Reign vs. Current: Highlights, stats, quotes

On Friday night, Lynn Biyendolo scored her first goal for Seattle Reign, and the home side held on for a 1-0 win against the league-leading Kansas City Current. Jordyn Huitema earned the assist after getting her first goal last week.

It was a gritty, organized defensive performance for the Reign, who held the league's best offensive team scoreless for the first time this season.

The Reign (3-2-2) are back at home next weekend with a Mother's Day match. They'll host the Houston Dash (2-4-1) at Lumen Field, with kickoff at 5 p.m. PT. That match will air on Fox 13+ locally and stream on NWSL+ and Paramount+.

Highlights

Stats

SCORING SUMMARY

37’ - Lynn Biyendolo (Assisted by Jordyn Huitema) - SEA

LINEUPS

79' - Ainsley McCammon for Angharad James-Turner; Madison Curry for Ana Maria Crnogorcevic

84' - Shae Holmes for Ji So-Yun

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61’ - Izzy Rodriguez for Flora Marta Lacho; Temwa Chawinga for Vanessa DiBernardo

75’ - Ellie Wheeler for Haley Hopkins; Raquel Rodriguez for Claire Hutton; Mary Long for Beatriz

POSSESSION

Reign: 48.7%

Current: 51.3%

EXPECTED GOALS

Reign: 0.21

Current: 0.70

TOTAL SHOTS

Reign: 4

Current: 13

SHOTS ON TARGET

Reign: 2

Current: 3

SHOTS OFF TARGET

Reign: 1

Current: 6

SHOTS BLOCKED

Reign: 1

Current: 3

SHOTS FROM INSIDE THE BOX

Reign: 1

Current: 4

TOUCHES INSIDE THE OPP. BOX

Reign: 11

Current: 29

PASSES

Reign: 423

Current: 443

PASSING ACCURACY

Reign: 74.9%

Current: 77.9%

PASSES IN FINAL THIRD

Reign: 115

Current: 105

PASSING ACCURACY IN FINAL THIRD

Reign: 43.5%

Current: 56.2%

CROSSES (EXCLUDING CORNERS)

Reign: 8

Current: 13

CORNERS WON

Reign: 5

Current: 3

OFFSIDES

Reign: 0

Current: 2

FOULS

Reign: 9

Current: 14

YELLOW CARDS

Reign: 2

Current: 1

RED CARDS

Reign: 0

Current: 0

Quotes

Laura Harvey

Her thoughts on the match:

I thought big team effort. Just a full team effort, stuck to the game plan, committed to it, believed in it, and got the reward.

On how this performance compares to their match against Orlando:

I would say similar. I really think that our performances across seven games have been consistent. I think there's been one blip at the Angel City game where we didn't perform, and that doesn't always mean you're going to get the result, but I think the thing that I'm really proud of the group tonight was they did all the horrible stuff better than we did against some of the teams, Portland being one of them, where we're winning the game and there was never really those crazy heart-in-mouth moments towards the end, which I'm really proud of the group for because that was something we spoke about after Portland. We spoke about after last week's game in Bay.

And I think for us, we're a team right now where we have to respect who we are, but we have to respect the opponent, too. And that takes a little bit of humility to do that, to be able to buy in. And as we keep moving and performing, maybe there'll come times where we don't have to respect the opponent as much, but Orlando and Kansas are very dominant teams right now in this league. And I think to put on the two performances that we have against those two teams, and obviously get a result like we did tonight. It just shows the growth of where we're at, that what, three weeks ago, four weeks ago we lose, and four weeks later we come out with a victory. So we are climbing, we're doing all the things that we know we need to do to get better. And like I said, you're not always going to get the result if that is the case. But I'm very, very happy tonight that we did.

On the team's defensive performance:

Yeah, I thought Sam [Meza] and Haz [Angharad James-Turner] worked really hard and broke a lot up, and we asked a lot of them. They cover a lot of ground. I thought Jordyn Huitema was exceptional too. I thought she covered so much ground tonight and Ana [Crnogorčević] slotting in at right wing back, obviously Maddie Curry took a little knock last week and we debated throughout the week, were we going to go with Ana and Maddie Dahlien as both sort of hybrid fullbacks or were we going to go a little bit more defensive on one side and a bit more attacking on the other? And I thought that they all did great, but I also think you've got to credit the back three too. I thought JB [Jordyn Bugg], Phoebe [McClernon] and Lu [Lauren Barnes] stood up, were counted, didn't do everything brilliantly, but did everything really well and really nullified their threat, which is really hard to do.

