After defeating the Portland Thorns 3-0 on Sunday night in Seattle, Beverly Yanez of the Seattle Reign was named NWSL Player of the Week for week 15. Yanez becomes the third Reign player to be honored with the award this year and fifth since the NWSL’s inaugural season in 2013.

Yanez scored her first goal of the night literally just seconds into the second half against the Thorns. She headed in a cross from teammate Kim Little past Thorns goalkeeper and German international Nadine Angerer. That goal essentially put the game away for the Reign early in the second half.

Just four minutes later, Yanez found the back of the net again. Megan Rapinoe sent in a low cross that put Angerer literally in a no win situation. Beverly was able to finish at close range to secure the win for the Reign.

After the match, Yanez had nothing but praise for her teammates; “My team put me in such great positions to finish”. It is something that she has said all year long. It's a thing of beauty to watch her teammates find her and she awards them by putting the ball into the back of the net.

Bev now has eight goals on the year which is good for second in NWSL behind Crystal Dunn of the Washington Spirit who has nine goals.

With the win against the Thorns, the Reign is now 15-0-5 at Memorial Stadium since the beginning of the 2014 NWSL season. They are currently 6-0-1 this season at home and have outscored their opponents 20-5 at home this season.

The Reign also finds themselves at the top of the NWSL standings with a record of 8-3-3 on 27 points and has a one point lead over the Chicago Red Stars.

The NWSL Player of the Week is selected each week of the regular season by a selection of journalists that cover the league on a consistent basis. 

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About the author
Chris Blakely
Chris is an American sports journalist based out of Seattle, Washington. Co-Editor of the soccer section of VAVEL USA. He also is the leading editor of VAVEL USA's NWSL section.