Match Forecast: OL Reign Set to Take on Angel City FC

OL Reign is back at Lumen Field in Seattle, Washington for a second game this week. The team is set to play Angel City FC at 3:00 p.m. PT. OL Reign is looking to continue its unbeaten run in the 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup.

WHEN AND WHERE: Kickoff is at 3:00 p.m. PT on Sunday, April 17 at Lumen Field in Seattle, Washington

WHERE TO WATCH: The match will be available on CBS Sports Network in the U.S. and Twitch internationally.

2022 CHALLENGE CUP RECORDS AND STANDINGS (W-L-D): OL Reign: 3-0-1 (10 points, first place in the West Division), Angel City FC: 0-3-1 (1 point, fourth place in the West Division)

Key Points Ahead of the Match:

1. LAST MEETING – This is the second ever meeting between OL Reign and Angel City FC. It is Angel City's first trip to Seattle. Last time, OL Reign defeated Angel City 3-1. OL Reign goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce was a star of the game, putting in a stellar shift in the net. OL Reign scored the opening goal of the match on quick and clean build up play spurred by midfielder Jess Fishlock and forward Bethany Balcer. The play opened up space for midfielder Rose Lavelle to play forward Veronica Latsko in to finish the ball and score her first goal with OL Reign.

Just five minutes later, OL Reign doubled their lead. After taking a short corner kick, the Reign controlled possession of the ball and midfielder Angelina served a cross into the box. OL Reign center back Alana Cook got her head on the end of it, which was enough to beat Angel City’s defense and goalkeeper to put the Reign up 2-0 just 17 minutes into the match. Not content with just two goals, OL Reign came out strong after halftime, scoring in the 50th minute of the match. Lavelle played a ball into Latsko, who put the ball through to the back post where Angelina slid in to finish the opportunity and score her first OL Reign goal.  Angel City found one goal back before the end of the game, but it wasn't enough to make a comeback against OL Reign.

2. SCOUTING ANGEL CITY – Angel City is currently in fourth place in the West Division of the 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup. They most recently played San Diego Wave FC on April 2 and lost 4-2. San Diego opened the scoring in the 19th minute of the match, when forward Alex Morgan chipped a ball across the face of the goal to Jodie Taylor, who took a shot. Her initial shot was saved, but the rebound fell back to Taylor and she made no mistake the second time around. Angel City forced an own goal from San Diego to level the score 1-1 and it looked like the two teams were headed to the locker room level, but Morgan scored a second goal for San Diego in the third minute of stoppage time to send ACFC into halftime down a goal.

Angel City was the first to score in the second half, equalizing the game yet again when Jasmyne Spencer sent a cross into the box that fell to Christen Press, who hit it home in the 59th minute. The game was not level for long, as Morgan found another goal for San Diego in the 72nd minute and Amirah Ali added a fourth in the 81st minute.

Angel City has one point, earned in the team’s opening match of the Challenge Cup in a 1-1 draw against San Diego Wave FC.

3. OL REIGN ON A ROLL – As the only undefeated team in the West Division of the NWSL Challenge Cup, it is clear that OL Reign is on a roll. Beyond the standings, OL Reign is quite literally breaking records. In Thursday’s match against San Diego Wave FC, OL Reign scored three goals in eleven minutes, compliments of Nikki Stanton, Bethany Balcer and Sam Hiatt. At the time, that was the fastest any team has scored three goals from kickoff across all NWSL competitions. (North Carolina scored three goals in the first nine minutes of their match against Orlando, making OL Reign’s time the second fastest any NWSL team has scored three goals from kickoff, as of April 16, 2022.)

The Reign have also scored right goals across the four games that they have played, and each goal has been scored by a different player.

“We always knew that we have an expectation on certain people about goals, but we also believed that we were going to have to find another way where other people could get involved in that. Not just in the scoring of the goal, but the creation of the goal,” said OL Reign head coach Laura Harvey.

“Obviously having eight different goal scorers is crazy, but the way that all of the goals have been scored is testament to the group. They have bought in to what we are trying to do,” said Harvey.

4. BEING HARD TO BEAT – On the other end of the field, OL Reign’s focus has been not allowing opposing teams to score goals. A combination of goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce and her backline have done well to do that so far in the Challenge Cup. More impressive yet, OL Reign’s starting backline has featured seven different players in four games.

“The biggest factor for us, is we don’t want to concede goals. We work extremely hard on how we defend as a team. That is when we are the most successful – when we defend well. When you look at [Balcer]’s goal, an unbelievable strike, it comes off good defending from Olo. Good defending leads to good attacking. The backline are obviously a big part of that and Phallon has stepped into the position we needed her to exceptionally,” said Harvey.

She continued, “As a group, we pride ourselves on being hard to beat. We believe that if we are hard to beat, we will be very hard to play against and we’ll actually create more opportunities from it.”

MultiCare Injury Report:

OUT

Angelina – Right ankle

Tziarra King – Right ankle

Megan Rapinoe – Right calf

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