Legacy’s five-game unbeaten streak ends as Seattle Reign win Boston’s Rhode Island debut

PAWTUCKET, R.I. — Boston Legacy FC’s five-game unbeaten streak, which brought the club out of the NWSL’s basement after five straight losses to open the season, came to an end Friday night. 

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In the Legacy’s first match at Centreville Bank Stadium — their summer home while the men’s World Cup takes over Gillette Stadium — Boston fell to the Seattle Reign, 2-1, in front of 9,141 fans. 

Seattle’s Sofia Huerta scored her first goal of the season on a penalty kick in the 11th minute, and Maddie Dahlien added an insurance tally early in the second half to hand Boston its first loss since April 25. 

Aissata Traoré scored in stoppage time, but the Legacy had no last-minute heroics this time around.

“We were not here today in regards to decisions and execution,” coach Filipa Patão said.

The Legacy have scored or conceded a penalty kick in each of their past three matches. Right back Jorelyn Carabali committed a handball in the box in the 7th minute, awarding Seattle a chance from the spot, and Huerta buried it past Legacy goalkeeper Casey Murphy. 

Huerta’s penalty was Seattle’s only major chance until Carabali committed a foul just outside the box in the 41st minute, awarding the Reign a free kick, but the Legacy’s wall of defenders broke up Huerta’s effort from 20 yards out. 

Boston had 55 percent of the possession and out-shot Seattle, 15-12, over the course of the game, but the Reign controlled much of the second half and doubled their lead in the 51st minute. 

Madison Curry sent a cross into the box, and Dahlien needed just one touch out of the air to poke it past Murphy.

“We had everything in our favor to win the game, but we lost control of the game in moments that it’s hard to lose,” Patão said. “When we suffer these types of goals [early in each half], it’s hard for the team to react.”

The Legacy, who lead the league in cards received (23 yellow, two red) and fouls committed (154), played a largely clean game. It was their first in which Boston didn’t receive a card of any color.

The Legacy were without defender Bianca St-Georges, who is serving a three-game suspension for the red card she earned in Boston’s 1-1 draw with Bay FC on May 15. She was initially issued a one-game suspension, which grew to three when the league on Thursday ruled the foul constituted a major game misconduct. 

The Legacy will return to Centreville Bank Stadium on July 5, the second of their seven matches at the venue this season. The playing surface is turf, rather than the top-notch grass the team has enjoyed at Gillette Stadium — meaning balls move faster and bounce harder than they did in Foxborough. (The grass at Gillette, installed for the World Cup, is scheduled to be removed after the tournament.)

The surface made life difficult for the Legacy, who prefer to play with the ball on the ground. By the final 10 minutes, Boston was playing more of its usual style, but Patão lamented that the change came too late. 

“It was a bad game for our side even [though] we have more possession, more shots, more everything,” Patão said. “We didn’t do 100 percent [of] what we can do.”

The 10,500-seat stadium, purpose-built for Rhode Island FC, offers a better fan experience and a glimpse into what the team’s future could look like at White Stadium, which has a planned capacity of 11,000.

The club is using the seven games in Pawtucket as a way to test elements of the fan experience that could translate when White is ready.

“The fans did their job,” Patão said. “The only ones that didn’t do the job was us.”

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