Lumen Field | Seattle, Washington – Saturday, April 15 at 10:00 PM ET
Players to watch:
OL Reign forward Bethany Balcer got off the mark last week, scoring her side’s second goal in a 2-0 win over Gotham FC that also saw midfielder Jess Fishlock find the back of the net. The pair are now inches away from a set of milestones, with Fishlock one goal away from 40 regular season goals—all with OL Reign—which would make her the ninth player in NWSL history to reach that mark. Meanwhile, Balcer is sitting on 23 goals and is just two away from hitting 25, also having scored all 23 goals with OL Reign. One additional milestone to look for is in the assist category for Fishlock. She now sits on 24 assists—all with OL Reign—and is just one away from becoming just the fifth player in NWSL history to register 25 assists.
San Diego forwards Alex Morgan and Jaedyn Shaw have already begun to do in 2023 what they spent the majority of 2022 doing—tearing up opposition defenses and finding the back of the net. Morgan has already scored three goals in two games to sit second in the league’s scoring charts, while Shaw’s two goals in two games have her T-3rd with Washington’s Ashley Hatch in the same category. Interestingly, neither Morgan nor Shaw are near the top of the charts in shots or shots on goal, making the pair one of the more efficient across the league. Morgan has already converted both of her spot kick attempts on the year as well.
Match facts: OL Reign and San Diego Wave FC round out a five-game Saturday across the NWSL, potentially saving the best matchup for last as the two Western-based powerhouses collide at Lumen Field. San Diego is one of just two teams (Portland) to have won both opening contests, while OL Reign comes in off the back of their first win of the season having dropped their opening contest against Washington.
Failing to score in their opening encounter, it’s possible that the Reign needed just a little extra time to put the wheels in motion as was evidenced by their 2-0 win over Gotham FC on April 1. Balcer, who got off the mark last week with her first goal of the season, currently sits T-2 in the league in shots (7) and shots on goal (4), proving that the Reign have no problem moving forward and threatening in attack. Instead, one of the greater challenges will be limiting a prolific San Diego attack while also keeping shape and finding their own way forward on Saturday.
The Wave will enter Saturday night with nothing but confidence after back-to-back wins over Chicago and North Carolina to start the year, scoring three goals in each of those two games. Only Portland (8) has scored more goals in the opening pair of contests, though San Diego will face the same challenge as the Reign in terms of both finding a way forward and yet limiting the host’s attacking options via Balcer, Rose Lavelle, and many others. Morgan and Shaw will be two of the main threats going forward, with Morgan’s brace against North Carolina moving her alone into third place in the NWSL’s all-time regular season scoring table (56). Only Sam Kerr (77), Christine Sinclair (59), and Lynn Williams (58) have more regular season goals.
Also plenty familiar with each other, these two teams met four times across Challenge Cup and regular season action last year with San Diego failing to beat the Reign in any of those four contests. In the regular season, Rose Lavelle’s goal in a late May encounter was good enough to lift the Reign over the Wave, 1-0, at Lumen Field, while just two weeks later the pair dueled to a 1-1 draw with Morgan and Fishlock on the scoresheet that day.
