NWSL Challenge Cup: OL Reign searches for answers up front
- by Paul Kennedy @pkedit, Jul 8, 2020
The start has surely been disappointing for the club's new French owner, OL Groupe. It brought in a Frenchman, Farid Benstiti, to coach the team, and he said his players have played well until they get to the finishing stage.
“We really are very good sometimes when we go to the goal and then something stops,” he said Tuesday's media session. “It’s like we have zones one, two and three. And we [do well] in only one and two [but] the three is very important."
After tying Sky Blue FC, 0-0, in the opener, OL Reign fell to Houston, 2-0, on Saturday. The good news was it had 58 percent of possession against the Dash. The bad: it managed just eight shots.
OL Reign entered the tournament without Megan Rapinoe, and injured Jess Fishlock and Sofia Huerta have yet to play in Utah, where it faces the host Royals on Wednesday.
"We want to be able to create more chances," said forward Jodie Taylor, who was second on the team in scoring in 2019 with five goals. “Headed into the Utah game, that’s what we want to do. We want to be more dangerous in front of the goal, and hopefully we’ll see that.”
