Fishlock brace overtakes Rapinoe’s Reign scoring record, wins game

Playing in her final season, Seattle Reign midfielder Jess Fishlock scored twice against the Boston Legacy on Friday night to bring her all-time regular season total to 52. The brace in the 2-0 victory took her past fellow Reign original and legend Megan Rapinoe’s previous franchise record of 51.

“Well, officially, I can’t wait to text her and tell her that unfortunately I broke her record,” Fishlock joked postgame before more seriously saying she doesn’t keep track of any stats like that. “When I go into games or whatever, obviously it’s nice to just know that I’ve played for so long and I’m doing something useful. But it’s more about the team and what we were able to kind of do today.”

Fishlock went on to heap praise on her teammates for making the player of the match performance possible.

“I know that I have the capabilities of doing these things, and I’m going to trust myself, and I’m going to trust my my talent, but at the end of the day, it’s not just about me. The reason I was able to shoot in the first goal was Mia [Fishel]. Mia’s run took the defender, opened up the space … [allowing] me time to get a shot off, right? And it allows me time to make sure it’s quality shot. And the second one, there’s this girl next to me,” Fishlock said gesturing to Maddie Dahlien sitting next to her. “She runs, she takes the defender, plays a perfect pass, it opens up. And so yes, I take the shots, I take the goals, but it’s never just about me on my own. It’s such a team effort, and without these players around me doing what they do, then I don’t get the opportunities to trust myself.”

Fishlock scored both goals from outside the box. Before Friday, the last time Fishlock scored from that distance was October 10, 2021 — the year she won NWSL MVP. Her last brace was scored on April 22, 2023 — Rapinoe’s last season that ended with a run to the NWSL Championship.

Fishlock came out of the game shortly after scoring her second, but her first tally stood as the game-winner in a crucial shutout win for Seattle. Two consecutive road losses last week had knocked the Reign out of the last playoff spot they had been holding onto, but this win moves them up into sixth place on 40 points for now. However, Angel City (39 points), North Carolina Courage (39) and the Kansas City Current (38), all have yet to play this weekend.

“Obviously, we were disappointed in ourselves last week, and this was a chance for us to bounce back and react in the ways that we know that we can, and so yes, obviously I scored the goal, I got the record, which is super fun. But we got three points, and I think we put on a good performance today, and so that kind of is what is the most important,” Fishlock said.

On a team level, the result also made Seattle the first time in NWSL history to win five consecutive regular season home matches without conceding a goal, extended its home unbeaten streak to seven matches, and extended its club-record scoring streak to 17 consecutive matches, dating back to May 22 against Boston Legacy FC.

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