Our Seattle Reign just pulled off a much-needed 2-0 win against Portland, finally snapping a brutal five-match winless streak, and now they are within three points of that playoff line. That’s huge! But hold up, Emerald City. Our squad immediately hits the road for the first of three straight away matches, kicking things off against Gotham FC, a team that just added powerhouses Denise O’Sullivan and Sam Kerr to their ranks. This isn’t going to be easy, folks.
The Grinding Road Ahead for Our Reign
The team is traveling all the way across the country to Icahn Stadium in New York for a 9 a.m. PT kickoff on Saturday, airing nationally on ABC. This venue shift happened because Sports Illustrated Stadium is busy as a training ground for the FIFA Men’s World Cup final. Icahn Stadium is a 5,000-seat spot usually used by NYCFC II, so it’s got those old-school vibes. Coach Laura Harvey even said, “The surface is immaculate. It’s great. It’s definitely got a bit of old-school vibes , smaller stadium, running track around it, feel like you’re right in the heart of a city. The surface is great, which is the most important thing.” Our Reign arrived a day early to get two training sessions in on that pitch, which shows they’re taking this seriously.
However, we are going to be light on fullbacks. While Claudia Dickey and Jess Fishlock are available, Madison Curry, Shae Holmes, and Sofia Huerta are all out. Ryanne Brown, Emily Mason, and Phoebe McClernon can all step up, and Coach Harvey has even brought in an attacker to play deeper sometimes. We need everyone locked in for this one.
Gotham’s Juggernaut Form and Our History
Look, Gotham FC is no joke. They are the defending NWSL champions, and they’ve won four of their past five matches, including a recent win over the Washington Spirit in front of an NYC-record crowd. They are sitting at 8-3-3 with 27 points, good for 4th place. Their stats are ridiculous too: first in the NWSL in possession at 57.3%, first in clean sheets with 9, and they’ve only allowed a league-low eight goals in 14 matches. Seriously? Goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger just made nine saves for her eighth clean sheet against Washington. And don’t forget Esther González and Jaedyn Shaw are tied for their team lead with four goals each. This team has a high press that wins possession in the final third more than anyone.
We’ve faced them once this season, back on May 15 at Lumen Field, and we fell 2-0 with goals from Jaedyn Shaw and Tierna Davidson. All-time, we narrowly lead the series 12-11-10 across 33 matches, but we haven’t beaten them since April 1, 2023. That was a 2-0 road win too, so maybe it’s time to repeat history! Rose Lavelle, a former Reign midfielder who played three seasons in Seattle before 2023, also scored the only goal in Gotham’s win against Washington.
This Saturday is massive. Our Reign, currently 5-6-2 and sitting in 10th place, needs to keep this momentum going to close that three-point gap to the playoff line. It’s a tough road trip to kick off a brutal away stretch, but if we can snag points here, it would be a huge statement. Let’s get it, Reign!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
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