NWSL Seattle Reign FC

Seattle Looks to Bring Home Third Win of the Season

Published on May 6, 2016 under National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Seattle Reign FC News Release


SEATTLE - Seattle Reign FC (2-1-0, 6 pts) is on the east coast for its first road trip to Orlando, Fla. to face the Orlando Pride (1-1-0, 3 pts) at Camping World Stadium on Sunday, May 8 at 2 p.m. PT. The match will be streamed live at youtube.com/nwsl.

Reign FC looks to continue its momentum coming off last Sunday's 1-0 victory over FC Kansas City at Memorial Stadium in Seattle. A 56th minute goal from midfielder Kim Little gave Reign FC the win over its Midwestern foes, while Seattle's defense allowed the Blues only five shots throughout the match.

"It was definitely better than our home opener. I thought we played a lot better, defended a lot more collectively, and we still have some to grow off of," said forward Beverly Yanez. "But I think that we're continuing to strive forward, and that's a great sign."

Midfielder Jess Fishlock missed the match against KC after suffering a fractured left tibia in the match against the Boston Breakers on April 24. Fishlock will miss Sunday's match against the Pride and is not expected to return until early June. In Fishlock's absence, Yanez slotted into the midfield, coordinating the attack while pushing Little into a more defensive role.

"As an attacking player, coming from the midfield, I'm thinking, 'What positions were hard for me to block as a midfielder?' Now I want to pop into those as a forward. So I'm trying to use my experiences from different positions," said Yanez.

Defender Elli Reed, who's no stranger to attacking positions, started at forward last Sunday.

"As an outside back these days you're just expected to attack, so in a way the positions could be kind of interchangeable," said Reed. "It's a different mindset. It was a challenge, but a good one."

Reign FC's defense was solid throughout the match, with goalkeeper Hope Solo needing to make only one save to earn the clean sheet. Solo's performance against FCKC was her second shutout of the season, having held Boston scoreless in week 2.

On Tuesday, Little won the NWSL Player of the Week title for the second consecutive week for her performance in last Sunday's match.

"It's nice to get that again," said Little. "But most importantly, we got the win at home."

With its victory over the Blues, Reign FC now stands tied with the Chicago Red Stars in third place, just three points behind the league-leading Washington Spirit and one point behind the second-place Portland Thorns FC, which Reign FC will face in its next home match on May 14.

Orlando currently sits in seventh place, tied with the Western New York Flash with three points. The newly-established club smashed the NWSL single-game attendance record during its home-opener at Camping World Stadium with a crowd of 23,403 on April 23. Their home-opening 3-1 defeat of Houston Dash remains as the club's only win in their three matches this season, having fallen 1-2 to Portland and 0-1 to Chicago.

"We're excited to move on from our last performance. We sort of set our standard in that Kansas City game," said Reign FC head coach Laura Harvey. "I don't want to drop below that now. If we do, we're only letting ourselves down. It's important that we keep our standards high and improve every game."

Orlando is led by head coach Tom Sermanni, head coach of the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team from 2013 to 2014.

"They're a new franchise and that's great for the league," said Little. "They have a massive stadium down there in Orlando and have been getting great crowds. So I'm looking forward to playing against them."

The match in Orlando will be a homecoming of sorts for Florida natives Havana Solaun and Carson Pickett. Pickett, from Fleming Island, Fla., expects at least 20 friends and family members in the stands on Sunday.

Yanez, who played three seasons of her collegiate career at University of Miami, is excited to take what she learned from last Sunday's match and put it to use against Pride.

"I want to continue to learn. That's a big part of the game - constantly learning. Whether it be learning from the players around you, learning from the coaching staff. So I'm just going to continue to push in whatever the team best sees me fit," said Yanez.

On Saturday, May 14, at 7:00 p.m. PT, Reign FC will host regional rivals Portland Thorns FC in the first of four regular season matches this season. Tickets start at just $18 and are available at reignfc.com/thorns or by calling (855) REIGN-FC.

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National Women's Soccer League Stories from May 6, 2016


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