Match Forecast: OL Reign Set to Meet Kansas City on the Road
OL Reign and the Kansas City Current are set to meet for the first time since May 25, at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City. This match marks the first of three consecutive matches on the road for the Reign.
WHEN AND WHERE: Kickoff is at 4:00 p.m. PT on Sunday, July 17 at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City
WHERE TO WATCH: The match will be available on Paramount+
2022 REGULAR SEASON RECORDS AND STANDINGS (W-L-D): OL Reign: 4-2-5 (17 points, 5th place), Kansas City Current 4-4-3 (15 points, 7th place)
Key Points Ahead of the Match:
1. LAST MEETING – In the last meeting between OL Reign and the Kansas City Current, OL Reign earned their first win of the regular season by a score of 1-0 at Lumen Field in Seattle. After a scoreless first half, where OL Reign did well to limit Kansas City’s chances near goal, the difference maker of the match was forward Bethany Balcer, who came onto the field as a substitute in the 63rd minute. Balcer scored a header goal in the 80th minute of the match, assisted by defender Sofia Huerta, who swung a beautiful ball into the box.
2. SCOUTING KANSAS CITY – Currently, the Current are in 7th place in the NWSL standings, with 15 points. They most recently played the Washington Spirit in Washington and picked up a 1-0 victory. Forward Cece Kizer scored the lone goal of the match after coming onto the field as a substitute in the second half. Her 68th minute game-winner was assisted by defender Kate Del Fava. It looked like Washington has found an equalizer, as they were awarded a penalty kick in the final minutes of the match, but KC goalkeeper AD Franch came up with a save and preserved the win for the Current, extending their unbeaten streak to six matches.
3. TOUGH OPPONENT – Though OL Reign has already played Kansas City, the team has evolved a lot since then and have become unpredictable at times, as displayed by their formation change in their most recent match against Washington.
"This is our second time playing them, first time playing them in Kansas City. I think they've evolved. Since we last played them, they haven't lost the game, so I think that they've evolved as a team, and they've become more of a threat going forward. They’ve been obviously hard to beat because they haven't lost any games of late. I think they've got threats across their team. With the trade that they did, bringing CeCe Kizer and Addy into their team, I think has strengthened their depth as well and I think they were only impacted a limited amount during this period, so I think that's helped them, too. So, yeah, we expect a tough opponent,” said OL Reign head coach Laura Harvey.
4. PATIENCE IS KEY – When Kansas City visited Lumen Field in May, the team did well to stay tight defensively through the first half, making OL Reign work to break their line.
"I think they work really hard to not let teams get in behind them and when we played them at Lumen, that was really difficult for us early in the game, but as the game got stretched and the game went on, we managed to find that opportunity and that's where we obviously scored off a cross and also got multiple chances late in the game to win it by more than the one goal and I think it will be no different tomorrow. I think they'll make it difficult for us to get in behind them, but I think we have to bide our time and be patient and find the opportunities to do that," said Harvey.
On the other side of the ball, OL Reign’s defense is prepared for the attacking threats that Kansas City brings to the table.
“It's definitely something that we'll need to be aware of, just knowing the space that they're going to be trying to get into and then doing our best to nullify that and not let them get in behind or get up ahead of steam coming down the middle either," said OL Reign defender Sam Hiatt.
MultiCare Availability Report:
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INTERNATIONAL
Angelina (BRA)
Alana Cook (USA)
Sofia Huerta (USA)
Jordyn Huitema (CAN)
Rose Lavelle (USA)
Jimena Lopez (MEX)
Quinn (CAN)
Megan Rapinoe (USA)