Seattle Reign forward Beverly Yanez will be playing with Melbourne City FC of the Australian W-League. With this being the team's first league appearance, adding Yanez's skill will be a beneficial attribute to the team's success.

Reign players join Melbourne FC

At the end of November, Yanez will start participating with the newest Australian team. Along with the loan of Yanez, fellow Reign midfielder Jess Fishlock and reigning NWSL Defender of the year Lauren Barnes will be joining the team as well during this offseason.

Yanez will return to playing with the Reign after the start of the 2017 NWSL season.

Previous playing abroad experience

Yanez has previously played with Western New York Flash and WPS league team Washington Freedom, she has also played in Norway and in Japan.

In April of 2012, Yanez along with Portland Thorns defender Rebecca Moros played with INAC Kobe Leonessa in the Nadeshiko League. While in Kobe, Japan, Moros and Yanez were the only Americans apart of the team.

When considering joining the team in 2012, Yanez stated:

"After experiencing the practice and experiencing playing against those girls, I told myself that this would definitely be an opportunity I could never pass up if they offered me to come here."

In 2013, Yanez's success allowed her to win the Golden Boot award as she became the top scorer in the Nadeshiko League.

Success with Seattle Reign

Yanez was then loaned to Seattle in 2014. Yanez had a stellar year as she was voted NWSL Player of the Week during Week 15 of the 2015 NWSL season and has been one of the Reign's top scorers during the 2014 and 2015 seasons. 

During her 2014 season with the Reign, she started in 21 of the 24 season matches and logged 1,736 minutes of playing time as she has a total five goals and four assists during the season.

Beverly Yanez (left) celebrates after scoring the game-winning goal against the Washington Spirit in the 2015 NWSL Semifnal | Source: Brandon Farris - VAVEL USA
Beverly Yanez (left) celebrates after scoring the game-winning goal against the Washington Spirit in the 2015 NWSL Semifinal | Source: Brandon Farris - VAVEL USA

In 2015, she appeared in 17 games, all of them being starts. She logged 1,338 minutes and scored nine goals to go along with one assist. She also helped lead the team to their second NWSL Shield and NWSL Championship game.

For the 2016 season, Yanez appeared in 20 games, starting in 18. She logged 1,630 minutes and scored three goals and assisted on three others.

Yanez expressed her thoughts signing with the Reign for the 2015 NWSL season:

"During my loan to Seattle, I thoroughly enjoyed myself on and off the field. The style of soccer Seattle implements is definitely something I want to be a part of. I am looking forward to moving from one world-class organization to another and continuing the next chapter of my career with Reign FC and the talented squad they have put together.”

The return to Seattle

With the loan of the three Reign players to launch a new beginning in Australia, it will be exciting to see what lies ahead for them. The second match for the Melbourne FC team will take place tonight against Canberra United at 8 pm PT.

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About the author
Jackie Gutierrez
Aspiring Sports Journalist for Womens Soccer