Reign open the season with weather-delayed 2-1 road win over the Orlando Pride
Reign open the season with weather-delayed 2-1 road win over the Orlando Pride
PHUOC NGUYENMon, March 16, 2026 at 1:53 AM UTC
0
Angel City FC defender Savy King practices with her National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) at the Angel City Performance Center in Thousand Oaks, Calif., Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) ()
Brittany Ratcliffe’s scored a late goal to give the Seattle Reign a 2-1, rain-delayed victory on the road against the Orlando Pride on Sunday.
Angel City also opened the National Women's Soccer League season with a 4-0 victory over the Chicago Stars in Los Angeles.
The Reign opened the scoring in the 24th minute. Nérilia Mondésir slipped in a pass to Jess Fishlock who put on a few nifty moves to put the visitors ahead 1-0.
In the 42nd minute, off a corner kick delivery from Jacquie Ovalle, defender Rafaelle appeared to have tied it up, but it was called back due to a foul.
After a lengthy weather delay of some three hours, Haley McCutcheon would find Barbra Banda in the 51st minute for the equalizer. Orlando received a major boost when Banda was removed from the season-ending injury list early this week.
Five minutes after subbing on, Ratcliffe headed home the winner in the 83rd minute, with Mondésir providing her second assist of the game.
Fuller and Borges lead Angel City in season-opening rout
Midfielders Kennedy Fuller and Ary Borges had a goal and assist apiece in Angel City’s dominant win over the Stars.
Angel City FC found a breakthrough goal in the 33rd minute from Fuller. Chicago goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher went to make the save, but the ball slipped through her outstretched arms.
Advertisement
After four successive corners, Evelyn Shores doubled the lead on an open header because of a defensive breakdown by Chicago.
In the 66th minute, the Stars tried to play out of the back and paid the price. Ary Borges intercepted the pass and slot it home to make it 3-0.
Sveindís Jónsdóttir found an open Maiara Niehues for the final tally.
The four goals were the most ACFC has scored since a 4-3 thriller over Washington Spirit on May 2, 2025.
Angel City defender Savy King returned to play for the first time since suffering a cardiac event during a game on May 9th, 2025 that led to open heart surgery. She subbed into the match in the 63rd minute.
Forward Jordyn Huitema started for Chicago after being acquired in a trade this week from Seattle.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Source: “AOL Sports”
