The Missouri Reign have quickly reached the halfway point in the season, as last week's matchup against Missouri Rush marked the final unique divisional opponent to be faced. The remaining four games will all be rematches, with the home and away teams switched. 

On Saturday, June 13, the Reign take on FC Pride. It will be a home game for the Reign, at 4:45 on Marvin Owens Stadium. The battle will be a rematch of the May 23rd contest that saw FC Pride capture a 4-1 victory at home.  

Head Coach Dakota Acock hopes for a different outcome this time around

“We have grown a lot since {the match against} Pride. We know they will be physical and aggressive, they have quality coaches and players, and we know that we will have to match that intensity right out of the gate,” Acock said.

He notes that some players have been stepping into larger roles as the season progresses and the coaches are able to better discern the teams strengths and weaknesses. 

Over the weekend, the Reign took on the Missouri Rush in a match that concluded with the teams second tie of the season with a final score of 2-2. 

The game was a back and forth battle, the Reign struck first in the 21st minute with a goal by Callie McMurtrey. However, the Rush found an equalizer right before halftime, sending both teams to break even at 1-1. 

The Rush stayed hot after the half and took the lead a few minutes into the second half. The Missouri Reign stuck with it, and eventually got exactly what they needed when Rebecca Rheinheimer put her team leading third goal of the season in the back of the net to tie the game in the 86th minute. 

Coach Acock was pleased with the outcome, but still knows that the team is capable of more.

“It says a lot about their determination to overcome adverse moments. It’s hard to go up 1-0 and have a couple mistakes and then all of a sudden we're down 2-1, then to dig your way back into it,” Acock said. “Not only did they do that, they had multiple other chances in that last 20 minutes that could have been another goal to win. We came up short, but we got better and we learned.”  

The second half of the schedule brings more opportunity for the Reign to continue improving and capture the teams first win of the season. 

“We want to continue the steady improvement. We know that everyone else will do so, and now that we have a home friendly schedule we hope to get some of those results that we were close to obtaining in front of our home fans,” Acock said.