This Friday, May 16th, the Seattle Reign are in action at Racing Louisville at 4:30pm PT. The match is airing on NWSL+.
The Reign will look to use the quick turnaround to move forward from last Sunday's 1-0 home loss to the Houston Dash with the right lessons learned. During her pre-match remarks to media, head coach Laura Harvey noted that Monday after the loss to the Dash there were team meetings and player-only meetings.
To be honest, they take accountability, they want to solve issues and problems that they think arose and try and make sure they don't come back again. As a coach, that's all you can ask for, really: is growth, is the key sort of mindset, is 'how can we be better than we were the day before.' It's fine if I believe it, but if they don't believe it, it doesn't really matter.
Racing Louisville is currently tied with the Reign on points. Though it is early in the season, the Reign are just above them and inside the playoff line (8th place) on goal differential, making this an important game for both teams’ playoff hopes. As we have seen in the past, every point earned matters, as does every point denied to competitors. Louisville has finished in 9th and just outside the playoffs every year of their short existence and the Reign will look to leave them there on Friday.
The Reign will still be missing key players, as Jess Fishlock and Nérilia Mondésir were held home from traveling to give them some more time to heal. Harvey said they might have been able to play but the team decided the trip would not be “the best option” given the quick turnaround and lack of training time this week. Unfortunately, goalkeeper Cassie Miller, who picked up a leg injury in training two weeks ago, is on a longer recovery timeline and is expected to be out into the summer.
Head-to-Head
- The Reign are 2-0-6 against Louisville in the NWSL regular season, their only defeat coming in the Semifinals of the 2023 Challenge Cup.
- The Reign won in their last visit to Louisville, a 3-2 victory on August 8, 2024.
- The Reign have not been shut out by Louisville in NWSL regular season play (yet, knock on wood).
Recent results
- The Reign and Louisville are tied on points with 11, with the Reign holding the goal differential tiebreaker to sit in 8th and the last playoff spot.
- After a three-game undefeated streak, culminating in a 1-0 home victory over league-leading Kansas City Current, last week the Reign lost at home 1-0 to the Houston Dash.
- Racing Louisville are on their own three-game unbeaten streak, highlighted by a 1-0 home win over Gotham FC last weekend from a Taylor Flint goal.
2024 results
- Louisville was 7-12-7 in NWSL in 2024, finishing in 9th place and just outside of the playoffs. Louisville has ended the year in 9th place all four years of their existence.
- The Reign ended the 2024 season in 13th place with a 6-15-5 record, also missing the playoffs.
Offseason moves
- Former Reign player Bethany Balcer, who was traded to Louisville midseason in 2024 for Jaelin Howell, announced just before the season started that she had lost her joy playing soccer and would be taking a break from playing.
- Louisville's biggest offseason departure was letting veteran Abby Erceg walk as she was out of contract. The 34-year-old centerback and captain (when Howell was not with the team) had played every minute of Louisville's 2024 campaign.
- Louisville also loaned attacker Elexa Bahr to American de Cali in her native Colombia. Bahr played a little over 1,000 minutes in 2024.
- Louisville opted not to make any significant transfers, with much of the team's makeover coming last year in coach Bev Yanez's first season at the helm. The only new players with significant minutes are three rookies out of college: Katie O'Kane, Ella Hase, and Sarah Weber.
Louisville players to watch
Taylor Flint: Though she has not been back with the U.S. Women's National Team since before the 2023 season, Flint remains an elite defensive midfielder in NWSL. She leads the league in interceptions and aerials won and is fourth in tackles and tackles won. Her 24 interceptions are seven clear of the three-way-tie in 2nd at 17 and her 45 aerials won are 16 clear of the second-place tie between Ally Schlegel and Alanna Kennedy at 29 (Jordyn Huitema is fourth with 28). Flint led the league in aerials won in 2021, 2022 and 2024, and was second in 2023 despite playing fewer than eight full matches. All that to say she is an impediment that the Reign will need to navigate around, as it is extremely difficult to find a way through her. Oh, and she scored the winning goal against Gotham FC last week, no big deal (and it was an Absolute Banger).
Emma Sears: The 23-year-old enjoyed a successful rookie campaign last year, with five goals in about 1,500 minutes. This earned her a USWNT call up, where she had an immediate impact with a goal and assist in her debut national team match, the assist going to Lynn Biyendolo. She has had three additional caps with more surely to come. Fun fact, she is a twin! Sears is third on the team in minutes for 2025 playing as a right winger. She plays very wide, almost entirely avoiding the middle of the field, as you can see on her heatmap. Her youth, speed and endurance are a big part of Louisville's high press style.
What to watch
Pressure: Under Yanez, Louisville has converted to a high-pressure and direct team. They are most comfortable playing against the ball, trying to generate high quality chances against disorganized defenses from timely interceptions and tackles. Louisville had less than 40% possession in their last two matches, both of them wins.
A high volume of final-third tackles and a high long ball percentage with a low possession percentage show the type of style Louisville has employed this year. The Reign will need to find ways to play out of the pressure and keep the ball in Louisville's end.
Searching for goals: The Reign have scored just seven goals this year, third-lowest in the league (and third lowest in xG, as well). They have also allowed just seven goals, also third-lowest in the league. On the other side of the ball, Louisville have allowed 13 goals, third-most in the league. And as noted above, the Reign have scored in every game against Louisville in the NWSL regular season. The Reign have had a platoon approach to the attack with seven goal scorers and none with more than one goal. They will need to find a way to build momentum with the possession Louisville will likely allow and find more goals.
Bringing the Reign along: The weather reports for tomorrow night in Louisville are less than ideal, with rain and thunderstorms expected and temperatures in the upper 70's at kickoff. The match will almost certainly be wet and we could see lightning delays depending on when and where the storms strike.
Projected lineup
Injury / Availability Report
Seattle Reign
OUT: Ryanne Brown (SEI – knee), Jess Fishlock (leg), Veronica Latsko (SEI – lower leg), Cassie Miller (leg), Nérilia Mondesir (leg)
Racing Louisville
OUT: Jordan Baggett (back), Bethany Balcer (excused absence), Ary Borges (suspension), Katie Lund (SEI – hip), Maddie Pokorny (D45 – hip), Olivia Sekany (SEI – knee), Kirsten Wright (SEI – knee)
How to watch
The Reign will face Racing Louisville at 4:30 pm Pacific at Lynn Family Stadium in Louisville. The match will air on NWSL+.
