Jess Fishlock showed why she is the reigning NWSL MVP on Friday, notching a goal and an assist in OL Reign’s 2-0 victory over North Carolina.

The 35-year-old led the Reign to its first multi-goal win of the regular season, earning her JWS Player of the Week honors.

A Lumen Field crowd of 7,519 erupted when Fishlock secured the matchup’s breakthrough goal in the 52nd minute. The midfielder received a well-placed ball from Bethany Balcer, then took her first touch around the Courage goalkeeper to execute the go-ahead finish into an open net.

Fishlock returned the favor to Balcer in the 74th minute, playing a through ball to the forward, who split the North Carolina center backs before firing off a low shot to the near post.

As displayed by her creation of these two critical chances in the final third, Fishlock orchestrated OL Reign’s attack from the center of the pitch, finding space between North Carolina’s lines. She helped on both sides of the ball, launching two successful long balls, winning 63 percent of her duels and logging a pass accuracy of 67 percent.

Fishlock combined with Balcer, Tziarra King and new addition Kim Little brilliantly in the midfield, foreshadowing a revved-up and renewed Reign attack. While the offense started the regular season sputtering, OL Reign looks increasingly dangerous at fourth in the NWSL standings with Tobin Heath set to join the squad.

After her dominant performance during the club’s Pride Month fixture, Fishlock kept her remarks brief and celebratory, saying: “It was for the gays today.”

OL Reign star Jess Fishlock spoke out on Twitter about her team’s NWSL Challenge Cup scheduling woes.

As the top seed exiting the group stage of the Challenge Cup, OL Reign earned home-field advantage for the tournament’s semifinals. OL Rein’s Lumen Field, however, has a Seattle Sounders match scheduled for Wednesday, May 4, the same date as the semifinal.

Per the club, OL Reign attempted to find an alternative venue to retain home-field advantage. Instead, the team’s matchup against the fourth-seeded Washington Spirt will be played at Segra Field in Leesburg, Va., one of the Spirit’s two home fields.

The teams also are scheduled to play this Sunday, May 1, in their season opener at Audi Field in Washington, the Spirit’s other home arena.

“Congratulations on being top seed and making it through to the semifinal of the challenge cup,” Fishlock tweeted. “To celebrate … You now have an away game on the east coast Sunday …followed by an away semifinal that you are meant to host on Wednesday on the west coast.”

Should OL Reign advance to the Challenge Cup final, it will be played at Lumen Field on May 7 at 10 a.m. local time, and the club’s regular-season game against Racing Louisville set for May 8 will be rescheduled.

OL Reign head coach Laura Harvey is embracing the NWSL preseason with veteran players Megan Rapinoe, Jess Fishlock and Lauren Barnes, because she can’t be sure how many she’ll have left with all three of them after this one.

Rapinoe, 36, said after the Olympics last year that she needed to “take some time to think” about retirement. Last month, she signed a one-year extension with the Reign, raising questions about whether this could be her last year (fiancé and Seattle Storm guard Sue Bird has announced this WNBA season as her farewell tour).

For Barnes, 32, and Fishlock, 35, the question appears further off as they and Rapinoe enter their 10th season with OL Reign. In January, Barnes signed a one-year contract extension and Fishlock a two-year, both of which have options for an extra year. 

The three original franchise players understand what it means to play for the Reign and, during a preseason with many new faces, Harvey can lean on them to set the tone.

“I think that’s their biggest legacy,” the coach said. “This club continues to stick with those standards on and off the field, within the player group, of what’s expected, and these have been setting it for 10 years. They created it, then they set it and then they impart that onto the new ones coming in.”

For Harvey, who also started at the club (then Seattle Reign FC) in 2013, “it’s hard to imagine the club without them,” she said. All three have been named to the NWSL Best XI during their careers, with 2021 NWSL MVP Fishlock earning the honor five times.

“We are 100 percent the product of our environment,” said Barnes, the NWSL’s 2016 Defender of the Year. “I am every single person who’s ever been part of this club — players, staff, playing one minute, to not playing at all, to playing every single minute.”

Barnes leads a steady backline alongside U.S. women’s national team defenders Alana Cook and Sofia Huerta. Kristen McNabb, who started 15 of 21 games for Reign last season, was selected by San Diego Wave FC in the 2022 expansion draft.

“We always hear about outsiders looking in and that they want to be part of the Reign, and I just want to continue that legacy as much as I possibly can and have these younger ones take it over after as the old ones move on eventually,” Barnes said.

That legacy is a conversation Harvey plans to have with Barnes, Rapinoe and Fishlock, but “not yet,” as she exclaimed during Tuesday’s media call.

The group still has an NWSL championship title to win after claiming the NWSL Shield twice, in 2014 and 2015, and finishing as runners-up those same years.

Since falling to the Washington Spirit — the eventual NWSL champions — in last year’s semifinals, the Reign have undergone one of the biggest roster turnovers in their history, signing nine new players in recent weeks.  The upcoming NWSL Challenge Cup will give them a chance to find their chemistry in competitive game settings before the regular season begins in May.

“There’s things around who Lu’s playing with … or whatever it might look like, where we have to find answers on some of the new players that we have,” Harvey said.

With Rapinoe up top, Fishlock in the midfield and Barnes on defense, Harvey has a strong core to build around. The Reign will enter the year with a healthy balance of veterans, younger players and those coming from other teams who are hungry for their shot. The mix creates a team that wants to win now, but also has depth and longevity.