On Jordyn Huitema's performances this year:

Honestly, I think I have to credit you guys a little bit for it. You've given her a bit of stick, and I think she's responding. And I'm not saying it's anyone in this room, but I just think media have given her a little bit of stick and I think she's come out with a little bit between her teeth to want to prove. And I was actually talking to Vlatko [Andonovski] before the game, and we were talking about the age of our team and I said, Jordan is 23. And he was like, 'Whoa, she's still only 23.' And you do forget that; she's obviously been around a long time, but she's still super young and I think she's come out this season, she's taken on a leadership role in the team. She set the tone with us as staff the moment she walked back through the door to say, I want to score goals, I want to assist, I want you to help me to be better at those things. And we were like, game on, let's go. So I give her all the credit, but I think she's had a little bit between her teeth to prove what she believes and what we believe she's got in there. And I'm just so happy for her. I've got a lot of time for Jordyn. She works really, really hard, and she did again tonight. I thought a defensive effort tonight was exceptional, and she gets a little bit of a reward with an assist.

Lynn Biyendolo and Claudia Dickey

On how it felt to score her first with the Reign:

Lynn: Yeah, we've put in a lot of work this pre-season, this season, and I think that what's incredible about this club is the way they've welcomed me. But welcome anybody who's new here. It definitely feels like a family. I felt like for my transition, you never really know how a club's going to accept you. I feel like I've been accepted just for who I am. So to be able to score for a club that is like I'm speechless, and after the game, people jumping on me, I just think it's really special. And then as far as the goal, we got a corner, Jordan put it right back into the mix and it's just our job to get back on it. And so I tried to put it in with my left and Bia blocked it. And so I said, let's go again. And I just saw it opening.

On her confidence and how she's feeling this season:

Claudia: Yeah, I wouldn't really say I've actually had to save the team very much. I think we've done so much better this year defensively at defending the box and limiting chances. We talked about it as a group. I think we only allow four or five chances a game. And I think that comes down to the defense and the midfield and the forwards defending. And obviously I'm the last line of defense, but it's my job to do what everybody else does. So I think it's been a lot different this year and I think I'm super excited with how we're playing and where it's looking and to win the games that we've done and to be playing the way we are. I think it's a credit to how much work we put in and yeah, all of my confidence comes from the people in front of me. So yeah, they trusted me and then we trusted each other and I think it's working out well for us.

On if this result against a top team feels like a catalyst:

Lynn: Yeah, I mean Kansas City is obviously an amazing team. They've started the season and they've built off last year and they have a lot of experience on that team as well. I think for us, obviously, this is a team that we want to beat, but every single team that we are up against we want to beat. And so we are more focusing on us. I know Claudia spoke to last year. Obviously wasn't here, but last year wasn't the year that anybody wanted here. And so our goal is how do we improve and get better every single week, every single day, and look game to game and not look ahead. And so for us to put that performance out with a young team like Claudia said, people getting back, putting their bodies on a line, I think that that builds confidence in the sense that we know that if we come up against a tough opponent where it might not be the prettiest game you've ever seen.

I think that every single week we are building and we're looking at what can we get better at. And every single week, I think we have gotten better. But when it comes down to just grinding it out, I think that's what builds teams and really unites people. People are going to put their bodies on the line for you to get anything done, and I think that just allows us to still grow. And so yeah, I would say this definitely helps, but I don't know if it's the one that's like, oh my gosh, we're going to do this. It's more of like, no, we've done this now that's behind us. What's our next opponent and how are we going to beat them?

On what their performance against Orlando taught them:

Claudia: We were really frustrated after Orlando because we knew that we played well and we knew that we should have honestly won with all the chances that we had. And I think it was like, oh, we are at this level. I think what we've said that last year was so difficult in so many ways, but it's like Orlando was like, oh, we have so much potential and we're there, we just need to finish it and we need to fix these little things. And I think that's what we do every day in training. It's like all the little mistakes that we've made earlier on in the season, you're still going to make them. But I think we've been so insistent on trying to fix those in training and I think that's related to the game. We're not giving up the same type of goals that we gave up earlier on in the year or even last year.

I think it is a credit to the coaches, staff, it's a credit to the players. I think everybody's just willing to put in the work, and we can play at that level. Obviously tonight, towards the end of the game, nobody wants to have to kick the ball long every single time, but that's what you have to do in this league to win. And I think we struggled with that with Orlando. It's like we had so many chances and we couldn't finish. And tonight, Lynn steps up big for us and finishes one of the few chances we have. So I think it's been fun, but I think Orlando was kind of like, whoa, we can do this. And then now we're doing this and we're just believing in each other and we're moving forward with that.