Megan Rapinoe Named NWSL Player of the Week

The National Women’s Soccer League announced today that it has named OL Reign forward Megan Rapinoe as the league’s Budweiser Player of the Week for her performance against NJ/NY Gotham FC on Saturday, August 21 at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma. Rapinoe earned her first brace of the season and scored the equalizer and winning goal of the game. She also earned the assist on Kristen McNabb’s goal that kickstarted the Reign’s comeback win.

The NWSL Player of the Week is selected each week by the NWSL Media Association, a collection of writers that cover the league on a consistent basis. Rapinoe is the fourth OL Reign player to receive this honor in the last five weeks.

Rapinoe put in a full 90-minute shift in her first game back with OL Reign after winning the bronze medal with the USWNT at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Her hard work and determination throughout the entire match made a huge impact on the Reign’s performance and ability to come away with the 3-2 win after going down 2-0 in the first half of the game.

In the 57th minute of the match, Rapinoe earned the only assist of the game for OL Reign, when she served a perfectly placed corner kick into the box. The ball found a waiting Kristen McNabb in the box, who hit a powerful header past the Gotham defense and goalkeeper to put OL Reign on the scoreboard and shift the momentum in their favor.

Rapinoe continued to make an impact throughout the game, putting in a total of six shots, 13 crosses and four key passes. She found her first goal of the game when Sofia Huerta was fouled inside the box and drew a penalty kick. A seasoned veteran, Rapinoe coolly stepped up to the spot to take the kick and nailed the shot into the back of the net to equalize in the 77th minute.

Just when it seemed like OL Reign was going to split the points with the visiting side, Rapinoe came up big again. The forward got herself into a great position with possession of the ball and was fouled inside the box, earning a second penalty kick for the Reign. She stepped up to the spot again and despite Gotham’s attempts to get inside her head, converted the second penalty kick just as coolly as the first to put OL Reign up 3-2 in stoppage time. 

Rapinoe has played in seven matches for OL Reign this season, starting five of those matches. In her 455 minutes of playing time, she earned three goals and one assist and taken 17 shots.

“The plan was not to play Rapinoe for 90 minutes, so I was just like ‘stay up there girl and just try to score.’ And she did so, twice. That’s why she is who she is. In the biggest moments, she scores the goals that matter,” said OL Reign Head Coach Laura Harvey.

Rapinoe is the fifth OL Reign player to win the Player of the Week award this year. Though this is her first time receiving the honor this season, she has been honored six times before, the third most of any player in NWSL history.