**SEATTLE, Wa.** – The OL Reign held on for a big 2-1 win against the Kansas City Current on Saturday night, propelled by goals from Sofia Huerta (p) and Jordyn Huitema as the hosts staved off a late comeback by the Current at Lumen Field.
A tense moment early on came as Reign forward Megan Rapinoe went down after 90 seconds due to injury. After receiving treatment, Rapinoe was able to get back on her feet and eventually continued on in the match. From that point on, OL Reign were almost exclusively dominant in attack as they continued to press the Current goal and goalkeeper Cassie Miller multiple times in the first quarter of an hour. Early on, both attackers Jordyn Huitema and Tziarra King had shots blocked as those two and fellow forward Veronica Latsko attempted to disrupt the defense.
However, the Current were by no means lifeless and turn around to threaten the OL Reign goal 17 minutes into the match. First it was Cece Kizer who had a shot saved in the 17 ^th minute, but the real test came from midfielder Vanessa DiBernardo in the 30 ^th minute who fired in from just outside the box in a central position. DiBernardo’s effort was a strong, dipping shot that forced Reign goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce into another great save to keep the match scoreless.
Right after that period of play for Kansas City though, the OL Reign were afforded an opportunity to flip the script on the match as they were awarded a penalty kick from what was judged to have been a handball on a blocked shot inside the box. That led to defender Sofia Huerta stepping up to the spot in place of the usual taker Rapinoe, and Huerta converted with a cool penalty from 12 yards out to send her side ahead in the 35 ^th minute. That goal was also Huerta’s first of the season.
Then, just before the break, the Reign nearly picked up a second goal as forward Veronica Latsko floated in a ball following a corner kick that forced the goalkeeper Miller to leap and collect. At halftime though, the hosts held onto their one goal lead after a commanding opening period of play.
The second half began with a bang as the Reign were a foot away from a second goal through forward Elyse Bennett. Miller had come way off her line to try and close space with the forward, but Bennett was wise enough to lift her effort over the shotstopper as it bounced toward goal. However, at the last moment, Kansas City defender Croix Soto rushed back to make a goalline clearance and prevent a second goal.
Working their way back into the match, the Current then put the ball in the back of the net in the 59 ^th minute as forward Michelle Cooper got a foot on a ball that had bounced back her way following a corner kick. However, though Cooper’s shot trickled through a sea of bodies on its way in, it was judged after VAR review that DiBernardo obstructed play from an offside position thus resulting in a raised flag and the goal chalked off.
Instead, in the 68 ^th minute, the Reign doubled their lead as forward Jordyn Huitema put home a cross from out wide with a powerful header to all but determine the result. Huitema had called for the ball the first time as Huerta cut back to her weak foot, but surveying the landscape, Huerta then picked out Huitema with a perfectly weighted ball in. From just a few yards out, Huitema then powered home the cross to beat Miller for her first goal of the evening and the Reign’s second.
Much to their credit, Kansas City never gave up and ended up finding the back of the net in the first of five minutes of stoppage time as Izzy Rodriguez put home a Mimmi Larsson cross in the penalty area. Larsson did well to sweep the ball across the face of goal where Rodriguez was racing to meet it, and she bundled it over the line past Tullis-Joyce to spoil the clean sheet.
That goal was but a consolation though as the Reign held on through the rest of the match to earn another big win. After losing three of their previous four in the regular season, it was a much needed win for a Reign side that remains in 4 ^th place with the result. For Kansas City, the loss drops them into last place in the standings with just 9 points from 11 games. The Current are level with Angel City on points but behind them on goal differential.

Match Highlights

Match Highlights