On Sunday evening, Seattle Reign FC forced a stoppage-time own goal to earn their first regular-season win since May 3. The 1-0 victory against the North Carolina Courage marked a special night at Lumen Field, as the club retired Megan Rapinoe's #15 jersey in front of more than 16,000 fans and head coach Laura Harvey earned her 100th NWSL regular-season win.
Jacob Cristobal
Here are three stats from the Reign's home win.
4
The Reign held North Carolina to a season-low four shots and a season-low 0.27 expected goals (xG). The Courage also had just six shot-creating actions, which are the last two actions leading up to a shot (pass, dribble, shot, fouled, or defensive action). That was another season low.
What did the Reign do so effectively to limit North Carolina's chances?
A lot of defensive organization.
North Carolina likes to keep the ball and move it around quickly to progress up the field and pull defenses out of position. To defend this, the Reign allowed the Courage backline to have the ball while cutting off options to play through their midfielders and combine with fullbacks.
As a result, the Courage midfield couldn't progress into their attacking half as effectively. While holding midfielders Denise O'Sullivan and Narumi Muira had plenty of touches on Sunday, they had the fewest combined touches in their attacking third in games they started together (10).
Tziarra King and Ana-Maria Crnogorčević did a lot of work on the wings to either prevent balls to their attacking-minded fullbacks or close down quickly on the wings when the ball went wide.
Quinn and Jess Fishlock were also committed to cutting off passes at the top of the 18-yard box, where Ashley Sanchez likes to operate. Look at them both sprint instantly toward that spot as North Carolina got the ball to their wide attacker.
All this defensive work forced the Courage to attempt longer balls, which the Reign handled for the most part. North Carolina's 72 attempted long passes were their fourth-most this year. However, they only completed 57% of those, a lower percentage than the three matches with more long-ball attempts.
7
Going 74 minutes in her Reign debut, Ana-Maria Crnogorčević had a team-high seven shot-creating actions – an impressive stat for someone with less than two weeks of training with her new teammates.
These opportunities all came thanks to Crnogorčević's defensive pressure, hold-up play, and ability to turn out of pressure.
Crnogorčević wasn't goal-dangerous herself, but she was often in the right place to set her teammates up and very rarely lost the ball. She was never dispossessed and completed 15/18 passes. The Reign will want to get her more involved in future matches, but her debut was a strong one on both sides of the ball.
8
Eight of the Reign's 17 shots (47%) came after the 75th minute when Jaelin Howell and Nérilia Mondésir subbed into the match. Emeri Adames and Olivia Athens also entered in the 89th minute. In addition to Veronica Latsko in the 65th minute, all five subs made a huge impact.
Mondésir's speed forced the Courage to adjust, and Howell changed the dynamic in the midfield. In just 15 minutes (plus stoppage time), Howell had two shots, completed 17/20 passes, went 1/1 on tackles and ground duels, had two interceptions and one clearance, and recorded three shot-creating actions.
She also hyped the crowd up after her first shot went just wide of the goal, which was unfortunately not shown on the broadcast.
Head coach Laura Harvey praised Mondésir and Howell after the match, noting that they'd only had a few training sessions with the club and the Reign ask a lot of their players tactically. Harvey called Mondésir a special talent who will need a little more time to adjust to the physical nature of this league and said Howell did exactly what she asked when coming on, which was to "sit next to Quinn and find opportunities to go forward."
Latsko and Adames, meanwhile, combined to create the game-winning goal – with Adames heading in Latsko's cross. While it was ultimately credited as an own goal, the Reign wouldn't have earned three points without their efforts.
Seattle Reign will continue to make their push up the NWSL table on Saturday, August 31, when they face former teammate Bethany Balcer and Racing Louisville. The match kicks off at 4:30 PM PT and will air on ION.
