With this awesome win, the midfielder Lauren Holiday will retire after getting the second title this year.
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Kansas City stars are again the difference.
But after the game and after hoisting yet another trophy, tears finally filled Holiday’s eyes. And again the retiring Holiday was involved in the winning goal on Thursday night. Seattle was undefeated in nine straight matches going into the championship, and had not dropped a match since July 18 at the Washington Spirit.The Blues finished 10-6-5 this season, with a roster that includes US national team players Holiday, Rodriguez, OReilly and Becky Sauerbrunn. Is this the year Solo adds the NWSL championship to her impressive resume? “I’m just so proud of this team, there’s not a better team in the league – in my opinion – to play on”. “And to win for club and country is absolutely the best feeling in the world”. A Blues possession turned the momentum in their favor in the 78th minute when Rodriquez scored on a header from 6 yards out for a 1-0 FC Kansas City advantage.
Sounder at Heart: “Since coming to the NWSL from English power Arsenal, Little has been arguably the league’s best player and surely the most consistent offensive performer”. Down to the detail of the specific restaurant chain at which they ate, Andonovski recalled sitting with director of soccer operations Huw Williams hours after winning the title and telling his friend the Blues needed to trade for O’Reilly if they wanted to retain what they won. Seven minutes later, Kansas City’s Amy LePeilbet got to a ball in front of the Seattle goal, but sent her header just wide. But the Reign never played up to its level when it dominated teams throughout the NWSL season.
The Reign mustered just one more shot on target after conceding, which also came from Rapinoe. Looseness is in this team’s DNA, and more than one player credits the team’s success to the relaxed locker room vibe that coach Laura Harvey has encouraged. I think that’s what this year has been all about. Much of the criticism was directed at the late timing of the announcements, but they proved to be the right moves. The crowd got into the game – making for good television – even though it was nowhere near as loud as for Thorns games when capos lead the Portland supporters in song.
Five minutes into the second half, Both O’Reilly and Rodriguez challenged Solo from just inside the penalty area, but it was Seattle’s Megan Rapinoe who came closest to snapping the scoreless deadlock, hitting the left post with a bending shot out of reach of the diving Barnhart in the 63rd minute.
Merritt Paulson, owner of the NWSL’s Thorns and Major League Soccer’s Portland Timbers, announced that a few 12,000 tickets had been sold for the final, which will make it the league’s best-attended championship match. No other women’s professional soccer league in the United States has played into a fourth year. She didn’t get a chance to play many minutes in the former. She won two NCAA titles with North Carolina. She won two Olympic gold medals with the national team and a World Cup to go along with her 2013 NWSL MVP award.
October 1 in Portland, Ore.
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At that point, Seattle threw everyone forward while Kansas City was content to sit back and defend.
