In what ended up being Randy Waldrum’s swan song, Seattle Reign FC outlasted the Houston Dash in hot conditions to come away with their first road win and first shutout of the season. Seattle stuck with their usual 4-3-3, but to compensate for the extreme conditions they didn’t push their outside backs up as much and kept only one player forward to apply high pressure, defending in more of a 4-5-1.
Seattle’s adjustments and the conditions necessitated some changes in their method of attack, relying a lot more on quick, short passes and hold-up play rather than their typical attacks that build through their outside backs bombing forward.