Lumen Field | Seattle, Washington – Wednesday, May 3 at 10:00 PM ET
Players to watch:
The lone OL Reign player to score in the Challenge Cup this season is forward Jordyn Huitema, who scored the winner in a 2-0 win over Angel City in the club’s opening game. The other goal, a Clarisse Le Bihan own goal, was scored of a corner. The Reign have now scored four times off corner kicks in all NWSL competitions this season, more than any other team in the league. In the scoring department in league play, Huitema has bagged one, but the side is led by forward Bethany Balcer and midfielder Jess Fishlock, both of whom have score three goals in five games, though Balcer also has an assist to her name.
Angel City midfielder Julie Ertz scored the third goal of Angel City’s three goals in its 3-3 draw at Portland on Saturday, the club’s last outing. That goal was Ertz’s first in all NWSL competitions in 2064 days, since scoring for Chicago on September 3, 2017. Ertz is one of five goalscorers for Angel City this season, with forwards Katie Johnson and Alyssa Thompson both leading the way with two goals each in five games played.
Match facts: OL Reign face Angel City FC in the reverse fixture of their Challenge Cup opener, which finished 2-0 in favor of the Reign. The sides are separated by some margin in the league, with the Reign (10) carrying double the amount of points than Angel City (5) have amassed in five games. The Reign have won three, lost one, and drawn one, while Angel City has one just won, drawing in two and losing two in their year to date.
OL Reign opened up its 2023 Challenge Cup with that win over Angel City on April 19. The Reign are unbeaten in their last 10 Challenge Cup matches (W7 D3, including a penalty shoot-out loss) and have never lost a Challenge Cup match at home (W3 D3, including a penalty shoot-out loss). That streak is just one shy of the all-time lead, which is current held by the North Carolina Courage, who are unbeaten in 11 straight.
Angel City has won only one of its seven Challenge Cup matches (D1 L5), a 1-0 victory over Portland in its last match in the competition last season. In addition, the side lost all three of its road Challenge Cup matches in 2022 by a combined 9-3 score. Though they earned a 3-3 draw against Portland on the road in their last time out, the club’s lone win of the regular season came against the Orlando Pride. However, the 2-1 win was only made possible by a then-regular season record-breaking stoppage time goal from forward Katie Johnson.
The Reign have won all five of their matches against Angel City, with three of those wins in the Challenge Cup, including the win in April. Both meetings in Seattle have been one-goal wins for the Reign, including a 2-1 win on a 94th minute goal from Olivia Van der Jagt in the Challenge Cup in April 2022.
