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Reign, Breakers share spoils in 1-1 draw at Memorial

Seattle, Washington - Saturday, July 2nd, 2016: Seattle Reign FC forward Nahomi Kawasumi (36) during a regular season National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) match between the Seattle Reign FC and the Boston Breakers at Memorial Stadium. Seattle won 2-0. (ISI Photo)

The Reign and Breakers traded 1st half goals at Memorial Stadium on Saturday night and then settled for a 1-1 draw that dropped the Reign below the playoff line. Nahomi Kawasumi had her 32nd minute goal cancelled out by Adriana Leon near the end of the half. The teams played scoreless the rest of the way.

The Breakers made a goalkeeper change, restoring Abby Smith to the XI despite a club record 316 straight shutout minutes by her injury replacement Sammy Jo Prudhomme. The team streak reached 348 before a poor clearance by Smith allowed Kawasumi to steal it and blast a shot into the upper corner where an out-of-position keeper had no chance at it.

The Breakers went level in the 43rd. After the Reign cleared a corner kick the Breakers recycled and Amanda Frisbie—in for suspended Allysha Chapman—found Christen Westphal on the right side after Angela Salem dummied it. Westphal delivered a probing cross near the top of the six that Haley Kopmeyer probably could have caught had she played it aggressively. But Kopmeyer elected to stay home and the pass found Adriana Leon splitting two defenders and scoring with a redirect that was not as routine as she made it look.

The Reign (5-3-6, 21 pts) dropped to 5th place, a point behind their rival Thorns and 2 points behind Sky Blue who will visit Memorial Stadium next Saturday. The Breakers (3-6-5, 14 pts) leapfrogged Kansas City into 8th place. They’re in Houston next Saturday to face the Dash.

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