Megan Rapinoe explains why it’s so important for her to retire her jersey during the Seattle Reign. (1:08)
SEATTLE — The Seattle Reign retired former star Megan Rapinoe’s No. 15 jersey and then capped the birthday party with a 1-0 stoppage-time win over the North Carolina Courage in the National Women’s Soccer League on Sunday night.
After all, teenager Emeri Adames broke through for the Kingdom seven minutes into stoppage time with a header that bounced off the post and into the goal as Courage goalkeeper Casey Murphy tried unsuccessfully to prevent it.
Adames, 18, then celebrated the victory with Rapinoe’s iconic victory pose at the 2019 Women’s World Cup as Rapinoe cheered her on from the stands.
Rapinoe spent his entire NWSL career with Reign before retiring from football last year. His shirt was the first to be retired by the club. Rapinoe joined Reign in the league’s inaugural season in 2013 and played 115 regular-season games with 51 goals.
“I’m just overwhelmed,” said Rapinoe. Honestly, all weekend the club did a wonderful job of combining all of this and seeing everyone dressed in lavender, all the No. 15s, all the support, that’s a global thing for me. Very disturbing. “
Fans held up a banner with Rapinoe’s symbol that read, “You replaced 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.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.