By Charles Hamaker

Seattle, WA – With their 2024 preseason coming to a close and the regular season swiftly approaching, Seattle Reign FC have scheduled two more friendlies ahead of their home opener that will take place in the Pacific Northwest. The first of those two, taking place tonight, was against a familiar opponent in a few ways, as the Reign battled the University of Washington Women’s soccer team. Historically these two sides have played friendlies, and many Husky alum have put on Reign kits in the past with this year's squad being no different as Olivia Van Der Jagt, McKenzie Weinert, Shae Holmes, and Makena Carr all having spent time in the purple and gold but now with the Seattle based NWSL squad.

Pre-match sights and scenes from the Seattle Reign FC preseason friendly victory over the Washington Husky women’s soccer team, including the starting eleven. (Photos by Kevin Ng)

A strong attacking first half, but no lead to show for it

With this being a match played between professionals and collegiate athletes, in some respects you do expect to see the pros outperform their college counterparts. The Reign were able to dominate the attack in this match, including play from Korean international signing Ji So-Yun, who played well into the attacking mix in the early parts of this match as part of the starting eleven. Despite the Reign dominating the attack and pinning the Huskies back within their own half, there was nothing to show for it until the 35th minute when midfielder Jess Fishlock was able to take advantage of a failed clear. There was a bit of a scramble as Washington was trying to get the ball out of their own half, and through that possession found its way to Fishlock who was in the right spot at the right time. The Welsh midfielder and one of two OG’s still on the Reign roster chipped the ball to the far post from just six yards away from goal, getting it past junior goalkeeper Olivia Juarez.

Seattle Reign FC midfielder Jess Fishlock scored the match opening goal in the 34th minute. (Photos by Kevin Ng)

It seemed as though this score may open the floodgates for the Reign considering the amount of pressure put on, but that wasn’t the case. The Huskies responded nearly immediately as freshman midfielder Jadyn Holdenreid was given too much space in her immediate surroundings and fired a missile from 25-yards out, catching Reign keeper Laurel Ivory off guard and flat-footed. The shot, the only one of the match for the Huskies, tucked itself far top corner and this match was level. Despite being dominated in attack, Washington had equalized and had taken advantage of just the right amount of space that the Reign had left them. It could’ve gone either way from there with a few minutes left before we went to halftime, as Fishlock nearly added a second goal a minute later with a long-distance attempt that smashed the crossbar, but the 1-1 scoreline was what got taken into the break. That change would take off Phoebe McClernon, Sofia Huerta, Jess Fishlock, Angharad James, Ji So-Yun, Tziarra King, and Veronica Latsko.

A Balcer goal, who would’ve thought

With this being a preseason friendly, the pro team in this situation is always going to want to make a big change to begin the second half so they can get looks at their younger players and or those who are trying to make the roster. That was largely the case for this match as a big change for the Reign saw Julia Lester, Kenzie Weinert, Bethany Balcer, Maddie Mercado, Sam Meza, Emeri Adams, and Lily Woodham come on. Despite this big swap of a substitution, the Reign continued to control possession and therefore the attacking play, but the finishing continued to be an area that they’ll want to improve upon. Despite being unsigned at the moment, Maddie Mercado, Sam Meza, and Emeri Adames all appeared comfortable in their roles and didn’t appear too out of place outside of the occasional slip here and there. Considering the cold and the opportunity at hand, I don’t blame them for those, though. Another change in this match saw one-time Husky Makena Carr come on to replace Ryanne Brown, getting a big roar from the crowd at Husky soccer stadium, and a breakthrough for the Reign came shortly after.

Former Husky and recent signee Kenzie Weinert got to a loose ball in the Washington box and was taken down with a tackle that wasn’t optimal, and a penalty was given. The scoring leader for the club in every season that she’s been with the Reign, Bethany Balcer, took the shot and buried it to Juarez’s bottom right corner to give Seattle a lead that they wouldn’t have to look back from. In the 83rd minute of the contest, with the lead in hand, the Reign brought on local Nikki Stanton, midfielder Olivia Athens, and Giana Gourley to continue getting looks at their full roster and help salt the game away. Bethany Balcer made another impressive play at the final minutes ticked away, coming back defensively to stop a Husky attacking play in the Reign box.

