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NWSL Seattle Reign FC

Match Forecast: OL Reign Takes on Utah Royals FC

July 7, 2020 - National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Seattle Reign FC News Release


OL Reign continues the NWSL Challenge Cup against tournament hosts Utah Royals FC on Wednesday, July 8 at 9:30 a.m. PT.

"We know that we will need a good performance against Utah," said OL Reign head coach Farid Benstiti. "The players, the coaches, we are not happy with how the last match went and I want for us to have a strong response to get back on track in the tournament."

Last Match: 0-2 Loss vs. Houston Dash

OL Reign suffered its first defeat of the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup on Saturday, July 4, losing 2-0 to the Houston Dash.

Dash midfielder Kristie Mewis scored in the 12th minute and forward Shea Groom headed in another in the 54th minute to help their side to victory.

Benstiti made four changes to his starting 11 for the match, allowing Nicole Momiki and Taylor Smith to make their first starts for the club, with centerback Amber Brooks making her first start after rejoining the club via an offseason trade with the Dash.

OL Reign assistant head coach Sam Laity cited the quick turnaround between matches as the impetus for the changes.

"(It came down to) player rotation, really," Laity said. "Opportunity for other players to get some minutes. One of the success stories tonight is that we had Taylor Smith returning back to action having been out for 17-18 months with an ACL. That was a really important milestone for her and for us. It was just about rotating the squad. Our approach coming into the tournament is that we wanted to get players minutes without gifting any away. We knew that was going to be a really important part of this tournament. Some of it was needed and some of it was by choice."

Early Bird Gets the Worm

The match, which will kick off at 10:30 a.m. Mountain Time, marks the earliest recorded start in club history. The morning match eclipses OL Reign's previous earliest match, a nationally-televised win over Portland at Cheney Stadium in 2019.

OL Reign centerback and captain Lauren Barnes says the early start is unusual, but preferable to the midday Utah heat.

"When you factor in travelling to the stadium, getting warmed up and getting your body activated, it's definitely an early start," Barnes said. "It's a bit of adjustment after two evening games, but we've moved training to earlier in the day to get used to it. If it's a choice of an early start or playing through the hottest part of the day, I know that I'll take an early start."

The club will play at least one other early start when it faces rivals Portland Thorns FC on Monday, July 13 at 9:30 a.m. PT to finish the preliminary round of the tournament.

OL Reign defender Celia Jiménez Delgado had a longer route than most to make it to the club's preseason training camp in Montana. The Spanish international's voyage to the United States came after two months of being confined to her family home in Alcaudete, Spain and lasted 40 hours between flights and car rides.

The long period of isolation presented a training challenge for the defender, who made her first appearance of the Challenge Cup as a substitute against Houston. Still, she said, the downtime was a rare chance to spend time with her parents, something she has had little opportunity to do since she was 14.

"It was good," Jiménez Delgado said. "I was able to wake up in the morning and have breakfast with my mom. I hadn't done that since I was a girl. I was able to talk to my dad at night and we'd sit down and play games together. I hadn't had time to do that. I also had time to focus on my MBA and get creative, since I still needed to keep working out. I was able to come up with ways to stay fit and keep doing workouts within my house."

Scouting Utah

Utah is third on the table, having slugged its way to a 3-3 draw with Houston on June 30, before managing a 1-0 win over Sky Blue FC on July 4. The club is managed by first-year head coach Craig Harrington, who took over for former Reign FC head coach Laura Harvey back in February.

While U.S. Women's National Team forward Christen Press has elected not to participate in the tournament, Utah has returned 2019 leading scorer Amy Rodriguez, who has a goal and an assist in two appearances at the Challenge Cup. Spanish international forward Verónica Boquete is back for her second season with the Royals and has added a goal and two assists to the club's offensive efforts.

Utah has had a different player score each of the club's four goals at the Challenge Cup, including an 89th-minute equalizer from rookie Tziarra King against Houston.

"Obviously, Utah is a team that has many players who can score," Benstiti said. "We must be very good defensively on Wednesday, very composed together as a team to have success. Of course, we must also find ways to score in order to get the result we want."

Injury Report - Presented by MultiCare

Three players are unavailable for selection in Wednesday's contest: Jess Fishlock, who missed the first two matches in the Challenge Cup due to a minor injury to her right lower leg; Sofia Huerta, who is working her way back from a hamstring injury suffered during pre-season training in Montana; and Kelcie Hedge, who suffered an ACL tear during training on Wednesday, July 1. In addition, midfielder Morgan Andrews has been listed as questionable for the match after suffering an injury to her left ankle in training on July 6.

How to Watch

Fans in the U.S. and Canada ‚ can watch every match of the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup on ‚ CBS All Access. International fans can watch the match live on the league's official ‚ Twitch channel.

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