OL Reign championship opportunity was a winding path in 2023
OL Reign will be playing in the club’s third NWSL Championship match on Saturday evening in San Diego. Yet, the 2023 final, even for a club loaded with talent and with high expectations, has come about in a most improbable way. Coming off a season where the club had grabbed their third NWSL Shield in 2022 and was returning the bulk of the roster, the run towards a first star above the crest was clearly to be expected.
When the 2023 NWSL Best XI teams were announced over the past week, no Reign players were among the 22 that were voted in. The Reign is loaded with stars and internationals, but key players like Rose Lavelle and Megan Rapinoe missed significant portions of the season. Even players like Jordyn Huitema simply didn’t get voted in ahead of other league stars. The emergence of Emily Sonnett into one of the best sixes in the league did not get her enough votes.
The roster was built for the ridiculous schedule of 2023. Knowing almost a starting eleven would be missing for significant swaths of the season, Coach Laura Harvey set the team up for Challenge Cup success and played her depth throughout league matches.
The Challenge Cup ended early in the semifinal, but the group phase saw the Reign’s depth on display as they went six matches without conceding a goal, and split time with their then backup keepers. Goalkeeper Claudia Dickey’s play was so solid it led to a late season change in the nets and the departure of Phallon Tullis-Joyce to Manchester United.
The regular season saw the club have much early success, which helped it weather a stunning run later in the season when goals simply did not come and points were dropped. They recovered with a late surge and some line up tweeks, hosted a playoff first round match, and then went on the road and took the semifinal from shield winners San Diego Wave.
USWNT legend Megan Rapinoe announced her pending retirement during the summer while at the world cup. The announcement allowed the club to celebrate her career and the other OG’s of the Reign, Jessica Fishlock and Lauren Barnes. As the season wound down and the points became essential, the notion of what game would be Pinoe’s last seemed to loom large over the club. A record setting crowd in the regular season home finale was a celebration of the player and the club that seems to have placed the Reign in a higher profile place in Seattle sports.
The season saw the emergence of young players like Dickey, but also the ongoing development of young players like Bethany Balcer and Olivia van der Jagt. Phoebe McClernon became the regular outside back and contributed the assist on Veronica Latsko’s late playoff winning goal. For a club built seemingly on stars and names, the reality is that the depth of the club was its biggest strength. Players up and down the roster contributed in the regular season and challenge cup, with a competitive training environment that served the side well.
Even as Rapinoe retires, the returning players for 2024 and beyond sets the club up for ongoing success. They will lose talent in the expansion draft, but the club has proven capable of finding and developing players.
Big questions remain to be answered in the offseason. The club is for sale, and information on that sale has been sparse, with the likelihood of a need to rebrand away from OL coming. Harvey was in the rumor mill in regards to the vacant USWNT job, but is also under contract already.
With the final on network television in prime time, and the known final matches of Rapinoe and Gotham FC defender Ali Krieger a public focus, the NWSL Championship has a good chance of being one of the most watched matches in league history.