Valkyratings: Angels In Retreat edition

On the road in Los Angeles, the Reign got off to an ignoble start, conceding a goal inside 10 minutes and losing Jess Fishlock to injury inside 20. Then, the Reign got cooking and fucked shit up for a solid 60 minutes, took a 3-1 lead, and held on through some nervy moments as Angel City spent the last quarter of the game throwing everything at the wall until something stuck.

The match had its share of controversy, given that it was an exceedingly active night in the review room, but anybody seriously claiming, say, that Sydney Leroux didn't foul Julia Lester multiple times on that disallowed goal is probably watching through glasses so Angel City-tinted they can't even see the I-5 traffic anymore. Multiple VAR decisions doesn't mean some of them must've been incorrect, and, frankly, none of them were even particularly close.

Nobody made apologies for beating us when we played well enough for points four months ago, and we sure as heck shouldn't apologize for beating anybody now. Not when we run them off the field, not when we smash and grab, not when we win in a weird #NWSLAfterDark-ass match. Least of all for beating a team that certain pundits seemed to be counting on having six points in the bag against us.

And you know what else? Even with all that controversy, the Reign created more and better chances than Los AngeLes, and sunk three of them when it mattered. That's just that on that.

Let's savor this one a little, and not just because the next two matches sucked.

Goalkeeper

Claudia Dickey – 6

The good. After a shaky start, Dickey made the saves she had to make, which – despite the narration – were relatively few and routine as Angel City failed to seriously challenge her goal for the next 60 minutes. The best two opportunities in that span were a deceptive 54th minute hit from M.A. Vignola and a 66th minute deflected Alyssa Thompson attempt that Dickey stretched to deny with The Claw. She showed a willingness to just kick the shit out of it (the ball) rather than fucking around, a quality the Reign have often lacked this season, which was sometimes needed to keep Angel City attackers from connecting.

The bad. While she was put in a bad spot by unforced errors (story of the season), Dickey also didn't really cover herself in glory on the opening goal, a well-taken strike that was nonetheless saveable if she'd read it better, and that she'd probably love a second crack at. Her willingness to kick the shit out of it, while generally appreciated, was overzealous, her distribution bad, and she barely touched the ball all night without simply launching it directly to an Angel City midfielder.

Going forward. Dickey's performances have slipped a bit lately, but this was fine, and with the team actually scoring goals, it's no longer the end of the match when she makes a mistake.

Defense

Shae Holmes – 5 (off 71' for Lauren Barnes)

The good. The most important stat of the night for her, Shae Holmes was credited with a goal-creating action on Ji So-yun's go-ahead goal late in the first half. Goals change games, and while she wasn't the primary architect, she did keep the play alive and found Jordyn Huitema in a dangerous space, and that's not nothing. While she was only credited with three defensive actions (two interceptions and a clearance) as Angel City's attacking forays came overwhelmingly down the opposite side, she didn't necessarily need to fill the scoresheet, she just had to keep Claire Emslie quiet.

The bad. Holmes, a normally tenacious, lockdown defender, frequently played tentative – timid, even – going into challenges, recorded zero tackles, was beaten badly the one time she challenged a dribbler, and the play just ran right by her more than once.

Going forward. It was fine, and Shae Holmes at LB is generally fine, but along with settling our situation at forward, settling our situation at outside back needs to be a priority. Especially with Sofia Huerta off to light it up in Europe for awhile.

Julia Lester – 6

The good. Six clearances, two interceptions, two blocked shots, and a thundering tackle won: seeing little of the ball, Lester nonetheless made her presence felt by Angel City, part of a defensive triangle with Phoebe McClernon and Quinn that kept the home team stymied centrally until they were already trailing by two and throwing desperate haymakers to try to stay alive.

And, of course, goals change games, and Lester took one for the team to keep one off the board, beating Sydney Leroux for position and eating no less than three fouls for her trouble that would ultimately prove much, much, much too clear and obvious to allow the score to stand. Despite Leroux finally getting free for a goal in garbage time, Lester spent the entire night making her life miserable, and basically erased every promising contribution she made between the 8th and 99th minutes.

The bad. While Ji So-yun's no good, very bad back pass hung the back line out to dry, Lester was in good position, kept Thomas to the outside, but gave her way too much space to cut and shoot and, ultimately, finish past a slow-reacting Claudia Dickey.

Going forward. Finally seeing some real minutes on the back line, Lester is increasingly looking like a solid pickup for the Reign. Hopefully we can finally start seeing some continuity with a first-choice CB pairing. (Haha just kidding.)

Phoebe McClernon – 6

The good. So hey, the stat line looks pretty good all on its own: four recoveries, six clearances, three interceptions, a perfectly timed tackle to kill a chance, and a staggering dispossession of Emslie on the dribble. Phoebe was basically everywhere she needed to be for 90+ minutes, locking down the middle after the Reign conceded early, and fending off a desperate Angel City attack as they chased the game with everything they had late.

