Reigning over San Diego: Latsko continues postseason heroics to beat Wave
By Charles Hamaker
San Diego, CA – It hasn’t been done since 2015, back when they were the Seattle Reign and were in just their third season in this league. The three OG’s remain from that club, but otherwise it’s an entirely different group that has helped to bring the Reign back to the NWSL Championship as they seek to claim their first league title ever and send the legendary Megan Rapinoe out the proper way as she retires. The OL Reign pushed past the San Diego Wave by a 1-0 score, same as their quarterfinal victory against the other (Currently active) California team, Angel City FC. A similar score, and a similar hero as forward Veronica Latsko’s cross/shot that got over the head of Wave goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan was the deciding factor in this match. The resiliency of this club has shown through to not only get them into these NWSL Playoffs, but to now have them competing to win the whole damn thing.
The OL Reign celebrate Veronica Latsko’s 47th minute goal, the eventual game winner, in Sunday nights NWSL Semifinal win over San Diego Wave FC. (Photo by Jane Gershovich)
Pressure placed on Wave through the first half
The Reign’s high press has been a primary player for the club in success seen under Laura Harvey, and today was no different. At the very beginning of the first half, San Diego was working it into the Reign end of the field, but there wasn’t any real danger being sent in by the Wave. Shortly after, at around the 15th minute when they first really tested San Diego goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan, the Reign were all over the Wave. On multiple occasions (The 15th, 20th, 30th, and 33rd minutes of this first half), the Reign had dangerous possessions where they were just lacking that final touch or pass to connect. It’s a story we’ve told several times over the past three seasons, but there was a different sort of buzz about the club in today’s Semifinal. It wasn’t like other matches during that period where it was as though an invisible forcefield was blocking the ball from going in the goal, rather that the goal was coming soon, and they truly believed that. To continue their season and knock off this year's Shield Winners, they’d need to maintain that belief through the halftime break.
OL Reign midfielder Rose Lavelle, earning her first start since September 3rd, recorded the assist on the Veronica Latsko goal. (Photo by Jane Gershovich)
Veronica Latsko: Postseason hero
As has been true for Laura Harvey’s Reign, there were no halftime substitutions to make, and the club was looking to maintain the pressure level that they had put on the hosting Wave. The Reign were generating several opportunities on goal and getting the ball into the dangerous areas of San Diego, but that final touch that’s been an issue for them the past three seasons (that’s including this current one) continued to evade them. Taking into account the chances that they’d generated and looking at just how close some of their shots had come to going into the goal, perhaps it’s a bit funny to know that the lone goal in this match wasn’t even intended to be on target. With the bad bounces and odd run of how things have gone against them previously in the postseason, maybe it’s a bit of good karma for the Reign and they’ll be more than happy to take it.
“Sometimes you need a bit of luck to get where you want to go. Obviously, I don’t think Ronnie ever meant to do what she did, but we’ll take it. I thought we had really good patches in the game where we created.”
In the 46th minute, the Reign were building out of the back as Alana Cook sent a ball up field to a streaking Rose Lavelle, who controlled that pass before circling back to try and find a better opportunity with possession. She dropped it off to Veronica Latsko, who was surrounded by three Wave players and opted to look for a cross into the box as the Reign are a heavy crossing team. With forward Jordyn Huitema, one of the club's taller players at 5’11”, in the box, it seemed like a strong decision to send that ball in and see if she could rise up to send it past Sheridan. The “cross” sailed up and over the head of Huitema, so it seemed as though this ball was headed out for a goal kick, also too far out ahead of Megan Rapinoe who was the closest Reign player to it on the far post. Consider it good karma, the NWSL script, or whatever deity you believe in, but the ball tucked itself into the top far corner for a goal. Latsko, a player largely ignored by the league and who has done everything asked of her with the Reign, had put the club ahead once again in these playoffs.
“That was supposed to be across. Honestly, I’m just happy that we’re going to the championship. That’s all I care about.”
While still searching for a second goal to truly pound the nail in the coffin, the Reign defending was able to continue to snuff out any sort of effort that the Wave made to try and equalize. San Diego’s poor record when conceding first, 1-5-1 to be exact, loomed large against a Reign backline that’s been strong all year and goalkeeper Claudia Dickey, who has found more and more confidence as the season has gone on. The Reign and Wave traded possessions, one side looking to double their lead and the other trying to equalize, and it didn’t go “one-sided” in terms of attack until the final ten-to-fifteen minutes if we include the stoppage time. San Diego was sending their all-out attack, giving everything they had with their season on the line to try and create some late chaos to send this game into the two 15-minute extra time periods, but the Reign held strong. Any shot that got back the backline was saved easily by Dickey, and the other attempts that the Wave had were blocked by Reign players in the box. Laura Harvey’s favorite saying to the media is that goals change games, and Latsko’s goal hadn’t particularly changed this game but rather gave purpose to what had been taking place: Reign domination over the Wave, once again, this time to go to the NWSL Championship.
OL Reign goalkeeper Claudia Dickey goes up for a save in the clubs NWSL Semifinal victory over the San Diego Wave. Dickey earned a second consecutive playoff clean sheet in this match. (Photo by Jane Gershovich)
Dickey and the defense stand tall once more
Goalkeeper Claudia Dickey was able to see shots early on and never truly had much of a danger opportunity go against her in this contest, as her backline of Phoebe McClernon, Lu Barnes, Alana Cook, and Sofia Huerta not only helped to put the pressure on the Wave but made several plays blocking shots from San Diego so that Dickey didn’t need to face extra work. The Wave did put up 13 shots and four on target, but the former University of North Carolina Tar Heel was up to the task with everything sent her way. Seeing a calm and confident Dickey in net for the Reign has been huge considering that it seemed her nerves got the best of her in the first few starts that she got this season, but also credit must be given to the backline of this club and it’s holding midfielders. Tonight, Emily Sonnett continued to display the true importance she has to this club as she was all over the field. Whether it was helping with the Reign press or getting back to block shots in her own box, Sonnett has been massive as a six for this club since being acquired in a trade around the draft.
