Lumen Field | Seattle, Washington – Saturday, May 27 at 3:30 PM ET
Players to watch:
OL Reign forward Jordyn Huitema scored OL Reign’s lone goal against Gotham on Sunday in the 77thminute. Ten of the Reign’s 15 goals in all NWSL competitions this year have been scored in the final 30 minutes of matches, as they’ve outscored opponents, 10-1, after the hour mark this year. Huitema is now tied for the team’s lead in the scoring department with forward Bethany Balcer and midfielder Jess Fishlock with three goals each, but only Balcer has also added an assist as she leads the club with four total goal contributions.
Angel City won 62.1 percent of its aerial duels against North Carolina on Saturday (18/29), with forward Katie Johnson winning 10 of her 15 aerial duels in the match. Johnson’s 10 aerial duel wins are the most by any player in an NWSL math this season and the most by an Angel City player in club history. Though Angel City are led by forward Alyssa Thompson in scoring with three to her name in her first professional season, one of the club’s challenges will be finding the back of the net for the first time in what is eclipsing 225 minutes of play.
Match facts: OL Reign welcomes Angel City FC for the first of three Saturday night encounters across the league, with OL Reign looking to reverse their fortunes after two straight league losses, while Angel City’s task is different after two consecutive shutouts who instead produced a draw against North Carolina in its last time out (L1). OL Reign currently sit 5th in the league table on 13 points (W4 D1 L3), while Angel City sits 9th on 9 points (W2 D3 L3).
OL Reign conceded three goals before halftime of a home match for the first time in club history in its 4-1 loss to Gotham on Sunday. That pushes the side to two straight losses, one of which was at home to end the club’s three-match winning streak at Lumen Field to start the year. The Reign have lost three straight regular season matches just once since the start of the 2014 season, doing so in May-June 2021.
Angel City is unbeaten in its last four away matches in all NWSL competitions (W1 D3), including drawing each of the last three. Since last August, Angel City has lost only three of its 11 road games (W2 D6) in all NWSL competitions, as only the Reign and Dash (2 each) have fewer road defeats in that time.
OL Reign has never lost to Angel City, winning the first five meetings in all competitions before Angel City earned a scoreless draw on May 3 in a Challenge Cup match. The Reign (D1 L5 in 6 games) are one of two NWSL teams Angel City is yet to defeat in all competitions, along with the Dash (D2 in 2 meetings).
