Reign Fall to Spirit, Dip Under .500 Ahead of June Break
Analysis Qasim Ali Analysis Qasim Ali

Reign Fall to Spirit, Dip Under .500 Ahead of June Break

The Seattle Reign were dealt their third loss in five matches on Saturday afternoon, as they fell to the Washington Spirit 2-1 on a late goal from Hal Hershfelt.

Seattle (4-5-2) has notoriously struggled to score recently, putting a five-game scoreless streak behind it with a 2-1 win at Boston last week. Though the Reign got on the board on Saturday, it was an unforced error as Lucia Di Guglielmo chipped her own keeper, USWNT prospect Sandy MacIver, trying to keep the ball away from Maddie Mercado on a break-out play.

By the end of the match, Seattle had put just two shots on target for an underwhelming 0.5 expected goals while giving up 1.8 to a dynamic Spirit team on the other end. Washington and USWNT star Trinity Rodman burned Seattle's right side most of the day, creating multiple chances and assisting on Hershfelt's transition winner.

The loss dropped the Reign to 10th place in the NWSL, with Seattle losing three of its last five to enter the June CBA/World Cup break on a slide. The Reign will have until July 4 at North Carolina to process this result with 19 matches to go.

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Reign Devastated By Late Washington Goal in Loss, Continue Scoreless Streak
News, Analysis Qasim Ali News, Analysis Qasim Ali

Reign Devastated By Late Washington Goal in Loss, Continue Scoreless Streak

Seattle Reign coach Laura Harvey was dejected in her postgame presser.

Sunday saw her team try to break a three-game scoreless streak against a hot Washington Spirit team led by USWNT star Trinity Rodman. Though the Reign hit the crossbar in the early going, their issues with quality in the final third continued to frustrate the team as the game wore on.

With six minutes of regular time to play, the Spirit, which hadn't generated many of their typical chances all night, drove a dagger into the Reign as substitute Claudia Martinez scored off a Seattle turnover.

Seattle dropped to 3-3-2, now winless in their last four with zero goals to show in each.

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Reign Bounce Back with Rainy Road Draw in Houston
News, Analysis Qasim Ali News, Analysis Qasim Ali

Reign Bounce Back with Rainy Road Draw in Houston

The Seattle Reign followed their worst loss of the season (by goal totals, at least) last Sunday with a 0-0 draw to the Houston Dash on Friday night.

The result moved Seattle (fifth in NWSL) to 3-2-2 and marked the Reign's third straight game without a goal, despite 1.4 expected goals on 16 shots.

The Reign were without the services of veteran Jess Fishlock, set to miss an extended period of time after a scary ankle injury in that 3-0 loss to Utah on Sunday. They also had a flu bug run through the team throughout the week, as Nerilia "Coco" Mondesir had to sub on late as she was sick during the abbreviated week — Seattle held its only practice on Thursday in Houston.

Despite it all, striker Mia Fishel had an up-and-down game while young wingers Maddie Dahlien and Emeri Adames powered the offense for much of the night.

Spurring the clean sheet on was star keeper Claudia Dickey, who made five key saves, while facing multiple dangerous set pieces and five Houston corners.

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Reign Close Spokane Fixture Trio with Draw to Expansion Denver
News, Analysis Qasim Ali News, Analysis Qasim Ali

Reign Close Spokane Fixture Trio with Draw to Expansion Denver

The Seattle Reign stayed perfect in their Spokane closer on Saturday, tying expansion side Denver Summit FC 0-0 on Saturday night to move to 3-1-1.

The Summit, fresh off their home opener, which drew over 60,000 fans in Colorado, have built a reputation of being tough to break down. Paired with a true scorer on the left wing in Melissa Kössler and a chance generator in striker Yazmeen Ryan, Denver was always on Seattle coach Laura Harvey's mind as a threat.

Indeed, the Summit burdened Seattle with 18 shots, but the Reign's active backline pressured many of those attempts. In the end, Denver produced just three shots on target and 1.2 expected goals on a day where the teams shared possession almost evenly.

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Reign Continue Spokane Success with 2-1 Win Over Louisville
News, Analysis Qasim Ali News, Analysis Qasim Ali

Reign Continue Spokane Success with 2-1 Win Over Louisville

The Seattle Reign have found themselves quite a home east of the Cascades.

The team, set for three straight games in Spokane while Lumen Field finishes World Cup renovations, finished the second fixture of that stand with a 2-1 win over Racing Louisville on Saturday afternoon. Maddie Mercado struck first on a keeper error in the 10th minute before Nerilia "Coco" Mondesir turned a smooth team play into the team's second goal right before the half.

Although a late stoppage-time Louisville goal spoiled a would-be clean sheet, Claudia Dickey and the Seattle defense were superb in shutting down a Racing side missing one of the league's brightest stars in Emma Sears. With the result, the Reign improved to 3-1-0, with all their contests coming away from the Emerald City as the team is just under a month away from returning to its home pitch in SoDo.

By the end of Saturday’s match, however, those two first-half chances for Seattle outweighed anything Louisville could produce despite 19 shots by the final whistle.

"I think it might be a conversation about moving (to Spokane)," Reign head coach Laura Harvey joked postgame.

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Reign Bounce Back in Spokane, Revive Offense Against Current
News, Analysis Qasim Ali News, Analysis Qasim Ali

Reign Bounce Back in Spokane, Revive Offense Against Current

The rearview mirror.

That's where the Seattle Reign put last Friday’s 2-0 loss to the nine-player their rival Portland Thorns with a 3-0 win over the defending NWSL Shield champion Kansas City Current on Wednesday night at ONE Spokane Stadium.

Angrahad James-Turner opened the scoring in the 18th minute with her first goal since 2024, while Brittany Ratcliffe found her second goal with the team, and Maddie Mercado netted her first goal of 2026. Sofia Huerta, the NWSL's all-time assist leader, had a hand in the last two goals to push her career assist tally to 33 as the Reign improved to 2-1-0.

Keeper Claudia Dickey also picked up the clean sheet, as her 14th career zero-spot moved her into first place in club history.

With Lumen Field nearing the end of its World Cup renovations, the team is spending its next two games east of the Cascades. It's safe to say this midweek shellacking of a rotating Current side (1-2-0) was a good way to get things rolling.

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Reign Overcome Travel Mishap, Weather Delay in Opening Day Win
News, Analysis Qasim Ali News, Analysis Qasim Ali

Reign Overcome Travel Mishap, Weather Delay in Opening Day Win

The Seattle Reign waited on the tarmac in SeaTac for a chance to fly to Orlando on Friday morning.

And they waited.

And they waited.

They waited for around six hours before taking off, as weather and other circumstances caused delays. The team, frustrated from a full day of travel, had to wait again in the recesses of Inter&Co Stadium at halftime of their Sunday season-opening game against the Pride as nearly three hours of lightning delays added a new fold to the cross-country trip.

After all that, the Reign played to a 2-1 win in their season-opener against a team they had played and lost to twice in a row to close last season.

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