“Every single person’s mindset going into this game was like, we’re not conceding a goal. ”
A lot can be said about the Reign’s depth overall, whether it be the players that we’ve seen start (when they’ve been healthy, of course) all season in Alana Cook, Lu Barnes, and Sofia Huerta, but also seeing Phoebe McClernon come in and make the impact that she has while avoiding cards and disciplinary issues has been big. As head coach loving stated in one press conference, McClernon “loves a tackle, that one” and has sometimes been somewhat too tackle happy which resulted in cards and putting a club in tough positions, but she’s been absolutely rock solid for the club all year. Having Lu Barnes slot back in as a center back has worked seamlessly as well, seeing her go back to a position that she’s already been in and fit like a glove. Cook and Huerta have held their spots down respectively, as Alana has shown her world class quality repeatedly while Huerta’s services into the box are some of the best in the entire league. As the Royal Guard shout in the south side of Lumen Field at home matches, the Reign’s “BRICK WALL DEFENSE” has lived up to that chant.
“I think our team’s form coming into playoffs was really good. We went into every game with a win or die mentality, and that’s just how we keep going. Laura’s helped keep that mentality high and keep the competitive drive going, helping all of us have that faith in ourselves and that belief, which is huge.”
OL Reign defender Phoebe McClernon’s versatility has been incredibly valuable for the club along the teams defensive backline. (Photo by Jane Gershovich)
A fairytale final awaits
When the playoffs started this year, the dream final was to have OL Reign’s Megan Rapinoe and NJ/NY Gotham FC’s Ali Krieger duke it out to see who would retire with an NWSL Championship in their hand as they hung their boots up. It seemed unlikely to an extent, given their respective seeding and how strong the clubs opponents in the Semifinal (Wave, Thorns) had looked during the course of the season. All of those who dreamed and hoped for that final will get their wish and get to enjoy what will be a dream final chapter for one club, and a heartbreaking conclusion for the other. Considering the pressure that the Reign were able to apply to San Diego with their press and how strong they’ve been defensively, it’s not outlandish to imagine that they can collect their first league title in club history, but Gotham will absolutely have something to say about that. Given their defensive effort against Portland and the dangerous attackers that they’ve got (which the Reign have had to bear witness to already, looking back to the last time these teams met), this should be a dandy of an NWSL Championship.
“This group has just worked so hard this year, and to finally get back to where we believe we belong is an unbelievable feeling. ”
“It’s like the Battle of the two people retiring. It seems a bit poetic that the championship game is ending with Krieger and Pinoe’s last game.”
Quick notes
Attendance for tonight’s NWSL Semifinal at SnapDragon Stadium as OL Reign defeated the San Diego Wave was 32,262. That’s the biggest playoff crowd in NWSL history.
OL Reign advanced to the NWSL Championship for the third time in club history and first time since 2015.
OL Reign extended its unbeaten streak against San Diego to nine games, having never lost to the second-year club across all NWSL competitions. In 2023 alone, the Reign have faced San Diego five times, earning four clean sheets in those meetings.
Goalkeeper Claudia Dickey earned her second consecutive clean sheet in the playoffs and her eighth clean sheet of her career in her first 11 starts across all NWSL competitions. The 23-year-old finished the match with four saves.
Following last week’s quarterfinal win, Dickey became the fifth goalkeeper to record a clean sheet in her NWSL playoff debut and the third youngest goalkeeper among the five.
Forward Veronica Latsko scored the game-winning goal in the 47th minute, marking her second consecutive playoff game with a goal.
Latsko is the first player in the league to score in back-to-back playoff games since 2019.
The 13 passes leading to Veronica Latsko's goal were the most passes in the build-up to a goal in NWSL Playoff history.
Midfielder Rose Lavelle made her first start since September 3. Lavelle earned the assist on forward Veronica Latsko’s goal, marking her first playoff assist of her career and sixth all-time.
The win brings the all-time series to 7-0-2 between the Reign and San Diego Wave FC.
Defender Emily Sonnett became the third player in league history to pass 1,000 minutes played in the playoffs
The other two are Christine Sinclair and Lynn Williams.
The 4th seeded OL Reign will play in the NWSL Championship against the 6th seeded NJ/NY Gotham FC.
What’s next?
Following their NWSL Semifinal victory over the shield winning San Diego Wave, the OL Reign are headed to their third league Championship in club history. As mentioned in the post-match press conference, they’ll remain down in San Diego as they prepare for the final against NY/NJ Gotham FC, a club that features another retiring player: Ali Krieger. Megan Rapinoe and Ali Krieger, longtime friends and USWNT legends, will play against each other with their clubs when the NWSL Championship takes place on Saturday, November 11th with a kickoff time of 5PM PST/8PM EST. In their previous two matches against Gotham this season, the Reign have struggled, dropping their season opener 2-0 in NJ/NY before a brutal 1-4 loss at home to the club formerly known as Sky Blue which seemed like a low point in the season for the Seattle based Reign.
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Cover photo and photos used in articles are by Jane Gershovich, from OL Reign
Check out previous articles written by Charles Hamaker here