The bad. Phoebe's distribution on the night ranged from 'nervy but generally acceptable' to 'oh, no, oh no what are you doing', a reality that really didn't help a Reign side settling on sub-40% possession throughout the match. She wasn't afraid to hoof it the fuck away, but she too-infrequently found a Reign player when pressured. While she tried to recover to block Thomas' shot on the opening goal, she was a step slow despite being in a decent position to start.

Going forward. Another week and I still haven't seen anything that makes me think Phoebe is anything but our best CB, and this was certainly a good enough bend-don't-break showing, but she's definitely had better days at the office.

Sofia Huerta – 6

The good. Goals change games, and once again, Sofia Huerta stepped up to the penalty spot and changed the game for the Reign, leveling the score 1-1 in the 31st minute. She had some flashes of offensive combination, particularly on sequences in the 44th and 69th minutes. With the Reign struggling for possession and frequently under prolonged pressure, Sof added her own brand of disruption, with seven clearances, two tackles, and two interceptions. Facing down M.A. Vignola, who was having herself a night with her creativity in possession, that disruption was important to keeping the game manageable and in hand.

The bad. Leading the side by a wide margin with 72 touches, she mightily struggled to keep possession, and lost the ball repeatedly on completable passes. Despite a couple flashes of offensive combination, she registered only one key pass, and didn't have the touch to open up a game as Angel City came in waves.

Going forward. No assists record for Huerta this season, as she heads off to Lyon to tear things up in France. It hurts to see her go, but it's hard to deny her the opportunity to play for the only thing she's never had a chance to play for.

Midfield

Quinn – 7

The good. Quinn was a magnificent one-person wrecking crew, going into six challenges and winning four cleanly. Seven recoveries helped release pressure on the back line. A tidy 27-of-30 passing, Quinn was one of only a few Reign players who showed any ability to hold on to the fucking ball in this match. A speculative shot from distance never had much chance to score, but it forced a rebound that Huitema got a very good opportunity out of and was the sort of shot that can help keep a defense honest.

Even as they were clearly gassed and falling off late, Quinn still put in the effort on a handful of hard runs to keep pressure on Christen Press, Messiah Bright, and Sydney Leroux, an absolutely daunting trio to keep pressure on. And even clearly gassed and falling off, they mostly did enough to keep things complicated for that group. The intensity can't really be faulted, even as their endurance was failing.

The bad. It's becoming increasingly clear that Quinn is not back to being a 90-minute player, and, given their particular recent injury history, they may never be. As has become a pattern, Quinn faded late in the match as Angel City grew desperate, and with the intensity of the Los Angeles attack ratcheting up, Quinn found themselves lost in the play repeatedly, despite their best efforts.

Going forward. Quinn seems to have about 70 really good minutes in them a game, and longer outings have been a bit of an adventure. They're still good in possession with excellent defensive presence, and still have a lot to contribute, though, health permitting.

Jess Fishlock – N/A (off 17' for Angharad James-Turner)

The good. After Angel City took an early lead, Fishlock was involved in two quick chances the other way as the Reign looked to get right back into it. Neither wound up being particularly high-quality, but she was buzzing and looked ready to make an impact. Unfortunately...

The bad. ...Jess Fishlock left 17 minutes in with a leg injury, and that sucks no matter any other part of the outcome.

Going forward. Fish hasn't played since her injury in this game. Hopefully, she can come back strong for one last playoff push, but obviously her health is the most important thing.

Ji So-yun – 7 (off 90'+ for Ainsley McCammon)

The good. Fresh off winning Goal of the Week for a sublime free kick, Ji So-yun came in with another bit of magic at the top of the penalty area, taking a touch into space, and, with her defenders inexplicably failing to close, putting a laser of a shot into the top netting that the Reign would never relinquish.

Good things happened (with Notably Rare Exceptions) when she was on the ball – minutes before her own goal, she put Huitema through for a very good chance, and her five progressive passes and 84% passing were high marks for a Reign side struggling to hold the ball, but doing something dangerous with it nearly every time they did. For the third time in as many games, Ji So-yun and Ana-Maria Crnogorčević looked very comfortable playing together, and that connection has done Work to help unlock this Reign offense.

The bad. Ji still sometimes seems to struggle in adjusting to the physicality and the "line" in the league, and she leads the Reign in fouls committed while often seeming frustrated at contact that isn't called against her. While her frustration is sometimes understandable, she needs to adjust. In the 83rd minute, after a pure effort recovery sprint to outrun every Angel City attacker and simply will the ball back into Reign possession... she took two touches too many and gave it back up much sooner than she had to.

