SEATTLE — The Seattle Reign retired former star Megan Rapinoe's No. 15 jersey and then capped the celebration with a 1-0 stoppage-time victory over the North Carolina Courage in the National Women's Soccer League on Sunday night.
Teenager Emeri Adames finally broke through for the Reign seven minutes into stoppage time with a header that bounced off the post and into the goal as Courage goalkeeper Casey Murphy tried in vain to stop it.
Afterward, 18-year-old Adames celebrated by striking Rapinoe's iconic victory pose from the 2019 Women's World Cup as Rapinoe cheered her on from the stands.
Jaelin Howell came close to scoring for Seattle shortly after entering the game in the 75th minute, but her left-footed shot from out front went just wide. Howell was acquired by the Reign earlier in the week in a trade with Racing Louisville.
The victory was Reign coach Laura Harvey's 100th in the NWSL.
The weekend's games were the first for the NWSL after a six-week break in the regular season for the Olympics.
Rapinoe spent her entire NWSL career with the Reign before retiring from soccer last year. Her jersey was the first retired by the club.
Rapinoe joined the Reign in the league's first season in 2013 and played in 115 regular-season games with 51 goals.
Fans displayed a banner of Rapinoe's image that read: “You Changed the Game.” Seattle's Space Needle was lit up in lavender — a nod to Rapinoe's hair color at the 2019 World Cup — for the occasion.
“Just overwhelmed,” Rapinoe said. “Honestly, the whole weekend, the club's done such a great job in putting this all together and just to see everyone in lavender, all the No. 15s, all the support, it's the world to me. Very overwhelming.”