The Seattle Reign FC drew a penalty just 12 seconds as Jordyn Huitema was fouled and Bethany Balcer buried it for the matches lone goal, as Seattle played strong defensively throughout to blank the Washington Spirit and begin the year with three points.

The OL Reign marched into San Diego, defeating this years Shield winning Wave squad, to squash their semifinal curse dating back to 2015 and advance to their first NWSL Championship since the same year. Forward Veronica Latsko was the hero again, scoring the lone goal in the match for a second straight postseason match.

The OL Reign struck first on a headed goal from Bethany Balcer, off the service from Megan Rapinoe, but a chaotic end of the first half saw the Reign concede and a red card assessed to Alana Cook, and the Reign had to hunker down in the second half to split the points with the visiting North Carolina Courage.

In the UKG Challenge Cup semifinal, one mistake in the first half proved fatal for the OL Reign, as they fell by a score of 1-0 to Racing Louisville FC. The Reign failed once again in a semifinal situation, and now shift focus towards chasing an NWSL playoff spot.

The OL Reign clinched the West division of the 2023 UKG Challenge Cup behind another clean sheet and Bethany Balcer’s penalty goal in the 71st minute. Without their 8 international players currently at the World Cup, the Reign grinded out a tight victory to earn themselves an automatic bid to the semifinals of this years Challenge Cup.

In the second match without their seven international players, the OL Reign had to battle back from a two-goal deficit to split points with visiting Racing Louisville FC. Despite the fact that the match ended in a draw, considering the way that the match played out and the resiliency displayed by the Reign, this feels more like a victory.

Following last night’s loss to the Portland Thorns, the OL Reign got back to business with a 2-1 victory over the KC Current. Fullback Sofia Huerta was a contributor on both of the clubs goals in the victory, from a goal to begin the match to an assist on Jordyn Huitema’s late header goal.

In the second ever Seattle vs Portland doubleheader, the OL Reign fell to the Portland Thorns as the Reign’s attacking quality failed to beat Portland’s defense. On the other end, the Thorns found two pockets of space to score goals that the Reign couldn’t match in the end.

The OL Reign rebounded from a tough 4-1 loss to NY/NJ Gotham FC with a result of the same score but in their favor, defeating Angel City FC in NWSL Regular season play. Forward’s Megan Rapinoe, Elyse Bennett, and Veronica Latsko highlighted the show with big performances as the club secured three points.

The OL Reign dropped their second match in a row, this one in blowout fashion as the club was blasted by NY/NJ Gotham FC thanks to a final score of 4-1. The Reign stumbled defensively out of the game, as mistakes riddled their backline and Gotham scored twice within the first 12 minutes. The Reign never recovered, failing to score their first goal of the match until the 73rd minute when things were already far out of reach.