The Reign Files: Week 1 Round Up for the Seattle Reign

The Seattle Reign kicked off their 2017 with a home fixture against Sky Blue FC. We look back at the last week in the world of the Reign.

A crowd of over 3,500, led by the Royal Guard (as always) greeted the Seattle Reign as they began their fifth season. They opened the year against Sky Blue FC for the second year in a row.

The Reign entered the match without key, long term members of the spine of the team – Winters, Little and Solo. The club was hoping that a productive week off the pitch would translate into three points at home.

Headlines from the Week

Before we get into the week one action, a look back of some of the key stories from the past week:

• The Reign announced the signing of their first round 2017 draft pick, Katie Johnson, who is expected to join the team in the coming weeks.
• They picked up Michaela Hahn from the waiver list, from the North Carolina Courage. She had 13 appearances last season as the then WNY Flash went on to win the NWSL Title.
• Microsoft will continue to be the main shirt sponsor for the club through the 2018 season. A great victory for the Reign to have such a strong and local sponsor.
• Fans outside of the Seattle area can rejoice, with the league’s new deal they can now watch Reign matches for free online using the go90 app.

Gameday

Ahead of the match the club honored their former captain, and now local firefighter, Keelin Winters. Her absence was one of several in this new look Reign line-up. Coach Laura Harvey put out an interesting lineup, not so much in formation, but in player positions.

Forward Beverly Yanez was dropped into the middle of the park, while midfielder Lindsay Elston was sent up top into the central striker role. While the attacking six for the Reign were fluid all night, it seemed as though both players would have been better served back in their natural role.

On the backline, Lauren Barnes led the way and was paired up with rookie Kristen McNabb, making her first ever start. Even going up against some formidable attackers on Sky Blue FC, McNabb looked comfortable and a good addition for the Reign.

A pair of converted penalty kicks in the second settled the game at 1-1 (Rapinoe for Seattle), which was probably a fair result on the night. Both teams created chances, but were missing clinical finishing in the box.

POTM: Haley Kopmeyer, now the clear number one in net for the Reign, made a series of great saves to keep the game scoreless in the first half. Did well to communicate and move the backline around.

POTM (2nd Place): Co-captain Jessica Fishlock looked to be in mid-season form defensively, making several critical tackles in the box.

https://twitter.com/ReignFC/status/853501867074101249

In her post match comments, the coach noted that the team’s form isn’t fully season ready yet.

"“We have a really short preseason, and anywhere else in the world you have preseason for three months whereas we have it for five weeks. This to me is we’re still in preseason a little bit, because we have to be. I think that showed in every game today. The quality is the thing that was probably lacking across the board.”"

NWSL Standings & Next Week

Week one saw four victories and the lone draw featuring Seattle. That places the Reign in 5th place, two points behind the top of the table.

Next Match: April 22 at 7:00 pm PT

Opponent: Houston Dash

What to Know: The Dash kicked off their season in fine form, topping the Chicago Red Stars 2-0. Rachel Daly knocked in this stunner to close out the match. Haley Kopmeyer will likely need another big performance if the Reign hope to keep Houston off the score sheet.

https://twitter.com/HoustonDash/status/853336488121032704

Next: Seattle Reign: 2017 Season Prevew

https://twitter.com/ReignFC/status/853624263424839680

Seattle would have wanted to pick up three points at home to start the season. But the draw and point, are better than how 2016 began. Now they have another week at home to work on their form in the attacking third.