OL Reign Vs Utah Royals: 3 things we learned

On Wednesday, OL Reign earned their first win of the NWSL Challenge Cup, defeating Utah Royals 1-0. Here are three things we learned.

It took nearly three games, but OL Reign finally found the back of the net with Bethany Balcer’s 90th-minute header to defeat the Utah Royals 1-0 in the NWSL Challenge Cup. Utah, though, were the controlling team in the early stages, creating the better chances in the first.

However, as the game progressed, and especially in the second half, Reign played their best soccer of the tournament, eventually breaking through when Balcer got on the end of a Yuka Momiki cross for the team’s first goal of the tournament and all three points.

Here are three things we learned from OL Reign’s 1-0 victory.

3. Reign are happy playing slow

OL Reign entered the match with an average possession of 54.8% across the first two games, the most in the tournament. While possession can be a good thing, it doesn’t mean a lot if you cannot be productive with it. That was Reign’s problem. They were keeping the ball but were unable to find the net, one of only two teams to have not scored in their first two games.

On this occasion, team ended the first half with 52% possession and zero shots on goal. At half-time, Reign manager Farid Benstiti told sideline reporter Marissa Pilla that “the tempo was excellent”. This is a clear-cut sign that his side is perfectly content with playing slow and taking their time to generate chances.

While it sometimes makes for long, extended, and somewhat dull attacks, it worked against Utah. Reign passed amongst themselves and let the game come to them. They slowly built pressure throughout the match, tiring out the Utah defense, before striking late on. Their strategy of playing slow paid off. Now, the challenge is to replicate this performance during the rest of the competition.