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Seattle Reign FC

Reign FC Defeat Huskies 4-1 in Annual Community Shield Match

April 10, 2016 - National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Seattle Reign FC News Release


SEATTLE - In the club's first home match of the year, Seattle Reign FC (4-0-0) defeated University of Washington 4-1 in the annual Community Shield Match at Memorial Stadium Saturday evening.

The contest was the final pre-season match for Reign FC, leaving the club undefeated after having thwarted Portland Thorns FC, Houston Dash, and Oregon State University in a tournament in Portland, Ore. last week. Seattle begins regular season play in the NWSL against Sky Blue FC on April 17.

Forward Manon Melis put the first tally on the board in the 18th minute when she drew UW keeper Sarah Shimer off her mark and chipped a lofty ball over her head putting Reign FC on the board first.

Reign FC's second goal of the night came when Melis assisted forward Beverly Yanez in the 26th minute with a cross that Yanez caught on her side and pushed it into the back of the net. Just before the halftime whistle, Melis notched her second goal of the night with a driving a shot from the right corner of the penalty box off an assist from defender Carson Pickett, putting Seattle up 3-0 at the half.

"I got the ball a little further out wide and I saw Merritt (Mathias) streaking forward and Manon behind her. I wanted to hit an early serve to Merritt, but when you hit a serve anything can happen," said Pickett. "So a defender kind of deflected it a little and it gave Manon the chance to finish.

In the second half, forward Merritt Mathias put another notch in Seattle's lead after a scrum in the penalty box awarded her a penalty kick. Her curved shot soared over Shimer's outstretched arms to the back left of the net and put Reign FC up 4-0.

Moments later, Mathias crumped in the midfield with a dead leg and was substituted out by Kiersten Dallstream as a precaution.

After struggling to maintain possession against Seattle's quick defense, UW's Paige Serwold was able to get a ball behind goalkeeper Haley Kopmeyer in the 85th minute when she drew her off her mark.

Reign FC maintained a strong possession game, keeping the ball away from the Huskies' offense. Seattle finished out the match with a 4-1 win over UW to a storm of applause from tonight's 3,633 crowd.

Melis, a Swedish international, was a standout in today's match having earned a brace and Harvey is planning to utilize her speed to dominate this season.

"She's different to what we've had before... in the sense that she's really direct. You saw that in her first goal," said Harvey. "She's so quick, it's scary. We've got to try and unleash that on people. If we get her in the right positions, it doesn't matter if you know she's quick because you still have to try and catch her.

Tonight's match benefited the athletic programs of Seattle Public Schools. Attendants were encouraged to donate to a GoFundMe campaign which aims to raise $10,000. The donations will offset costs for student athletes, including transportation and equipment expenses. The campaign is still open and those wishing to donate may do so at 6CommunityShieldMatchRecap&utm_contentversion_A

Reign FC 2016 home-opener against Sky Blue FC is on Sunday, April 17 at 4 p.m. at Memorial Stadium. Tickets are on sale right now at Reignfc.com/tickets. Seats start at just $18.

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