Seattle Reign FC announced that forward Jasmyne Spencer and midfielder Morgan Andrews have re-signed for the 2019 NWSL season. Both players are important for head coach Vlatko Andonovski with many Reign players slated to miss large chunks of the season for the 2019 Women's World Cup in France.
Spencer projects to be a very big part of the Seattle offense in 2019. Last year she started nine games and played in 23 games for SRFC after being traded from the Orlando Pride. She scored just two goals in 1023 minutes in 2018, but she continued to improve and grow with the team as the season went on. Her second goal was in the Reign's semifinal match against Portland Thorns FC, but Seattle lost that game 4-1. Spencer signed with Melbourne City FC in the Australian W-League for the offseason. She has scored four goals in six games for Melbourne.
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Seattle generally struggled offensively in 2018. They were a bit below the league average with 27 goals scored in 25 games played. They are going to need Spencer to step up in 2019, because the leading goal scorers, USWNT forward Megan Rapinoe and England forward Jodie Taylor, are both expected to miss most of the season due to the World Cup. No other forward scored more than two goals for Seattle in 2019.
Andrews was selected by the Reign in the Boston Breakers Dispersal Draft. She played in 16 games for Seattle in 2018. Like Spencer, Andrews will be expected to play a much bigger part for the Reign in 2019. She has not been an offensive-minded player to this point in her career, but Andonovski will be looking for her to improve on her distribution and midfield control in her third NWSL season. She was a first-round pick in 2019. Andrews will be in a prime position for a breakout year.
Seattle Reign FC and the other eight teams in the National Women's Soccer League will participate in the 2019 NWSL College Draft in Chicago on January 10th.