Unpacking the Reign’s 3-0 Challenge Cup win.

On Wednesday evening, OL Reign headed south for a Challenge Cup match against the San Diego Wave. While previous battles between the two sides have been tight matches — almost all decided by one goal or a draw — Wednesday’s match was a 3-0 cruise to victory for the Reign.

With another three-match week, OL Reign head coach Laura Harvey once again opted for significant rotation. The Reign’s depth stood out again, keeping the Reign at the top of the Challenge Cup West standings — with 7 points after three matches.

Here are three stats that help tell the story of OL Reign’s midweek victory.

51

Welcome back, Quinn. After missing much of the start of OL Reign’s season with back-to-back injuries, Quinn is working their way back into the lineup and went 90 minutes on Wednesday. They were the maestro in the midfield, helping the team build in the attack and providing cover to the rotated backline.

Quinn led the team with 51 completed passes, including a solid 89.5% pass success rating. They also had the most passes into the final third (14), the most shot-creating actions (3), and the most recoveries (11). It’s so nice to have Quinn back — there are not many midfielders better at moving the ball in the league.

0

After three Challenge Cup games, OL Reign has three shutouts. San Diego, who also had a heavily rotated lineup, had seven shots total — none of them very dangerous. Goalkeeper Claudia Dickey only had to make two easy saves to earn a clean sheet, her league-leading second in the tournament.

Three shutouts are especially impressive because of how much Harvey has rotated the squad, especially the backline. Shae Holmes has started all three matches, and it’s easy to forget that she is a rookie. She’s been steady — leading the team in blocks, interceptions, and completed passes in the Challenge Cup.

Ryanne Brown has earned the minutes she’s getting at fullback and was rewarded with a goal on Wednesday night thanks to a far-post run into the box (and a great near-post run from Veronica Latsko to pull away defenders).

Alyssa Malonson stepped on as a sub and won two tackles and had one interception and one clearance in her 29 minutes. Nikki Stanton has been a veteran presence in the midfield — keeping the team organized and applying pressure where needed.

That all added up to Harvey being pleased, again, with the team’s collective defensive approach.

“We made some choices after the Gotham game to decide what we felt was really important for us as a team to collectively move forward, and defending as a group and defending as a team and being on the front foot and being aggressive was honestly the foundation of that. Not only did we do that on Saturday in the Angel City game, but we made the decision to do that tonight, and I think that that has to be what we do every week.”

7

In what didn’t feel like a particularly physical match, referee Anya Voigt handed out seven yellow cards, including three in the first half to OL Reign (Emily Sonnett, Holmes, and Stanton). She also called 23 fouls — 12 for the Wave and 11 for the Reign.

Despite the early yellow cards, OL Reign didn’t stop applying pressure or change their game plan. That fight was a big reason for the Reign’s second goal, as Jordyn Huitema applied pressure on San Diego’s outside back to win the ball and charge forward.

“They [San Diego] had the ball potentially more than we would like, but everything was in front of us and I don’t think they got in behind us too often, which was good. I think, overall, just very professional,” Harvey said when asked about her thoughts on the match.

OL Reign will close out the three-match week in a big match at Lumen Field on Saturday when they host the Portland Thorns in a doubleheader with the Sounders. That game kicks off at 5 PM PT and will air on CBS Sports Network, which means it won’t stream simultaneously on Paramount+.