**SEATTLE, Wa.** – OL Reign earned another impressive win in Challenge Cup action on Friday night, with forward Bethany Balcer’s penalty conversion in the 71 ^st minute separating the two sides at the end of the night. OL Reign’s result keeps them in 1 ^st place as they have now amassed 13 points from five games played, while San Diego remains bottom of the West Division with just 3 points from five games played.
San Diego certainly were not without chances throughout the match, and the visitors forced a great save out of goalkeeper Claudia Dickey after just nine minutes. The Wave were advancing through forward Taylor Kornieck, and she picked out teammate Makenzy Doniak with a headed pass that sent Doniak sprinting toward goal. Pulling up with a right-footed shot arrowed toward the bottom left corner, Dickey did well to push the ball away from goal and danger to keep the score level.
After a teasing cross into the box sent Reign attacker Tziarra King flying toward the ball only to see it glance off her head in the 18 ^th minute, San Diego had another chance in the 35 ^th minute. A great sequence of play saw the Wave work the ball around the Reign defense before midfielder Madison Pogarch received a pass some distance from the 18-yard box. Pogarch spotted the run of Kornieck in the box and sent a driven cross toward her head, with Kornieck able to guide the effort toward goal. However, her header was straight at Dickey, who was relieved to see the ball land in her arms instead of two yards either side of her.
At the break, though both teams had somewhat of a quality look at goal on different occasions, neither were able to break through and all remained scoreless.
Just four minutes into the second half, the Reign hit the post in what was their best opportunity in front of goal through forward Elyse Bennett. The Reign’s Shae Holmes played a through ball toward the attacker Bennett on the left side, and her clipped effort ended up bouncing off the crossbar and back into play. However, the offside flag was raised at the near side to end the move and reset play with the hosts still searching for an opener.
The turning moment of the match came in the 69 ^th minute, however, when defender Ryanne Brown was judged to have been fouled by San Diego midfielder Meggie Doughtery Howard, resulting in a penalty kick decision for the hosts.
Stepping up to take was the forward Balcer, who has been consistent from the penalty spot to date. Balcer lined up after the whistle and did not hesitate to send a strong penalty into the top right corner as San Diego goalkeeper Shae Yañez dove the correct direction but did not have a sniff at the shot itself.
In the end, Balcer’s strong effort proved to be enough, and though the visitors dominated possession and held a slight advantage in pass accuracy and tackles won, the Reign were able to walk away with another Challenge Cup victory.

Match Highlights

Match Highlights