Reign Training Notebook: Capitalizing on momentum
Reign showed momentum against Portland, Tuesday’s training focused on turning that momentum into goals
TUKWILA, Wash. — Tuesday’s sun-soaked training session for the OL Reign was focused on refinement, rather than reinvention, after the tough loss three days earlier to the Portland Thorns. All the players were out on the field, with Angelina a full participant, Rose Lavelle participating in some drills, and Jessica Fishlock with Phoebe McClernon mostly doing work on the side.
Coach Laura Harvey shared that Angelina is “really close,” Lavelle and McClernon are on a similar timeline, and Fishlock is day-to-day with a newer injury. However, she expects all of them to be back within two to three weeks.
Harvey felt that the loss to the Thorns was different from their 4-1 home loss against Gotham FC on May 21, and that was part of her conversations with the team: “This isn’t how we felt after the Gotham game. After the Gotham game, it was like, ‘Right, we need to get back to basics, talk about the things of who we actually are,’ and I think we showed that in the Portland game. We just didn’t show the quality in the moments that we needed to.”
Harvey especially felt that the Reign needed to finish the quality opportunities they generated. She said, “We had periods of momentum in the game and we didn’t capitalize on them. We had chances to score, we didn’t take them, and that changes games.”
She also contrasted the momentum you can build from finishing chances with the frustration that can set in, leading the players to question what they do in those situations.
“[W]hat we spoke about to the team today as a group was, in those moments, when we are having momentum, one, how do we keep it, and two, how do we capitalize on it.”
The tail end of training was focused on building attacks from the midfield and trying to capitalize on quality chances. Sofia Huerta, Quinn and Lauren Barnes joined the offense to help generate some dangerous crosses, and players were used across the front line to test how different permutations might work against Kansas City. Huerta unsurprisingly put in some of the best crosses of the day, but as far as I saw the crosses didn’t quite connect or the finishing wasn’t quite there. But it is hard to fault the offense for being unable to beat Alana Cook, Sam Hiatt and Phallon Tullis-Joyce (along with the other players that rotated in throughout the drills), over about 20 minutes.
Looking ahead, Harvey said that the upcoming Women’s World Cup largely isn’t affecting her approach to the upcoming matches, though she recognizes that she may need to make some adjustments for the June 24 match against San Diego Wave. That will be the last match before national team players depart for the World Cup, and any changes will be more to ensure the roster is ready for a three-game week, with matches against the Portland Thorns on June 28 and Racing Louisville on July 1.
The OL Reign’s next match is this weekend, Saturday, June 10 at 7 PM PT at Lumen Field, and will be the last chance for Seattle fans to see the national team players at home before they depart for the World Cup.