Cary, North Carolina
– OL Reign travelled to the home of the North Carolina Courage and ended up leaving with all three points as a pair of unanswered goals helped the visitors not only come back from a goal down but end up collecting a victory on Saturday night.
Cary, North Carolina
– OL Reign travelled to the home of the North Carolina Courage and ended up leaving with all three points as a pair of unanswered goals helped the visitors not only come back from a goal down but end up collecting a victory on Saturday night. Just three minutes in, North Carolina were knocking on the door as a corner kick from defender Carson Pickett was sent all the way to back post where the forward Kerolin was waiting. Pickett’s perfectly lifted pass then reached the unmarked Kerolin, but the Brazilian’s strong effort toward goal was saved by Reign goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce to keep the match even early on. The Courage wouldn’t have to wait much longer though as they opened the scoring on the night after six minutes when defender Ryan Williams’s cross ricocheted off the leg of a defender and deflected into the back of the net. Moving the ball from left to right, midfielder Denise O’Sullivan found Kerolin just outside the box, and then moving forward, the Brazilian played in Williams down the right side of the box. As Williams attempted to square the play, the Reign defense got in the way but could not stop the ball from heading into the back of the net as the attempted block still flew past Tullis-Joyce. However, just five minutes later, the OL Reign earned their equalizer as a quick move the other way saw midfielder Rose Lavelle beat home a rebounded effort to pull her side level. A switch of play to the left side of the box saw attacker Megan Rapinoe take the ball down and whip in a cross-cum-shot that forced Courage goalkeeper Casey Murphy to make a save. In doing so though, Murphy put the ball right into the path of the midfielder Lavelle who had no trouble putting the ball in the back of the net from close range. Working back into the match, OL Reign then upped the ante as they not only found an equalizer but then went ahead via Rapinoe’s clever free kick in the 26 th minute. Lining up from a significant distance, the Reign XI lined up near the edge of the box to make the Courage think it would be a clipped ball in. Instead, Rapinoe read Murphy’s stance and snuck a powerful low driven effort toward the near post that snuck in and lifted the visitors in front having not even reached the half-hour mark. A closely contested half eventually saw the OL Reign in front of the North Carolina Courage at the break, with Lavelle’s equalizer and Rapinoe’s stunning free kick effort negating the Courage’s opening goal. The second half picked up where the first left off with the Courage attacking goal immediately and nearly finding an equalizer in the 52 nd minute. Feeding Kerolin once more, the forward was just a few yards away from goal when her effort was saved by Tullis-Joyce though the ball was put back into play. Running onto the bouncing ball was Debinha, but this time the midfielder uncharacteristically fired high over the bar as the chance went missing. North Carolina’s pursuit for an equalizer was a long one, and in the 82 nd minute the hosts nearly thought they had done the job only for a pair of goalline saves by Tullis-Joyce kept the Reign in front. Forward Diana Ordoñez had lifted a cross to the back post where an effort toward goal was kicked back into play by Tullis-Joyce. From there, O’Sullivan attempted to fire the ball back toward goal, though the shot did not have enough power to get through the wave of bodies and Tullis-Joyce eventually collected. Through four minutes of added time and a tight 90 minutes of regulation, the Reign were able to hold onto their one-goal lead over the Courage and earn a massive three points as the playoff race continues to heat up. For North Carolina, it makes their chase for a playoff position all the more difficult with the club still 5 points outside of sixth place with just three games remaining, meaning they will need help from others around the league to make it.
