Megan Rapinoe Scores Her Seventh of the Year Against Utah Royals

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Megan Rapinoe Scores

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON (July 11, 2018) — It’s been mentioned once or twice this season.

Megan Rapinoe, the star striker for the Seattle Reign FC, can’t be stopped.

Rapinoe isn’t letting her 33 years of age define her. Right now, she’s playing the best soccer of her career and is getting higher and higher on Jill Ellis’ list for the U.S. Women’s National Team roster for next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Megan Rapinoe Scores Seventh of the Year in Seattle Reign’s Win Over Utah Royals

Rapinoe scored her seventh goal of the season Wednesday night in the Reign’s 1-0 victory over the Utah Royals FC.

The goal came in the 54th minute. Steph Catley, who features internationally for Australia and formerly starred for the Orlando Pride, tallied the assist.

Rapinoe took five shots in total, but only one registered on goal. It was enough though, going right past Royals goalkeeper Abby Smith.

Smith ended the night with zero saves on nine shots faced. Meanwhile, on the other end, Lydia Williams also registered zero saves on 10 shots faced.

Not a single player registered a shot on goal for Utah. After the match, Desiree Scott, who wore the captain’s armband for the first time in a Royals shirt, said that post-game frustrations were high.

“Everyone worked their butts off for 90 minutes,” Scott said. “We scraped, we fought, we battled, but it’s those little things like a header off a free-kick that gave them the only good chance they have. It’s frustrating not to get away.”

“Unfortunately we couldn’t do it, but we have another game in two days, so we have to look at the next task,” Scott said.

Three Takeaways

  1. No Sam Johnson for next match: For that next match that Scott mentioned – which will be against the Orlando Pride on Saturday – Samantha Johnson will be forced to sit out. Her yellow card from the Chicago Red Stars have carried over to the Royals and with her yellow against Seattle, Johnson has five. She’ll serve a one-match suspension.
  2. Katie Bowen returns: Against Portland, defender Katie Bowen was given an excused absence. She returned against the Reign, featuring 90 minutes for Laura Harvey. “I missed being with the team in Portland – and obviously we are disappointed with these two results – but we have to bounce back because we have another game on Saturday. I felt really good out there, just disappointed with the result.”
  3. No safe spot for Utah: Right now, the Houston Dash are creeping up on the Utah Royals. Utah currently sits in sixth-place with 21 points, but Houston is right behind with 20 points. However, Both clubs have a realistic shot at making the playoffs. It’s just a matter of who can garner more crucial points.

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