (In)/Ryanne Brown (Out)

57' - Sam Meza (In)/Maddie Mercado (Out)

63' - Bethany Balcer (In)/McKenzie Weinert (Out); Tziarra King (In)/Emeri Adames (Out)

90' - Ainsley McCammon (In)/Olivia Athens (Out)

46' - Addison Merrick (In)/Kate Del Fava (Out)

86' - Shaelan Murison (In)/Paige Monaghan (Out); Ellie Boren (In)/Dana Foederer (Out)

88' - Danielle O'Brien (In)/Madison Pogarch (Out)

POSSESSION

Reign: 48.9%

Royals: 51.1%

EXPECTED GOALS

Reign: 1.43

Royals: 1.08

TOTAL SHOTS

Reign: 7

Royals: 11

SHOTS ON TARGET

Reign: 4

Royals: 3

SHOTS OFF TARGET

Reign: 2

Royals: 3

SHOTS BLOCKED

Reign: 1

Royals: 5

SHOTS FROM INSIDE THE BOX

Reign: 5

Royals: 8

TOUCHES INSIDE THE OPP. BOX

Reign: 15

Royals: 15

PASSES

Reign: 387

Royals: 406

PASSING ACCURACY

Reign: 74.2%

Royals: 75.6%

PASSES IN FINAL THIRD

Reign: 78

Royals: 100

PASSING ACCURACY IN FINAL THIRD

Reign: 55.1%

Royals: 57.0%

CROSSES (EXCLUDING CORNERS)

Reign: 11

Royals: 12

CORNERS WON

Reign: 6

Royals: 6

OFFSIDES

Reign: 0

Royals: 3

FOULS

Reign: 8

Royals: 12

YELLOW CARDS

Reign: 2

Royals: 1

Quotes

Laura Harvey

On her thoughts following the match:

"My overall thoughts on the game are, really happy we could get the win, loads of things that we could be better at, but I think very similar to how we treated the Challenge Cup when we had the Challenge Cup, we commit to using these opportunities to develop the roster and the team. So, really glad we did that. Obviously, Utah pretty much played their best team available outside of the keeper, probably. We had patches where we did some really good stuff and we forced it a little bit, but we dug in and I said to the players at the end, I think they need to enjoy the fact that we've won a game because we've been in games where we've played much better than we did tonight and we haven't won. So, my overall thoughts are just, I'm so glad we were able to win. I think that this tournament, we can use it as the way we've done previously with the Challenge Cup, The Women's Cup and it just galvanizes the roster. The only sour note is probably Ryanne [getting injured]."

On three players making their debut today:

"I thought Julia was excellent. She's waited a long time to get her opportunity today. I thought Sam was great when she came on with a ton of energy and showed some really good moments - I thought she was going to score. Yeah, nice to get Ainsley on. I think she's a 6 by nature, but to come in that late in a game and that young and be expected just to see a game out is tough, but she did great. I think she was definitely nervous going on, but really happy that she could get her debut in and can't wait for Jordyn to get that opportunity, I'm sure, next week."

On signing McCammon and Bugg to the team:

"Yeah, I think that we had a very clear sort of idea that we wanted to look at potential best young talent coming through and we've had quite a few players come into our environment and train - Emeri was the first and then these two were part of a group of quite a few who came in to train and I think with who we have in the positions that they play in and the age at which some of our players are that play in those positions without naming any names, the fact that these kids can come in and learn from them and then hopefully take the torch from them, is fantastic. Even for someone like Emeri, I wish we'd have had Emeri last year so she could have had a year with Pinoe (Megan Rapinoe) because I think that that would have elevated her game like it's elevated Zee's (Tziarra King) game. I think Zee's game's elevated because of having that experience with Pinoe. So, I just think that part of the evolution of the game is, and we've never really had the opportunity to do this before where you can truly invest in that young talent because we weren't resourced really to do it, and now we are and I think we're going to get resourced even more with the new ownership group to really know that, is Ainsley going to be who we want her to be today or Jordyn? No. Or Emeri? No. But can we provide them with opportunities, development, platforms, both with us and at youth national team level so that they can one day become the next whoever in our team and hopefully Jordyn, Emeri and Ainsley will all get to play in a World Cup this year and that will be a huge development opportunity for them. It means that we miss out on something because we won't have them for a couple of games, but it means that as a club, it shows that we're willing to see the long-term vision in probably what's always been a short-term fix. I think the NWSL has always been a place where you have to solve things and you have to solve it now and I think we're turning that tide around to seeing long-term vision, long-term planning and I'm all about that. I probably have a reputation that I'm not and I actually really am, but I think before it was tough because the league wasn't set up for that and I think now it is. So, a long-winded answer, but yeah, I'm just really happy that we're in a position where we can give these players a platform to grow."

Sofia Huerta and Julia Lester

On making her Reign FC debut:

Julia Lester: "It's an experience that I've been waiting for this whole season and working hard with my teammates. That first whistle, it kind of sounds cheesy, but I honestly got some chills and everything like that. I've been waiting for it; we've all been working really hard - my teammates have been pushing me. So yeah, it was an experience I was happy to share with everyone on the field."

On playing higher up the field and being able to get the game-winning goal:

Sofia Huerta: "I just think it caters to our team. I think we have really attacking outside backs and also midfielders who want to get on the ball and center backs who are really comfortable being out wide and being able to engage and find passes in the pocket or hitting it over the top. So, it's something I think we'll probably continue doing and something I think we've had success on recently. Today, I just wanted to come in and do anything to help the team. It was tied, 1-1, so obviously we wanted to get that win. Anytime Zee is isolated on the side, I'm going to do my best to try and get in because she's so quality when it comes to taking players 1-v-1 and getting the cross off. So, I just was really right there, she really just put it right where she needed to and then obviously the goal happened, so very excited to win the game. I said earlier, we're competing for hardware, so we want to win the trophy at the end of this and the season's not going necessarily the way we want it to go, but this is an opportunity for us to win games and it feels good to win."

On being able to get minutes during the Summer Cup:

Julia Lester: "It's an experience that, like I said earlier, I've been waiting for and I've been working for this this season, but I mean not getting minutes, getting minutes, we're all in it as a team. So, definitely excited to go out there and support my team, have the support from my team as well and push me. Like Sof said earlier, we want hardware, that's what we're what we're fighting for. I'm excited to be able to go out there and do whatever I can to help the team, too."

On having so many young players on the field at the same time and if the team's strategy changes because of that:

Sofia Huerta: "I don't think it changes the strategy. I mean, we expect a lot out of them even though they're young, that's why we signed them and why they get minutes and why they saw minutes today. Emeri's just coming from youth camp and Sam's a player who hasn't seen the field a lot, but I thought she came in and did extremely well. I feel like she brought a lot of energy. She did so well defensively, she created some opportunities - even set up Boats (Bethany Balcer) for a potential goal. I know Boats will want that one back. We just signed Ainsley and Jordyn Bugg. So, Ainsley getting her debut is obviously great, too. I think the league is changing. I've been in league for a long time and at one point younger than 18 couldn't even be in the league, so obviously there's been a huge shift and change where we are wanting younger players to start earlier. So, we're almost like, they're our future. We're bringing them into this environment so they know that eventually, they're going to be getting a lot of minutes and winning for this organization, so it's exciting. I mean, a lot of other teams have been doing it, we're just starting to get on board with it and I think that it's great to see. Obviously as an older player, it's amazing to see younger players get this opportunity."