OL Reign beat Boston Lodge 2:0 in the NWSL Group Stage at Lumen Field on Friday. The hosts took all three points despite Boston Lodge controlling 59 per cent of possession. Jessica Fishlock scored both goals for the home side, first in the 23rd minute and again in the 64th. The result keeps Reign in eighth place on 40 points while Boston Lodge drop further to 14th on 26.
There was a yellow card for Boston Lodge's Deja Nicole Davis in the 18th minute, a booking that came before Fishlock opened the scoring. And here's the thing — the early caution seemed to settle the visitors rather than unsettle them. They kept coming forward, pushed on into the final third, but could not turn their territory into chances.
Fishlock's second goal in the 64th minute was the moment that changed everything. By then Boston Lodge had already made a substitution, bringing on Barbara Olivieri for the booked player. The home side responded with their own changes, bringing on Sammy Smith and Mia Fishel in the 75th minute, then Ryanne Brown and Ryanne Brown in the 77th. To be fair, Boston Lodge had nothing to lose and threw bodies forward, but the defense held its shape.
The statistics tell you a lot about the shape of the game. Reign managed five shots on target from 11 attempts while Boston Lodge hit just two on target from four. The home side created two big chances; the visitors created none. Total passes were 322 for Reign against 488 for Boston Lodge, but accuracy tells the real story — 77 per cent success for the hosts, 83 per cent for the visitors, yet the shots outside the penalty area show where the danger lay.
Reign now sit on 40 points from 26 games, four ahead of the teams around them. Boston Lodge remain 14th, 14 points off the top half. The hosts had lost their last two before coming for this, while the visitors had won one of their last five. What matters now is the momentum, and that belongs to the home side.
