In Megan Rapinoe’s jersey retirement match, the Reign are able to deliver an
emotional win.
It was a magical night for the Seattle Reign on Sunday, as they retired the jersey of
team legend Megan Rapinoe and defeated the North Carolina Courage in dramatic
stoppage-time fashion. Entering the fixture, the Reign found themselves at the bottom of
the NWSL table with 11 points, so they were in desperate need of a positive result
against a solid side like the Courage, who sat in 6th place with 25 points.
Before the match, the Reign honored Rapinoe by putting on an emotional ceremony
that had the Reign fans in a standing ovation. The number 15 would now be retired in
the club, cementing her legacy. Rapinoe recorded 51 goals and 27 assists during her
time in Seattle. Not only that, but she also had an incredible impact on her community,
making her a true icon of not only the club but also the sport of women’s soccer.
Emma Morgan / Area Sports Network
The Courage began the match on the front foot. In the early part of the first half, they
stifled any attack that the Reign attempted. Seattle was unable to get the ball into the
attacking half in a decisive manner. In addition, the Courage dominated the possession
of the ball for long stretches of the first half. By halftime, North Carolina had 60 percent
possession. Unfortunately for them, they did not have any shots to show for it. The
Reign did a fantastic job in making sure that no real chances were created by the
Courage. Such solid defensive play was spearheaded by the Reign’s 18-year-old center
back Jordyn Bugg.
Regarding Bugg’s potential, Reign head coach Laura Harvey said, “I see traits in her
that I saw in some of the players that I have worked with who have gone on to be world
class.” Such praise is an extremely positive sign for the young player as she begins her
professional career.
The attacking inefficiency by the Courage allowed the Reign to grow more comfortable
in the second half. The team began to take more chances forward and overall began
making North Carolina work on their defensive half.
Emma Morgan / Area Sports Network
“In the second half, we defended well, but we controlled the game more,” Harvey said,
“We were better on the ball. We possessed a little more. [The Courage] like to be able
to control that so we made them chase a little bit. We made them come after us, and we
were able to get opportunities from that.”
The Reign got very close to opening the scoring in the second half. In the 58th minute,
after a well-constructed counterattack, Tziarra King got denied a goal from very close
range by North Carolina keeper Casey Murphy, keeping the game level. Then, in the 78th minute, Jaelin Howell hit the post after a shot from distance. After the play, she
motioned the crowd to get louder. One could feel the crowd getting more and more
amped up, they were pushing their team towards finding the winning goal.
In the 97th minute, the Reign found a way to get the late advantage. Emeri Adames rose
up in the center of the box and headed the cross down to the keeper’s right. Murphy
was able to get a paw to it, though it then went off the post and then off her outstretched
arm, leading the ball into the back of the net. Though the goal was given as an own goal
my Murphy, Adames rightfully led off the celebration and struck a Rapinoe-esque pose
in front of the crowd.
Emma Morgan / Area Sports Network
“I have so much adrenaline right now,” said Adames at the postgame presser, “When
everyone was running up to me after the game, I thought that I’m just going to wake up
and be in my bed. Like, I actually thought I was dreaming.”
With this win, the Reign now sit in 12th place, far from where they want to be, but with 9
matches still to go in the season, there is still time to make up ground. These kinds of
emotional victories sometimes are the catalyst that can help a team into a new level of
play. As a team that has struggled getting results all year, the Reign hope that this is the
turning point in their campaign.
“We are really in this together,” team captain Jess Fishlock said, “I am really happy that
we got the reward… because there has been plenty of times this season where I felt like
we deserved a lot more than what we got out of games… Today was just kind of a really
good ending to the last seven weeks.”
The Reign will return to action this upcoming Saturday, August 31 st as they hit the road
to take on Racing Louisville FC at 4:30pm.
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