And, of course, whuff, but the back pass to assist Angel City's opening goal was a bad / ill-advised / comically terrible choice. Ji is occasionally too lax in her passes to her defense, and has seldom been burned for it. This was a real scorching off a bad turnover, and hopefully a lesson learned.

Going forward. Real weird performance where the sublimely good outweighed the very bad, and despite putting them behind in the first place, Ji was absolutely instrumental in securing the win. In general, she continues to look much better since the break, and is reminding the league and the Reign faithful that she has some serious quality on tap.

Forward

Ana-Maria Crnogorčević – 8

The good. AMC's assist to Tziarra King in the 59th minute was sublime, a curling, low, perfectly weighted ball across the face of the goal that found Zee all alone on the far post to drive it past a scrambling DiDi Haračić. But friends, it was so much more than just that sublime moment. Ana-Maria was fucking everywhere, on both sides of the ball.

She started the first-half stoppage time flurry that ultimately ended with the Reign's second goal by combining with Ji at the top of the area. She led all players with 14 defensive actions, and not a one of them was cheaply earned. She put King in again nine minutes later with a quick cross that Zee headed a little too sharply to find the frame. She stood up every dribbler she faced, and won the ball back in the attacking third five different times.

The bad. She went 0-for-4 in the air, and winning a couple of those headers really could've taken pressure off a Reign back line that was playing a lot against the ball. Otherwise, it's hard to pick much at a very good, very complete performance that featured a game-winning assist and a ton of highly effective, highly tenacious two-way play.

Going forward. There's really no way around it. Crnogorčević is the best forward on the Reign roster right now. She's been plug-and-play ready and she's been really freaking good on a team that desperately needed a spark, immediately combining with her attacking band partners and her midfielders. She's earned the starting spot and then some.

Jordyn Huitema – 7 (off 71' for Veronica Latsko)

The good. I'm not sure if you caught it the last couple times I said it, but goals change games, and with the Reign trailing and needing a response, Huitema stayed with the play, beat Reid to the ball in the area, and got unequivocally taken down by Haračić. After review, the penalty was awarded, and Huerta delivered the tying goal.

Otherwise, Huitema didn't do much that was all that special. Just, you know, combined with Crnogorčević and Ji for the go-ahead goal, juked her defender out of her boots to put King in for a shot, had another decent chance at scoring off a slick pass from Ji, got on the end of a Quinn rebound for a huge chance that she unfortunately failed to convert, and made clear that resistance to her heading prowess was futile as she went 7-of-9 on aerial duels. It was King who scored in the 59th minute, but Huitema was right there in the right position to make sure nothing went amiss (and she looked pretty definitively onside on the broadcast angles, too.)

All in all, a perfectly pedestrian day. Nothing to write home about.

The bad. She had one decent and one extremely good chance to score for herself, and couldn't get either past Haračić.

Going forward. Huitema is so close to being a dynamic, gamebreaking forward. Put it all together and finish a few more of those chances, and there's a multi-tool superstar in the making. But so close is still not quite there yet.

Tziarra King – 8 (POTM) (off 90'+ for Nérilia Mondésir)

The good. This was Zee's match, and she stamped her name all over it. Obviously, that 59th minute goal was a thing of beauty, a well-timed run to receive a beautifully placed ball and slide it past Haračić where the keeper had absolutely no chance at it. In the 35th minute, she forced a save out of Haračić from the middle of the box. The 44th minute sequence that ended in Huitema's best chance of the night started with Zee winning a tackle high up the pitch and springing the attack quickly. She had a solid chance at making it 4-1 in the 68th minute, glancing AMC's cross just wide of goal.

King was the best, most incisive player on the Reign, and possibly the best player on the pitch. While Angel City spent most of the match with the ball but doing nothing dangerous, Zee used seemingly every single touch to either do or try something game-changing.

The bad. Nope, vibes only on this one.

Going forward. When it works, it works. What a difference a week makes, eh?

Substitutes

Angharad James-Turner – 6 (on 17' for Jess Fishlock)

The good. It's a tall order to come on cold for an unplanned, early Jess Fishlock substitution, but Angharad James-Turner was largely up to the task. In the 58th minute, she collected the ball, misfired a pass, collected her own deflection, and lobbed a lovely ball over Claire Emslie to an onrushing Ana-Maria Crnogorčević. Three touches later, the Reign had their insurance goal. She brought a couple tackles and an interception to the party, too. All in all, it was a solid, working performance, the sort Haz has demonstrated she can deliver when needed.

The bad. Fishlock is still an elite player, and you unfortunately do give up a lot of quality going from Jess to Angharad. A number of passes went wanting that you have to think Fishlock would've completed, and while she put in a game effort, including the hockey assist on King's winning goal, she was a major contributor to the Reign's struggle to keep possession.

Going forward. Early in the season, Haz was quietly a bit of a standout on a Reign side struggling with some key injuries. With the midfield more settled now, she's better as cover off the bench, and she's certainly capable of holding things down when we need her to.