Positive signs shown early ahead of what should be a unique season

Seeing that the Reign were able to do well in their attack is an exciting thing to note, considering that the departures of players such as Megan Rapinoe and Rose Lavelle had many in the fanbase deeply concerned for their offensive play, but it is notable that the club still needs to be better about their finishing. It’s been an issue over the past two seasons for the club, despite them making it to the NWSL Championship and winning the league shield respectively in the past two years, and you’d hope at some point that it would be an area that is hammered down. It should be noted that the club is missing Jordyn Huitema up top who surely is hoped to be able to make a massive impact as a forward for this club and it is a preseason match, but we’ll be keeping an eye on the finishing and final third play for the Reign to see if this is an area that they’ll struggle with. Another attacking note was seeing the combination plays of Jess Fishlock and Ji So-Yun, often leaving defending players and other midfielders in a wake of destruction, and if that can carry over to the NWSL season it will be a huge win for Seattle.

Outside of that, the gold letters of the Reign’s reflection kits looked great under the lights at Husky soccer stadium and should only look better at Lumen Field. It was notable to see former Husky and current Reign midfielder Olivia Van Der Jagt use her voice more and help direct her defensive back line at times when needed. Nicknamed “Olo,” she’s always been a favorite for the Reign staff for her work rate but adding an additional leadership voice could be big for a Reign club that is now navigating into a new era, albeit with some veterans still here of course.

Some of the new faces for Seattle Reign FC that featured, including Ji So-Yun, Lily Woodham, Angharad James, Makena Carr, Maddie Mercado, Sam Meza, Emeri Adames, and Giana Gourley. (Photos by Kevin Ng)

Quick notes

The attendance for this match at Husky soccer stadium was 2,173
- $5 of every $10 ticket sold to tonight’s match went directly to the UW Women’s soccer program.
Reign forward Bethany Balcer has scored at this stadium previously, in a similar friendly between the two clubs when she did so back in 2019.
A few internationals remain away from the club at the moment: Canada’s Jordyn Huitema and Quinn were playing against the USWNT tonight in the CONCACAF W Gold Cup semifinal.
- Huitema scored a header to tie things late into regulation, but ultimately Canada fell to the US in penalties.

What’s next?

Following this preseason friendly victory over the University of Washington Huskies, the Reign have one more tune up to go before they kick off the regular season on Sunday, March 17th when they host the Washington Spirit at Lumen Field. The Reign will face rivals Portland Thorns FC on Saturday, March 9th with a kickoff time of 3PM PST at Providence Park. That match, unlike tonight’s battle, will be closed to the public. With the Reign roster mostly decided outside of the non-roster invitations currently playing with the team that could potentially sign a deal, this contest against the Thorns is a great way for the Reign to make their final preparations as they step into a new era of the club without Megan Rapinoe and back with the queen as their primary crest.

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Instagram: @CirclingSeattleSports Twitter: @CirclingSports Threads: @CirclingSeattleSports Tiktok: @CirclingSeattleSports Facebook: Circling Seattle Sports 〰️

Instagram: @CSS_UWHuskies Twitter: @CSS_College Facebook: Circling Seattle Sports Threads: @CirclingSeattleSports

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Instagram: @CSS_UWHuskies Twitter: @CSS_College Facebook: Circling Seattle Sports Threads: @CirclingSeattleSports 〰️

Check out our previous articles regarding Seattle Reign FC here.

Check out our previous articles with photos by Kevin Ng, check out his portfolio here.

Check out our previous articles with writing by Charles Hamaker here.

New era, similar showings: Fishlock and Balcer score to lead Reign to preseason victory over Huskies