RECAP: Gotham FC gets “Reign”ed in Home Opener
Home openers in sports are supposed to be magical events designed to hail the beginning of a new season and of course fans want to obviously see the home side come off with a victory. This wasn’t the case for Gotham FC’s home opener this past Saturday night as they dropped a decisive 2-0 loss to the visiting OL Reign. Maybe blame the rain delay or blame anything else you want but Gotham FC is now looking at an even 1-1-0 record and the loss of critical points early in the season.
OL Reign provided much of the match fireworks.
OL Reign was in a curious early-season road trip with a loss to the Washington Spirit in the opening weekened of the NWSL season and rather than return home to Seattle, they elected to stay on the east coast. Maybe that decision to stay and train rather than go home ended up paying dividends in the long run because OL Reign easily looked like a side in control of the match. The significant rain delay didn’t help things and the fans who did stay around to watch this match didn’t see it go for the home side.
OL Reign midfielder Rose Lavelle was key to both goals for her squad in this match. Lavelle set up a pass from the right side to Jess Fishlock before halftime who hammered in the first goal – the first goals of the season for OL Reign as well. Fishlock nearly scored another goal just before the end of the first half when Gotham FC goalkeeper Abby Smith gave the ball back on a giveaway and Fishlock took a long-distance shot which went wide but could have been a dangerous 2-0 goal.
The second half brought another assist for Rose Lavelle as she bent in a classic corner kick from the right corner and after fighting over the ball in front of the goal, OL Reign’s Bethany Balcer tapped in a little kick out of the reach of Abby Smith which became an insurance goal in the Reigns’ road win on Saturday night.
Gotham FC had chances to win this match.
Despite the lack of goal-scoring from Gotham FC, there were quality scoring chances with Kristie Mewis leading the charge with multiple shooting chances -all of which were off the mark. Equally impressive was Midge Purce who was relentless in the attack and switched from the left side to the right side in the second half. It should be noted that Purce earned a yellow card late in this match for taking out not one but two Reign players simultaneously in a corner battle – even late on, Gotham FC showed some passion and fire as the moments on the clock ticked away in defeat.
Rookie Jenna Nighswonger was instrumental in multiple attacks from the left side as she was pushed up more often than not after coming into the match as a substitute. Lynn Williams provided needed offensive firepower as well and while all of Gotham FC’s shots fell off the mark, the pressure they provided in the attack kept this match interesting until the end.
Does Gotham FC need to make adjustments before the next match?
The first and obvious choice for Gotham FC to adjustment their match plan against the Orlando Pride on April 15th is to get Jenna Nighswongermore playing time. Along with inserting Sinead Farrelly in as a second half substitute, Nighswonger is in her element in an attacking mode and these personnel decisions make good sense for proper match management. Farrelly immediately made her presence known in the middle and was thoroughly in the mix fighting for 50-50 balls (and kudos to Farrelly for returning to the pitch after a multi-year absence from the sport.)
In the attack, unleash Midge Purce, Kristie Mewis and Lynn Williams to do what they do best-shoot and shoot a lot of goal chances. Through two games, Gotham FC has 20 shots on goal with only nine shots and target and two converted goals – a 10% goal scoring margin. Yes, Gotham FC missed the mark on Saturday night but you will always miss 100% of the shots you never take.
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