NWSL Seattle Reign FC

Balcer Named NWSL Player of the Week

Published on August 11, 2021 under National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Seattle Reign FC News Release


TACOMA, WA - The National Women's Soccer League announced today that it has named OL Reign forward Bethany Balcer as the league's Budweiser Player of the Week for her performance against the Houston Dash on Saturday, August 7 at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma. Balcer scored two goals in OL Reign's 5-1 victory, to secure her second brace of the season.

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. This is the third week in a row that an OL Reign player has been selected, Eugénie Le Sommer taking the honor last week after a brace in OL Reign's 2-0 win against Racing Louisville on July 31 and Tziarra King when the team beat Orlando Pride 2-0 on July 24. This is the first time in league history that a team has won player of the week for three consecutive weeks.

Balcer has been a consistent force for OL Reign and shined against Houston, scoring two goals and leading the team in shots taken with seven, three of which were on target. She connected 19 passes and put in one cross. The forward also won 87.5% of her aerial duels. With her impressive performance, Balcer kickstarted the Reign attack on Saturday, applying relentless pressure to Houston's defense and scoring the opening goal of the match.

Balcer scored her first goal of the night against Houston when Dzsenifer Marozsán served in a corner kick to Jess Fishlock who put the ball back into the air in the box. Balcer beat out the Houston defense and goalkeeper to get on the end of the it, using her head to knock the ball home in the sixth minute.

She was not satisfied with just one goal though. In the final minutes of the first half, Fishlock found Balcer's feet at the top of the 18-yard box. The forward only took one touch before driving the ball into the back of the net. With that goal, Balcer became just the second player this season to earn two braces. She found her first brace against Kansas City on July 11.

The 2019 NWSL Rookie of the Year has played in 13 matches for OL Reign this season, starting six of those matches. In her 621 minutes of playing time, she has earned an impressive six goals and taken 24 shots, putting 15 on target.

"We have great confidence in Bethany. She's a natural goal scorer. She took her goals very well against Houston. I felt that Bethany was the profile of player that we really needed to unsettle a Houston back line that has traditionally been very solid," said OL Reign assistant coach Sam Laity.

Balcer is the fourth OL Reign player to win the Player of the Week award this year. This is her first time receiving this award.

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