The 2018
Seattle Reign FC season was the club's sixth season of play and their sixth season in the
National Women's Soccer League
The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federatio ...
, the top division of women's soccer in the United States. After finishing fifth in the league for two consecutive seasons, the Reign finished third to return to the
playoffs
The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...
, where they lost to
Portland Thorns FC in the semi-final.
Vlatko Andonovski replaced
Laura Harvey
Laura Harvey (born 15 May 1980) is an English football manager and former player who currently manages OL Reign of the American National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She holds USSF "A" and UEFA "A" coaching licenses.
Harvey previously managed ...
as head coach on November 7, 2017. Andonovski was previously the head coach of
FC Kansas City
FC Kansas City was an American professional women's soccer club based in Kansas City, Missouri. The team was one of the eight founding clubs of the National Women's Soccer League in 2012, and began play in 2013. They were two-time NWSL champions ...
.
This was ultimately the club's last season of their first stint in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
, as well as its last as Seattle Reign FC. During the 2018–19 offseason, the club's principal owners, Bill and Teresa Predmore, announced that the team would move to
Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...
for 2019 and beyond, rebranding as Reign FC. In addition, the team gained two new minority investors—the ownership group of the
Tacoma Rainiers, a
Triple-A Minor League Baseball team in the
Pacific Coast League
The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...
, and
Adrian Hanauer
Adrian Hanauer (born February 7, 1966) is an American businessman and majority owner of Seattle Sounders FC of Major League Soccer. He is also one of the minority owners of the Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League, and a former minority o ...
, the principal owner of the region's
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...
team,
Seattle Sounders FC
Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began ...
. Reign FC played in the Rainiers' home of
Cheney Stadium. A new soccer stadium in Tacoma, already planned for the Sounders'
USL Championship affiliate
Tacoma Defiance
Tacoma Defiance, formerly Seattle Sounders FC 2, is an American professional soccer team based in Tacoma, Washington, U.S. that competes in the MLS Next Pro, the third tier of the national soccer pyramid, as the reserve team of Seattle Sounders ...
, was expected to be built by 2021, with Reign FC to move in upon its completion. However, in December 2021, it was announced that the club would return to Seattle.
Club
Coaching staff
Roster
:''As of July 16, 2018.''
Competitions
''All times are in PT unless otherwise noted.''
Preseason
Regular season
Regular-season standings
= Results summary
=
= Results by round
=
Playoffs
Appearances and goals
:''Only players who have made appearances are listed.''
, -
, colspan="14", ''Goalkeepers:''
, -
, -
, colspan="14", ''Defenders:''
, -
, -
, colspan="14", ''Midfielders:''
, -
, -
, colspan="14", ''Forwards:''
, -
, -
, colspan="14", ''Players who left the club during the season:''
, -
, -
Awards
The Best FIFA Women's Player
The Best FIFA Women's Player is a football
award presented annually by the sport's governing body, FIFA, since 2016, to honour the player deemed to have performed the best over the previous calendar year. From 2001 to 2015, the award was known ...
*
Megan Rapinoe (nominee)
Ballon d'Or
The Ballon d'Or (; ) is an annual football award presented by French news magazine ''France Football'' since 1956. Between 2010 and 2015, in an agreement with FIFA, the award was temporarily merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year (fo ...
*
Megan Rapinoe (shortlisted)
ESPY Awards
* Best NWSL Player:
Megan Rapinoe
* Best International Women's Soccer Player:
Jodie Taylor (nominee)
The Guardian 100 Best Footballers in The World
* No. 10:
Megan Rapinoe
* No. 36:
Jodie Taylor
* No. 89:
Nahomi Kawasumi
is a Japanese footballer who plays for NJ/NY Gotham FC. A full international since 2008, she won gold at the 2011 World Cup as well as silver at the 2012 London Olympics and 2015 World Cup. During the 2011 World Cup, she scored two goals—in ...
NWSL season awards
* Most Valuable Player:
Megan Rapinoe (finalist)
* Goalkeeper of the Year:
Lydia Williams (finalist)
* Coach of the Year:
Vlatko Andonovski (finalist)
* Best XI:
Megan Rapinoe
* Second XI:
Steph Catley
Stephanie-Elise Catley (born 26 January 1994) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a defender for Arsenal and the Australia national team. She can play in many positions in defence, such as left-back, centre-back or sw ...
,
Lydia Williams
Team season awards
* Most Valuable Player:
Megan Rapinoe
* Defender of the Year:
Lauren Barnes
* Newcomer of the Year:
Allie Long
* Golden Boot:
Jodie Taylor (9)
NWSL Player of the Month
NWSL Team of the Month
NWSL Player of the Week
NWSL Goal of the Week
NWSL Save of the Week
Contract extensions
Transfers
For transfers in, dates listed are when the Reign FC officially signed the players to the roster. Transactions where only the rights to the players are acquired (e.g., draft picks) are not listed, and amateur call-ups are not considered official signings either. For transfers out, dates listed are when the Reign FC officially removed the players from its roster, not when they signed with another club. If a player later signed with another club, her new club will be noted, but the date listed here remains the one when she was officially removed from the Reign FC roster.
Transfers in
Draft picks
Draft picks are not automatically signed to the team roster. Only those who are signed to a contract will be listed as transfers in. Only trades involving draft picks and executed on the days of the
2018 NWSL College Draft
The 2018 NWSL College Draft was the sixth annual meeting of National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchises to select eligible college players. It was held on January 18, 2018 at the United Soccer Coaches Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvani ...
and the
2018 NWSL Dispersal Draft The 2018 NWSL Dispersal Draft was held by the National Women's Soccer League on January 30, 2018, after the Boston Breakers ceased operations on January 28, 2018. The draft order is determined using a random weighted draw based on teams' playoffs q ...
, respectively, will be listed in the notes.
Loans in
Transfers out
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seattle Reign Football Club 2018 Season
OL Reign seasons
Seattle Reign
2018 National Women's Soccer League season
American soccer clubs 2018 season
Seattle Reign