Lauren Barnes – 3 (on 71' for Shae Holmes)

The good. She completed three passes..?

The bad. 20 minutes, plus a billion minutes of stoppage time, and Lu Barnes managed six touches. Two were long ball slash clearances that went to nobody on the Reign. A third was a turnover. She went into two aerials and lost both in high-leverage moments.

Going forward. I don't hate Barnes as defensive cover off the bench, but after Holmes had a bit of a struggle game, Lu was an absolute non-factor closing it out.

Veronica Latsko – 4 (on 71' for Jordyn Huitema)

The good. She blocked a pass and completed four of her own..? It was a rough night.

The bad. Subbing on at the same time as Barnes, the drop-off from Huitema to Latsko was precipitous, and she gave the ball up four times on 11 touches against an Angel City side tapping Christen Press and Messiah Bright from the bench. On top of that, known for her tenacity and commitment to the play, Roni managed just a single block and a single clearance on the defensive side of the ball. It's pretty clear in hindsight just how hard the game turned after the 71st minute subs on both sides.

Going forward. Despite a little bump in the road here, Latsko's been pretty consistently good coming in off the bench to make things happen.

Ainsley McCammon – N/A (on 90'+ for Ji So-yun)

The good. Ainsley got garbage time minutes, but she racked up three blocks and two recoveries in a short runout, and did more to triage the steadily ratcheting Angel City pressure than either of the veteran subs in the 71'.

The bad. Madison Hammond and M.A. Vignola both managed to burn her in the space of about 1.5 seconds on the lead-up to Leroux's last gasp goal. She shouldn't have been the only one trying to close on both players like she was, but... hey, learning experience for a kid just getting her feet wet.

Going forward. There's game experience that'll come with playing games, and that aside, a 17-year-old showed a lot more desire to close this out than most of the veterans around her. Let's see what she's got.

Nérilia Mondésir – N/A (on 90'+ for Tziarra King)

The good. Coco completed a pass and successfully dribbled a player.

The bad. Coco missed two passes and could've tracked back and disrupted things on the buildup to Leroux's goal, but didn't.

Going forward. I think there's a very good possibility Nérilia Mondésir will be the Reign's best player next year, and a very good NWSL talent. So far this year, she isn't. To be fair to her, she's also only played around 90 total minutes across a handful of matches.

Referee

Trevor Wiseman – 7

The good. He listened to the VAR, Brad Jensen. Repeatedly. And, a few odd edge-cases and foibles notwithstanding, largely got it right because of that. Repeatedly. I'm going to devote a lot more words than I usually do to the official, because the biased diva VAR narrative was pretty intense and deserves some attention.

To recount:

• In the 28th minute, after initially waving off the contact, listened to the VAR and correctly adjudged that Haračić got none of the ball and some of Huitema. Clear penalty, which he awarded.
• In the 54th minute, after a long stoppage, the officials confirmed that no penalty infraction was committed on a plausible handball against the Reign. This is probably the most controversial one. A very similar handball was called against the Reign in Portland, but PRO also stated that they would rather it hadn't been. Fifty-fifty, but one where the call on the field usually stands.
• In the 59th minute, they correctly awarded the Reign's third goal. Not only was Jordyn Huitema behind the ball when Zee shot it, she didn't touch it until after it had already crossed the goal line anyway. Goal.
• In the 68th minute, after a goal scored on an advantage call, they correctly ruled that Sydney Leroux was returning from an offside position. A weird one, and Angel City probably should've had a free kick from the spot of the foul, but Leroux was also clearly offside, and there's no way around that. No goal.
• In the 85th minute, after initially rewarding the goal, Wiseman went to the monitor and noted that, indeed, after losing position, Leroux kicked Julia Lester's leg twice and then impeded her foot for good measure, preventing Lester from making a solid clearance, which directly led to Hammond's open shot. No goal.
• (For what it's worth, Leroux also fouled Lester like six other times without a whistle, when there was no possible goal-scoring play for VAR to review. It was actually somewhat shocking to watch on replay, for how repeated, blatant, and uncensured it was. Not only was she not hard-done by having that goal called off, she was exceedingly lucky the ref was so relaxed with her.)

The bad. It's not great when several different players note that the referee is not respectful or communicative with them, and Wiseman should absolutely do better about that. He could also do better about getting fairly obvious calls right in the moment.

Going forward. The VAR was the real star, but Wiseman listened to him repeatedly even knowing the decisions he was overturning were going to draw a ton of scrutiny, and got them right because he was willing to be wrong. That's worth something. After some of these performances, that's worth a whole damn 7.

It's a couple dire matches to review ahead. Up next, a 2-0 loss to Gotham where we weren't two goals worse but still probably didn't deserve a point anyway. The unbeaten streak was nice while it lasted.