URFC v. Reign, Player of the Match: Christen Press

If you told me before the game that Christen Press would play a full 90 minutes, I would have been shocked. If you told me after the game that Christen Press played a full 90 minutes, I would still be shocked. In that hour and a half, Press brought an attacking excitement that the Royals have not yet seen this year. There was not a moment where she looked like she couldn’t be dangerous and in such a performance she took a game high of seven shots and put four of those on target.

What is, however, more impressive than the performance itself, were the circumstances surrounding it. Traveling from Sweden to the United States, back to Sweden, and then back to the United States in a matter of two weeks must be nothing short of exhausting. Added with the Utah altitude, less than 48 hours in Harvey’s system, and only one full team training session, it only made her performance all the more impressive and indicative of promising things to come.

Other Contenders

Katie Bowen - She appeared to be only somewhat above average on the stat sheet, taking two shots and making two tackles. However, off the stat report, she brought an incredible energy and defensive consistency having, perhaps, her best game yet in gold.

Amy Rodriguez - ARod combined with Christen Press extremely well. Before being taken off as a substitute in the 77th minute, she had only taken one shot which she put on target, but she created three important chances and accurately completed 17 of her 19 passes.

Becca Moros - The veteran defender created three chances - an impressive number for a defender - made two tackles and completed nearly 85% of her 40 passes.

Overall, it was a fantastic showing by an entire team - with other outstanding performances by Becky Sauerbrunn, Rachel Corsie, Desiree Scott, and others - but problems in regards to finishing remain unresolved.

*All statistics per NWSL Communications