Sofia Huerta scored a penalty in the 67th minute, leading the Seattle Reign to a 2-1 victory over the visiting Utah Royals on Friday night, thereby securing a place in the National Women’s Soccer League playoffs.
With this win, the Reign (10-7-8) ascended to third in the standings and extended their unbeaten streak at Seattle’s Lumen Field to seven matches.
Ainsley McCammon opened the scoring just before halftime with a header from a cross by Maddie Dahlien, marking the 18-year-old’s first goal.
The Royals (5-13-7) equalized in the 61st minute with Paige Monaghan‘s powerful shot from outside the box that curved over Reign goalkeeper Claudia Dickey and into the top corner.
Shortly after, Huerta was awarded a penalty after a foul by Utah’s Bianca St-Georges
Reign captain Lauren Barnes, who plans to retire at the season’s conclusion, started the match and recently made history as the first player to reach 250 regular-season appearances.
Having spent her entire career with the Reign since the league’s inception in 2013, Barnes has now played in 251 out of the team’s 277 games.
In other action, Manaka Matsukubo scored a hat trick as the North Carolina Courage claimed a crucial 4-1 win against Bay FC, keeping their playoff hopes alive.
Matsukubo netted her first goal in the third minute, which slipped past Bay’s goalkeeper Jordan Silkowitz, and scored again in the eighth minute.
Penelope Hocking managed to score for Bay just before halftime.
Shinomi Koyama increased the lead to 3-1 for the Courage in the 74th minute, followed by Matsukubo’s final goal in the 80th minute.
The Courage (8-8-9) were just outside the playoff position, one point behind Racing Louisville for the last qualifying spot with one regular-season match remaining. This win broke a three-match winless streak for North Carolina.
Bay FC (4-13-8) has already been eliminated from playoff contention.