May 4, 2024 – National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL)
Seattle Reign FC News Release
SEATTLE, WA. – Back home at Lumen Field, the Reign earned their way back into the win column in a gritty match against San Diego Wave FC. After going down to 10 players less than 10 minutes into the match, the Reign came back from a one goal deficit to pick up three points for the first time since March 17.
After an energic first couple minutes of the match, the tides turned on the Reign when forward Tziarra King was shown a straight red card after video review for her hand making contact with the face of Wave defender Hanna Lundkvist while running.
In the 11th minute of the match, just one minute after the red card was issued to King, the Wave opened the scoring of the match. After a set piece was served into the Reign’s 18-yard box, Wave forward Kyra Carusa hit the crossbar with a shot, before following up and finding the back of the net.
Forced to shift tactics and adjust to being a player down, the Reign bounced back, still pushing forward in the attack, not deterred by the goal or red card.
After three shots that did not fully test the Wave, the Reign’s equalizer came in the 34th minute, when forward Bethany Balcer pressured Wave goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan on a big touch, winning the ball inside the box. She took a touch of her own, fighting Sheridan off, before slotting the ball into the back of the net. After a chippy end to the half that saw three yellow cards issued, the teams went to halftime level at a goal apiece and everything to play for.
Returning to play for the second half of the match, San Diego got the better of the offensive opportunities, taking four shots in the first six minutes of the match. On defense, the Reign remained solid and goalkeeper Laurel Ivory came up big on several occasions to keep the score level .She made a showstopping save in the 66th minute of the match to keep Kaitlyn Torpey’s shot from finding the upper corner of the goal, and play continued on.
After momentum began to build in favor of the Reign, backed by a home crowd, forward Veronica Latsko, who came onto the field as a sub in the 52nd minute of the match, scored the game winning goal. From the left side of the field, Reign midfielder Ji So-Yun served a ball into the box, perfectly finding the head of Latsko, who skillfully placed her headed shot into the back of the net.
Determination shining through, the Reign defended another onslaught of attacks from San Diego to hang on to all…