The Reign get an early test, kicking off the Challenge Cup on March 18 against the Portland Thorns.

“It’s the game of our lifetime,” Barnes said of the Reign-Thorns rivalry. “It doesn’t even matter what place you’re in in the league. It’s like, that’s the championship game.

“Being able to pass that history down, that rivalry down to the new girls coming in and people overseas and stuff has been really fun to watch. I’ve had a couple girls come off those games and be like, ‘Best game I ever played.’ And we’re talking about girls who have been to World Cups.”

The game will also serve as OL Reign’s 2022 home debut at Lumen Field in Seattle, Wash., home to the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks and MLS’ Seattle Sounders. While hosting games at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma for three years, the Reign played their first match at Lumen last August against Portland, winning 2-1 in front of an NWSL-record 27,278 fans.

The move to Lumen marks the beginning of a new era for the Reign, and Barnes, Rapinoe and Fishlock are ready to lead the way.

“The club’s going in an exciting direction in regards to playing at Lumen, which is a huge step for us and I think the three of them,” Harvey said. “I was really excited for the three of them to have that opportunity because they deserve it.”

Jessa Braun is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports covering the NWSL and USWNT. Follow her on Twitter @jessabraun.

Reigning NWSL MVP Jess Fishlock stopped by ITV’s ‘Face to Face’ this week, where she revealed that she is interested in a career in politics following her eventual retirement from soccer.

“I’m looking into it,” she said when asked if she would ever consider entering politics. “I think as I’ve grown older and seen the way society is going, I definitely want to have a bigger impact in not just the football world. I definitely want to try and create a bigger change.”

The 2021 NWSL MVP, Fishlock has played professionally for over 15 years. She spent the last nine seasons with OL Reign, playing in more than 140 matches for the club. Recently, the midfielder signed a contract extension through 2023.

But that doesn’t mean that Fishlock isn’t thinking about what she wants to do after soccer. When asked about the possibility of coaching, Fishlock said that while she’s intrigued by the prospect, she’s also looking at other areas of the game.

“I think I would be better served more in the boardrooms and helping the people who get to influence decisions,” she said. “I just feel that with my experience and everything that I have gone through, in so many different countries and watching so many different federations do things in completely different ways – and there’s no right or wrong, you can do whatever you want to do in different ways – but for me in the women’s game, one thing I feel we really lack is the right people in the right positions who really understand the game.

“I’ve played women’s football now for 20 years. I’ve been a pro for over 15. I’ve played in so many different countries. My experience in those positions, I believe, will help us move in the right way for women’s football. Because it’s a completely different game.”

OL Reign midfielder Jess Fishlock is thankful for her teammates after winning 2021 NWSL MVP.

Fishlock took to Twitter on Tuesday, where she credited her teammates for their part in the award.

“No sport truly ever has individual awards,” she wrote. “My teammates deserve all the credit too. Cannot play this game alone.”

In addition, she commended those who were nominated for their play as well. Chicago’s Mallory Pugh came in second while NJ/NY Gotham FC’s Midge Purce was third. Washington’s Ashley Hatch and Portland’s Angela Salem followed.

“Best thing about this year was this award could’ve gone to any of those nominated,” she wrote. “Everyone was a worthy winner.

“This league is just going to get better and better. Feel very proud to be amongst the players in this league.”

Fishlock also called out Lauren Barnes, whose been with OL Reign since 2013 and won NWSL Defender of the Year in 2016.

OL Reign midfielder Jess Fishlock has been named the 2021 NWSL MVP.

It’s the first time Fishlock has been tabbed for the award, after returning to action for the first time since suffering an ACL and double meniscus tear in July 2019. Throughout the season, Fishlock played in 24 matches and totaled 1,880 minutes played — second most by any OL Reign player this year.

On top of her minutes logged, the midfielder scored five goals and notched four assists.

Additionally, her passing accuracy stood at 76.4 percent, with 47 passes across 23 games. Defensively, Fishlock was just as strong. She won 63 percent of tackles while providing 13 clearances and 21 interceptions through the season. In October, she earned Save of the Week honors following a goal line clearance during an October 16 game against the Washington Spirit.

She becomes the second Reign player to win NWSL MVP after Kim Little won the award in 2014.

“If you speak to most people around the league and ask the coaches if they could take one player from our team, it would always be [Jess],” said OL Reign head coach Laura Harvey, who was recently named 2021 NWSL Coach of the Year. “I think that’s just a compliment of what she’s always brought to this team. The journey that she’s been on to get to this point has been phenomenal. I’m glad that she’s getting some recognition that she deserves.”

Chicago’s Mallory Pugh finished second in voting while NJ/NY Gotham FC’s Midge Purce was third followed by Washington’s Ashley Hatch and Portland’s Angela Salem.

OL Reign collected three points in the NWSL standings, defeating the Pride 2-0 on Saturday.

The Reign got out on the front foot early, applying high pressure to Orlando’s backline in the game’s opening minutes.

The team’s aggressive tactics paid off, with Tziarra King forcing a Pride turnover high up the field to find Jess Fishlock at the top of the box. The Reign striker then turned on her defender to hammer home the go-ahead finish.

OL Reign struck again in the 51st minute, with King firing a curling ball past Ashlyn Harris to put her side up 2-0.

The game was Orlando’s first without coach Marc Skinner, who left the club to take the job at Manchester United.

Next up: OL Reign will head home to host Racing Louisville on July 31. The Pride will travel to North Carolina to take on the Courage the same day.