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 three points in the match. As the game was coming to a close, San Diego defender Kristen McNabb was issued a red card, bringing the teams level to 10 players at the final whistle.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
NEVER QUIT GRIT: Forward Tziarra King was issued a red card in the 9th minute of the match, marking the ninth red card in club history. Among the nine previous games that included a red card to the Reign, the club has only lost one of those games.
NEW STARTING XI: Through seven games this season, the Reign are yet to list a replicated starting XI as the club continues to utilize the depth of the squad. Defender Sofia Huerta is the only player to start in all seven games and to play every minute of all seven games for a total of 630 minutes.
STOPPING SAN DIEGO: The club continues to dominate the head-to-head series against San Diego, winning eight of the 11 meetings across all NWSL competitions. The Reign have also held San Diego to one goal or less in all 11 games.
The Wave have never earned a point on the road in Seattle, with the Reign outscoring San Diego 8-2 through five games at Lumen Field.
BETHANY BALCER: Forward Bethany Balcer scored in the 34th minute, tying the game, 1-1. The goal marks Balcer’s third of the season, the most on the team and tied for the sixth-most goals in the league.
Balcer now has 31 goals all-time, which ranks fourth in club history and fourth in the NWSL since she entered the league in 2019.
LAUREN BARNES: Defender Lauren Barnes earned her 100th regular season win, becoming the first player in league history to reach the milestone.
Barnes continues to extend her league record in appearances (218), starts (213) and minutes played (18,865).
LAUREL IVORY: Goalkeeper Laurel Ivory finished the match with five saves, setting a single-game career high. In just her fourth regular season appearance (third start), Ivory has totaled 14 saves.
VERONICA LATSKO: After entering the match as a substitute in the 52nd minute, forward Veronica Latsko scored the game-winning goal in the 89th minute, marking her first goal of the season.
Latsko now has 13 regular season goals in her NWSL career. Across all competitions, Latsko has 11 game-winning goals in her 19 goals scored.
SERIES: The win brings the all-time series to 8W-1L-2D between the Reign and San Diego Wave FC.
UP NEXT: Seattle Reign FC plays another match at Lumen Field on Wednesday, May 8 at 7:00 p.m. against the Kansas City Current. Tickets to the match are available HERE. Fans can also tune in on KING5+ or KONG in the Seattle area, in addition to NWSL+.
MATCH SUMMARY
2024 NWSL Regular Season
Seattle Reign FC 2 – 1 San Diego Wave FC
Date/Time: Friday, May 3, 7:00 p.m. PT
Location: Lumen Field, Seattle Washington
Weather: 62, partly rainy
Scoring Summary
SEA: Balcer – 34′, Latsko – 89′
SD: Carusa – 11′
Discipline
SEA: King (Red Card – 9′), James-Turner (Caution – 21′), Athens (Caution – 45+6′), Huerta (Caution – 65′), McClernon (Caution – 78′)
SD: Lundkvist (Caution – 24′), Bennett (Caution – 38′), van Egmond (Caution – 45+5′), McCaskill (Caution – 90+1′), McNabb (Red Card – 90+15′)
Lineups
SEA: GK Ivory, D Huerta, D Barnes (c), D Cook, D McClernon (Holmes 90+2′), M Athens (Ji 67′), M Fishlock, M James-Turner (Weinert 90+2′), F Balcer (Van der Jagt 67′), F King, F Adames (Latsko 52′)
Unused substitutes: GK Perez, D Brown, D Woodham, M Stanton
Total Shots: 8 (Eight tied with – 1)
Shots on Goal: 3 (Three tied with – 1)
Fouls: 17 (Fishlock– 3)
Offsides: 1
Corner Kicks: 0
Saves: 5 (Ivory – 5)
SD: GK Sheridan, D McNabb, D Torpey, D Wesley, D Lundkvist, M McCaskill (Ascanio 90+4′), M Colaprico, M Van Egmond (Jones 90+4′), F Doniak (Ali 80′), F Carusa (Sanchez 63′), F Bennett (Shaw 46′)
Unused substitutes: D Westphal, M Enge, GK Messner, GK Beall
Total Shots: 12 (Carusa – 4)
Shots on Goal: 6 (Shaw, van Egmond – 2)
Fouls: 17 (Bennett, Lundkvist – 3)
Offsides: 3
Corner Kicks: 7
Saves: 1 (Sheridan – 1)
Player of the Match: Veronica Latsko
Referee: Danielle Chesky
Assistant Referee 1: Bennett Savage
Assistant Referee 2: Darren Bandy
4th Official: Christopher Calderon
VAR: Adorae Monroy
AVAR: Kelsey Harms
