**SEATTLE, Wa.** – OL Reign waited until one the last kicks of the game, Saturday night’s hosts defeated San Diego, 1-0, thanks to a stunning goal from Olivia Van der Jagt in the fifth minute of added time.
In the first half, as the two sides scoped the other out, one of the better chances came through a free kick for OL Reign and midfielder Jess Fishlock. Having won the set piece after a judged handball some 23 yards from goal, Fishlock stepped up and attempted to curl the ball over the tall San Diego wall and back in toward goal. However, her effort would end up landing high of the goalmouth as the search for an opening goal continued.
Four minutes later, San Diego briefly turned momentum in its favor as forward Alex Morgan broke through the attacking third and charged at the Reign defense. As she looked to enter the penalty area though, the ball was poked out of her possession and the Reign were able to recover. As the half wore on, neither side were able to produce several quality opportunities in front of goal, with the Reign coming closest through a Sofia Huerta cross and San Diego again through a corner kick by Danielle Colaprico to Makenzy Doniak, whose header from six yards out landed wide.
Instead, at the break the two sides remained scoreless.
Three minutes into the second half, though, San Diego came closest to changing the match’s fortunes when forward Alex Morgan had been played in behind the defense again. Morgan had broken in toward goal and attempted to poke a shot around onrushing OL Reign goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce, though Tullis-Joyce did well to smother the chance and send the ball away. However, the parried save fell to the feet of San Diego forward Jaedyn Shaw who picked out teammate Amirah Ali in the box. There attempting to catch Tullis-Joyce off her line, Ali’s effort did not have the power required to get over the line and Tullis-Joyce made an impressive second save.
Then, in the 55 ^th minute, the Reign had another shot toward goal through attacker Tziarra King that fell just wide. The visitors’ attack continued to cleverly play around the San Diego defense, which resulted in a slip pass for King with no one in front of her in the left side of the box. However, as she opened her foot in an attempt to curl the ball toward the far post, she was unable to wrap her foot around it enough and her shot could not get back around enough to go in.
OL Reign continued to really push for a goal and Fishlock again came close with an effort in the 67 ^th minute that San Diego had trouble keeping out. A short moved on the right side saw Fishlock fed in by teammate Jordyn Huitema and Fishlock fired on goal once more only for her effort to be deflected out of play. A few later in the 74 ^th minute, attacker Megan Rapinoe had just been introduced into action for the first time in the 2023 campaign when she came on and fired a high curling shot toward the top corner that forced goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan into another great save. One of the best efforts came in the 78 ^th minute though, when Sheridan was forced into a full stretch save following Huitema’s close range header following a cross from a wide position. Sheridan, who had little time to react to Huitema’s effort, did outstandingly well to keep the ball out of the back of the net and preserve her side’s clean sheet.
The hosts would not relent in their pursuit for a goal, though, and Sheridan was fortunate to not have had to deal with more than she could have when a cross came into the box from the left side in the 82 ^nd minute. The ball in fell toward both Huitema and Balcer, and both went for it only for neither to end up making significant enough contact and another chance went missing.
Approaching the end of regulation, it was instead San Diego who had the best chance to alter the match late on when Morgan somehow snuck in behind the Reign defense and collected a loose ball some ten yards out from goal. Barreling toward goal, Morgan then did all she could to get her effort through Tullis-Joyce, but again the goalkeeper was equal to the effort and she was able to preserve the clean sheet in the end.
Finally though, just as OL Reign was making time for its last attack in the fifth of six minutes of added time, Megan Rapinoe had a right-footed rip parried out for a corner by Sheridan. On the set piece delivery, Rapinoe then lifted her cross into the box and watched as it bounced around between inside and outside the penalty area. Eventually though, it fell to the feet of Olivia Van der Jagt, who swung her foot at the ball from just outside the box and sent Lumen Field into a frenzy as the ball rippled the back of the net.
With the win, OL Reign extended their unbeaten run in all five meetings against San Diego in all competitions dating back to last season (W3 D2), winning all three matches at home, and drawing both in San Diego. For the visitors, the loss was a bit of water on their fiery start to the season but is still the first of two difficult road matches, the second being next Sunday’s trip to face Angel City at BMO Stadium.

Match Highlights

Match Highlights