Photo by Jane G. Photography/Seattle Reign FC

By CAITLIN MURRAY

A week after being traded away from the Seattle Reign, Sydney Leroux has revenge set in her sights.

In her first comments since being sent to the Western New York Flash last week, Leroux called Reign coach Laura Harvey’s handling of the trade “unprofessional” and said she was ready to take out her anger when the two sides face off in their season-openers this weekend.

“I am excited to play Seattle,” Leroux told reporters Thursday at her first training with the Flash. “I’m excited to see some of my (former) teammates, but most importantly, I’m mad.”

Last week, Leroux was sent to the Flash in exchange for a package that included Abby Wambach, who had announced she would not be playing club soccer for the 2015 season. At the time, it was a peculiar trade, but Thursday, Leroux admitted it was prompted by her request to be moved to FC Kansas City, where her new husband Dom Dwyer plays for Sporting KC.

“I asked if it was possible to be traded to Kansas City,” Leroux said. “I did not know that I was being put on a trading block. So, this came out of left field for me. The conversation that I had with (Harvey) was that she was going to try to make it happen, but I said if she couldn’t do that, I would be so happy to play for Seattle. She said it was a great conversation and two days later, the conversation was completely different.”

Leroux added: “The way that this was handled was not at all professional.”

The Flash will open their season Sunday in Seattle against the Reign where Leroux will face off against her former team. The match will be streamed live for free on YouTube.

Leroux was traded to the Reign last season from the Boston Breakers, also at her request, to be closer to family in Vancouver. But Leroux, who went to Seattle with a strong scoring record for both U.S. Women’s National Team and the Breakers, struggled to make an impact with the Reign. She finished the 2014 season with five goals and zero assists in 22 matches.

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What do you think of Leroux’s comments? Do you think it was a good trade? What is your prediction for Sunday’s Flash-Reign match?

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