52' 2-0 Reign finally advance ball past midfield. Balcer passes to Spencer at 15m wide right, with a 4-v-4. Spencer creeps into 10m mid-right, elects to shoot but slices it way over. 53' 2-0 Portland subs in { 1st of 3 }: - (2 of 5) #15 Madison Pocargh for #18 Christen Westphal - (3 of 5) #9 Sophia Smith for #34 Tyler Lussi. 54' 2-0 Portland somehow outnumber Reign in Reign's box. Smith plays a give-and-go(?), shoots from 8m right post, blocked by legs. 55' 2-0 Spencer cuts inside to 12m 6-right, left foot shross never bends, wide left. Reign's tempo on attack is a bit too frenetic.
56' 3-0 Horan shoots from arc top left, Brooks blocks it high. Klingenberg knocks ball down box left to 12m. Charley crosses one-touch, it partially deflects off Spencer's foot, to 10m 2/5 left. Rodríguez swings knee-high left roundhouse golaaaaaaazo into back left high, over Betos's stretch. As pure as a strike you'll see. Take a bow, @raque_rocky 🤩3-0 | #PORvRGNTune in now on @Twitch.#NWSLFallSeries | #VerizonCommunityShield pic.twitter.com/f6ulV6gzir— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) October 1, 2020 60' 3-0 Long directs from 25m center, passes wide right to Spencer at box top. Spencer eyes the bending ground cross to 6-top center, mishits whatever she had in mind, floats it harmlessly to Eckerstrom. 64' 3-0 OL Reign subs in { 1st of 3 }: - (1 of 5) #17 Danielle Weatherholt for #6 Allie Long - (2 of 5) #35 Leah Pruitt for #31 Rosie White.
65' 3-0 Spencer runs onto a loose ball at 10m center, shoots one-touch left instep to 1/4 left 1/2 high, Eckerstrom dives and blocks it away through box left. 66' 3-0 Portland subs in { 2nd of 3 }: - (4 of 5) #22 Morgan Weaver for #38 Simone Charley. 69' 3-0 Klingenberg shields ball over endline box right, Pruitt runs around her and exuberantly hip-bumps her down into a barrel roll, no call. 70' 3-0 Spencer(?) rounds Hubly down wide right, Hubly slides and pokes ball over endline. 71' 3-1 Cox right ck, short to Cruz at 15m wide right. Cruz turns down box right to 6-top, crosses to 5m 1/4 left. Balcer jumps behind Sinclair and chest-bumps her aside, heads a bloop into 1/4 left back 1/2 high. .@bethanybalcer claws a goal back for @OLReign. 3-1 | #PORvRGNTune in now on @Twitch. #NWSLFallSeries | #VerizonCommunityShield pic.twitter.com/96cikwzNpM— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) October 1, 2020
74' 4-1 Horan dribbles through box top right to 12m mid-right, backpass to Sinclair at 17m right post. Sinclair traps with left foot, ball bounces up, Cruz darts in to press -- but Sinclair instantly taps right shin and steps past Cruz, to box top center. Cox steps up to 16m, Sinclair taps right instep into space and steps past her, all alone to 9m 2-left -- then taps left instep roller just inside Betos's left hand, into back right low. A hat trick for @sincy12 😍4-1 | #PORvRGNTune in now on @Twitch. #NWSLFallSeries | #VerizonCommunityShield pic.twitter.com/8wKu5zW2jG— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) October 1, 2020
82' 4-1 OL Reign subs in { 2nd of 3 }: - (3 of 5) #99 Madison Hammond for #23 Taylor Smith - (4 of 5) #12 Morgan Andrews for #24 Bethany Balcer - (5 of 5) #18 Miranda Nild for #22 Jasmyne Spencer. 84' 4-1 S.Smith steals, Weaver counters to arc top right. Ground cross to arc top mid-left, Horan runs on and shoots one-touch left foot to left post 1/2 high, Betos dives and blocks it over. 84' 4-1 Portland subs in { 3rd of 3 }: - (5 of 5) # Emily Ogle for #34 Angela Salem. 85' 4-1 Portland longball to 8m left post, Horan rounds Weatherholt and dive-heads toward right post low. Betos dives and pushes it just wide right past S.Smith sliding on knees.
87' 4-1 Scramble in box, Weaver holds at 3m mid-left, backpass to S.Smith at 7m left post. S.Smith turns ccw, drives centerward and has a window, but Reign blast ball clear off her foot. 88' 4-1 Cox fouls Pogarch at circle top wide right. 89' 4-1 Portland right ck. 90' 4-1 Sinclair crosses from 24m wide left to 5m 5-right, Horan jumps between 2 and glances ball over endline right. 90' 4-1 Weaver drives down wide left 1-v-2, loses ball. 90' 4-1 S.Smith passes to Horan at 14m mid-right ... +3'. FT 4-1. Reign couldn't even get the ball to attack. That might be a realistic level for this OL Reign roster -- but they could start with a sense of urgency. Portland 20(8)-(8)10 shots(sog), 11-5 corners, 26-21 crosses vs. 16-22 clearances, 4-1 offsides, 10-11 fouls, 60% possession.
With this result, Portland are in the driver's seat for the Community Shield, as they haven't dropped a single point in their first two matches and have an amazing GD, with *every* team now having played at least two matches. Five teams have dropped 5pts in the Fall Series so far, two have dropped 3pts, and one (NC) have dropped 2pts.
I think this was the first game at which Canadian player Kaylyn Kyle was the analyst. My appraisal. For a player I considered rough and tough, she has a surprisingly pleasant voice, and is a fluid and articulate speaker. On the bad side, she talks too much and too long, but I think she has a future as a broadcaster -- because she can communicate. I've always liked Kyle, possibly because she is from one of the places in the world with the best names: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, the combined meaning of those two words in the Cree language roughly being. "A swiftly flowing river which is a good place to cut willow branches to make arrows."
just think. New York and the Hudson River could have kept their names in another Algonkian language and Trump Tower would be in Manaháhtaan Muhheakantuck, which means “the place we gather bows on the River that flows both ways” in Delaware Munsee ( Lenape). (the Hudson is a tidal estuary for 153 miles past Albany NY.) they could be sister cities.