Reign Collapse Late, Drop First Game Back vs. Courage

If the Seattle Reign drew up their picture-perfect return to play after over a month away from playing, it certainly wouldn't have played out like Saturday night's 3-1 loss to the North Carolina Courage.

While the Reign (4-6-2, 11th in NWSL) got off to a solid start thanks to an impressive run from striker Mia Fishel leading to a Sally Menti goal, three questionable concessions left Seattle deflated by the end of the night.

North Carolina winger Ashley Sanchez continued her nine-goal campaign with a brace, scoring in the 22nd and 71st to bookend a feel-good home outing for the Courage (6-3-3, 7th). Riley Jackson buried a penalty kick in the 64th to give the Courage the lead in an opportunity conceded by a mishandled Madison Curry tackle.

On a blistering and humid 95-degree night in Cary, head coach Laura Harvey simply saw her team run out of the juice that had propelled it to scoring first — something her struggling offense has done rarely in 2026.

"We got a little bit tired and we got a little bit stretched and ended up chasing the game," Harvey said. “It wasn’t like they had loads and loads of chances… it was just those slight little moments.”