OL Reign is back on the road on Wednesday, May 31, for the second match of their three-game week. They’ll be heading to Snapdragon Stadium to face the San Diego Wave in an NWSL Challenge Cup match that kicks off at 7 PM PT and streams on Paramount+. The game will also stream on the NWSL website for international viewers.

OL Reign sits at the top of the Challenge Cup West group with a 1-0-1 record and four points. San Diego is right behind them, having won the only Challenge Cup game they’ve played so far — a 1-0 home win against the Portland Thorns.

Head to Head

OL Reign and San Diego have met once in 2023, a 1-0 regular-season with for the Reign thanks to a last-minute goal from Olivia Van der Jagt. The Reign are 3-0-2 all-time against the Wave, with both draws coming on the road in 2022.

Challenge Cup details

The Challenge Cup is an in-season tournament against NWSL teams. The tournament starts with a group stage, with three groups — West, Central and East — and four teams in each group. OL Reign is in the West group with San Diego, Portland and Angel City — who they already played twice.

The winner of each group, along with the runner-up with the most points, advances to the Challenge Cup semifinal on September 6, with the final on September 9. Most of the remaining Challenge Cup group-stage matches will take place during the start of the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

While the structure of the Challenge Cup doesn’t make as much sense as it did during the early stages of the pandemic, there is a lot on the line. Thanks to sponsor UKG, there’s a total of $1 million in prize money for the four teams that make the semifinals — putting the tournament prize pool level with similar men’s tournaments in the U.S.

What to Watch

Rotation

Similar to the last two Challenge Cup matches, expect OL Reign to lean heavily on its depth this match. With two big matches on either side of this Challenge Cup battle, head coach Laura Harvey is going to give plenty of minutes to her young players. San Diego is likely to do the same. It will also be a good match for Quinn and Van der Jagt to build their minutes, as both were out for a month.

“We have to rotate, there’s no doubt we have to do that with how tight the turnaround of games are,” OL Reign head coach Laura Harvey said in a pre-match press conference. “But we’ve done that in all of the Challenge Cup games so far and I think it’s a good opportunity for 1) to see the depth of our roster, and 2) to prepare ourselves for what potentially the World Cup is going to look like for us.”

Hard to beat

After some tough outcomes in prior weeks, the Reign and Wave both went back to the basics last weekend. For the Reign, that meant a 4-1 win against Angel City with a press that made things difficult all match. For the Wave, it was a hard-fought 1-1 draw with Portland where they sat deep and looked to catch Portland on the counter. Matches between the Reign and Wave have always been close, with both teams wanting to work hard and be hard to beat.

Harvey expects Wednesday’s match to be another defensive battle.

“I think in all the games that we’ve played, maybe bar one, it’s been a really tight scoring game and I don’t doubt that tomorrow will be any different. So, I think that we just have to go into it with the same mindset that we did on Saturday in terms of being good at the foundations of what we are.”

Transition play

San Diego has scored three goals in the regular season off high turnovers, the most in the league. While they aren’t a team that presses all the time, they are dangerous when they get the ball forward as quickly as possible after winning it. Can OL Reign contain the Wave in transition?

“They try and get in behind you pretty often, so that can be difficult to play against. I think that they have a lot of threats within the team, so you have to be willing to manage that and you need to be able to get at them quickly,” Harvey said.

Injury / Availability Report

OL Reign

OUT: Angelina (SEI - knee), Rose Lavelle (leg), Phoebe McClernon (D45 – back)

San Diego Wave

OUT: Abby Dahlkemper (SEI – back), Makenzy Doniak (thigh), Emily van Egmond (back), Kelsey Turnbow (back)

Referees

Lineups

Highlights

9’ - Nikki Stanton off the crossbar!

29’ - Ryanne Brown scores her first Reign goal and puts OL Reign up 1-0!!

54’ - Goal, Olivia Athens! And/or own goal! Either way, Jordyn Huitema puts in some good work to win the ball, dribble into the box, and cause some chaos with a ball across the goal. 2-0 OL Reign!

60’ - Tziarra King takes the ball endline and finds Huitema, who makes it 3-0!

63’ - Tziarra King off the crossbar! Nearly makes it 4-0.

How to Watch

Date/Time: Wednesday, May 31, 2023, 7 PM PT

Location: Snapdragon Stadium, San Diego

Streaming: Paramount+ (U.S.), NWSLSoccer.com (International)

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Join the Discussion

This is your OL Reign versus San Diego Wave, Challenge Cup gamethread. Join the discussion in the comments, and follow @RoValks on Twitter for live updates.