May 14, 2022 – National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) – OL Reign News Release
SEATTLE, WA – OL Reign (0-1-2, 2 points) picked up their second draw of the regular season tonight, against Portland Thorns FC (1-0-1, 4 points). In the pouring rain, the bitter rivals were deadlocked for 90 minutes, drawing for the second time in 2022.
The Reign had a strong start to the match, looking sharp despite the congested schedule the team has been dealt through the month of May. OL Reign earned the first shot on goal, in the seventh minute of the match and continued to build their attack from there.
The full team was putting in work, defensively and offensively. Defenders Sam Hiatt and Alana Cook played standout defense throughout the match and Quinn was quick to earn possession of the ball for OL Reign on multiple occasions in the midfield.
In the 27th minute of the match, forward Bethany Balcer came up big on defense. She tracked back to make a clearance off the goal line to keep the teams level at 0-0. At the other end of the field, midfielder Jess Fishlock nearly found the opening goal of the match in the 32nd minute when she hit a powerful shot toward goal, but Portland came up with their own goal line save.
As the half was winding down, the Thorns found a chance on goal. It looked like Portland forward Sophia Smith had found the chance to put the home side ahead, but OL Reign goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce read the play well and made a big save to send the teams into the halftime break level at zeroes.
In the second half, the rain continued to come down and the surface became harder to predict. In the 63rd minute, it looked like the Thorns had found the opening goal of the match, but it was flagged offside and the score remained 0-0.
The Reign really started to knock on the door as they entered the final half hour of the game. The team did well to win the ball all over the field and took eight shots before the end of the match but didn’t quite find the final touch needed…