Reign find finishing touch, net five goals in victory over Red Stars
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – Continuing their positive form at Lumen Field in the early portion of the 2023 campaign and returning to regular season play, the OL Reign blasted past the Chicago Red Stars in a 5-2 triumph. Despite playing in their third game across the span of seven days, the Reign looked fresh and fierce, as forward Bethany Balcer and midfielder Jess Fishlock both recorded braces, while Megan Rapinoe also found the back of the net. This rout of the Red Stars was the first match in club history where two players recorded a brace in the same game. With the win and three points, the Reign moved into second place in the NWSL table, just a singular point behind their archrival Portland.
Pregame scenes ahead of kickoff between the Red Stars and the Reign (Photos by Liz Wolter)
Boats blasts past Chicago
Reign forward Bethany Balcer has been doubted on numerous occasions throughout her playing career, whether it was going to a small college in Michigan, being seen as a player that only scored on headers, having a low rating in the latest FIFA video game, amongst other things. The now fourth year veteran continues to perform, placing in the top ten of the entire NWSL in goals scored the past two seasons, and on a nice pace to begin the 2023 campaign. Scoring the second goal in the club’s first victory of the season, over Gotham FC, Balcer pushed her total to three thanks to today’s brace.
OL Reign forward Bethany Balcer celebrates her second goal of the match (Photos by Liv Lyons)
Facing a Chicago team that’s seen its struggles defensively while goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher hasn’t particularly shined in goal, the Reign were looking to strike first and grab momentum early. The Red Stars seemed dangerous early, winning a corner kick and two free kicks in the first 12 minutes of the competition. That pressure from Chicago didn’t last for long, as the Reign turned things into the Red Stars half and displayed some excellent team play. Forward Veronica Latsko sent a pass in from the edge of the box into the middle, with two potential options to receive it: Jordyn Huitema closer, Bethany Balcer more towards the middle of the box. Huitema pulled off an excellent dummy, pretending to go for the ball but instead letting it roll under her foot to go to Balcer, who had a firm strike on the ball to beat Naeher near bottom corner for the first score of the match.
The celebrations following Bethany Balcer’s goals, within five minutes of each other (Photos by Liz Wolter)
The second goal was more on par with what we’ve seen Balcer excellently do during her four-year career, connecting her head with an excellent cross to score a goal. Normally when Balcer connects with an exceptional cross it’s off the foot of Sofia Huerta, but this team it was the opposite outside back Lu Barnes who whipped in a ball from the lefthand side of the field into the box. While Chicago did have a centerback in position to potentially clear the cross, Balcer went up in the air like a basketball player and posterized that Red Stars defender to connect on the header and score her second goal in a five-minute span. In that brief span, Balcer had taken control of this game for her club nearly all by herself.
OL Reign defenders and goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce throughout the course of the win over Chicago (Photos by Liz Wolter)
Defense has some flaws, otherwise tight
The Reign defensive unit, usually a key aspect in every club victory, had a few lapses in this match that resulted in two goals for the Red Stars. While the offensive explosion and fantastic finishing by the Reign ultimately were able to mask these issues altogether, the lapses that occurred for those goals to even take place should and likely will be noted ahead of the club's next match. In the 31st minute mark of the match, a failed cross by Chicago bounced awkwardly off the leg of Reign defender Alana Cook and found its way towards the top of the box. Red Stars midfielder Arin Wright was in the right place at the right time, as she had a hard hit to beat Reign keeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce top corner in a sort of bang-bang play.
OL Reign goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce, diving to stop Arin Wright’s goal in the first half, just misses (Photos by Liv Lyons)
Quick notes
OL Reign recorded five goals for the first time since August 7, 2021, against the Houston Dash. The last time the Reign recorded eight goals in its first four games of the season was in 2017.
Since OL Reign made Lumen Field its official home at the start of the 2022 regular season, the Reign have only lost one regular season game, going unbeaten in 12 of the 13 regular season games played.
OL Reign earned its third consecutive win of 2023, totaling nine points in the team’s first four games of the season. The last time OL Reign started with at least nine points or more in the first four games of the season was in 2014 when the club won the NWSL Shield and appeared in the NWSL Championship.
With tonight’s assist from defender Lauren Barnes, all three Reign originals (Barnes, midfielder Jess Fishlock and forward Megan Rapinoe) have each recorded at least one goal and one assist against the Chicago Red Stars all-time, making the Red Stars the first team the OGs have achieved this against.
Additionally, the last time two OGs scored in the same regular season game was exactly six years ago, April 22, 2017 when the Reign defeated the Houston Dash, 5-1.
Defender Lauren Barnes assisted forward Bethany Balcer’s second goal of the game in the 20th minute. The assist is the defender’s first assist since the 2016 season, the same year she was named NWSL Defensive Player of the Year.
Forward Bethany Balcer scored the first two goals of the match in the 15th minute and the 20th minute, bringing her season total to three goals.
Balcer now has 25 goals all-time, which is tied for the second most in the league since she first entered the NWSL in 2019. Additionally, Balcer ranks second in the league in goals scored in 2023. Today’s brace marks the forward’s third of her career in the NWSL regular season.
Balcer recorded her first headed goal of 2023 and 10th all-time, which is tied for second in the league in headed goals since 2016. Since entering the league in 2019, no player has more headed goals.
Midfielder Jess Fishlock scored the team’s third and fifth goal of the match, her second and third of the season.
Fishlock now has 41 goals all-time, making her the 10th player in league history to record 40+ goals in the regular season. Additionally, the midfielder becomes the fourth player to score all 40+ goals with the same club.
Forward Megan Rapinoe scored the team’s fourth goal of the match, her first of the season.
Rapinoe now has 48 goals all-time, making her have the sixth-most goals in league history.
Defender Emily Sonnett assisted midfielder Jess Fishlock for the team’s third goal of the game. The last time Sonnett recorded an assist was in 2018 with Portland Thorns FC.
The win brings the all-time series to 10-10-8 between the Reign and the Chicago Red Stars.
The OL Reign celebrate Jess Fishlock’s goals and Megan Rapinoe’s goals in the second half of the match (Photos by Liv Lyons)
What’s next?
The Reign have wrapped up their busy ten-day stretch that featured three competitions across the course of seven days and will now have a week before their next battle. A taxing stretch, as expressed by midfielder Jess Fishlock, the Reign will continue to work through the course of the season while getting some days to work on injured players such as Rose Lavelle, Quinn, amongst others while we most likely see the return of Olivia Van Der Jagt from an excused absence. Our Reign will continue regular season play on Saturday, April 29th on the road when they take on Racing Louisville FC, with a kickoff time of 4:30PM PST. Louisville has been an interesting team to track this season, having all three of their matches played result in draws to begin the 2023 campaign. The matchup will be streamed on Paramount+.
