Meza, McCammon Shine For Reign as Products of Texas Youth Club Solar SC
Features Qasim Ali Features Qasim Ali

Meza, McCammon Shine For Reign as Products of Texas Youth Club Solar SC

Sam Meza and Ainsley McCammon have become a staple in the Seattle Reign's midfield this season. The duo has started three of four games for the upstart Reign (3-1-1), who have notched nine or more points over their first four games for the third time in club history (per OptaJack) in 2026.

Meza, 24, and McCammon, 18, however, are at very different points in their career. For one, Meza had a decorated four-year collegiate career at North Carolina, reaching as far as the NCAA tournament's quarterfinals in her All-American career. McCammon, on the other hand, decided to go pro at just 16 years old, passing on a collegiate career with the University of Virginia.

But the duo, as different as their paths and current situations have been, both joined the Reign in 2024, and both have become integral pieces to the future of a young organization. Through five games in 2026, the Reign are hitting their stride going into the current three-week international break, with Meza and McCammon bringing stability to a team dealing with injuries to stars like defender Jordyn Bugg.

Beyond joining Seattle at the same time, they share a background in both being from the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area and both spending time with the youth organization of Solar Soccer Club.

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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
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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
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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 Fall in Cascadia Rivalry Despite Two Thorns Ejections
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Reign Fall in Cascadia Rivalry Despite Two Thorns Ejections

PORTLAND, Ore. — It was about as eventful of a Cascadia Clash as you can have.

Friday night saw the Seattle Reign head down I-5 to take on their fierce NWSL rival in the Portland Thorns for their home opener — which pulled in over 21,000 fans in a record-setting and raucous atmosphere at Providence Park.

After two red cards and the return of one of the biggest stars in the sport to her home pitch in Sophia Wilson, Portland came out on top 2-0 by dropping their entire squad into the box and making Seattle beat them without transition chances.

Evidently, the Reign’s service wasn’t up to par as Seattle’s offense stalled without any chance to attack against a defense that wasn't set.

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Reign Overcome Travel Mishap, Weather Delay in Opening Day Win
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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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Reign Transfer Jordyn Huitema to Chicago for $500K
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Reign Transfer Jordyn Huitema to Chicago for $500K

Just three days before the start of the 2026 NWSL season, the Seattle Reign announced they transferred starting striker Jordyn Huitema to the Chicago Stars for a fee of $500,000 on Thursday. The deal brings in $200,000 in allocation money and $300,000 in intra-league transfer money. The move signals the largest outgoing transfer fee in club history.

The allocation money can be used in trades or to eat up cap hits in other deals, while the intra-league funds can be put toward transfer funds. Seattle will likely hold off until the summer window before making a move.

Huitema, 24, spent four years in Seattle, with her 70 games played with the Reign ranking 11th in club history, while her 13 goals rank eighth. The Canadian forward from British Columbia is currently a starter with her national team and started in 18 of her 22 games with the Reign last season for three goals and two assists.

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Recapping Reign's Offseason So Far: Productive Coachella Trip Wraps Up
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Recapping Reign's Offseason So Far: Productive Coachella Trip Wraps Up

The Seattle Reign are about as short-handed as a team can be right now. With players like forward Maddie Dahlien, keeper Claudia Dickey, defender Jordyn Bugg, forward Jordyn Huitema and others away on international duty, the Reign had assistant coaches playing keeper at times in Thursday's practice at Starfire Sports in Tukwila.

With the current international break looming, Seattle used the last two weeks to travel to California for the Coachella Valley Invitational for the second straight season. The team played two closed-door scrimmages against San Diego and Utah and one televised friendly against Angel City, a 1-0 win.

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Seattle Reign Set to Bond in Coachella in Latest Step Towards 2026 Season
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Seattle Reign Set to Bond in Coachella in Latest Step Towards 2026 Season

The Seattle Reign are in California to train with around half of the NWSL's 16 sides. The team flew out on Sunday after a few weeks of training in Tukwila, punctuated by a return of five USWNT call-ups for the final week.

In Coachella, coach Laura Harvey's squad will be focused on improving their chance generation, as Seattle finished among the league's least productive offenses in 2025 - the squad ended in fifth place and lost to Orlando in the first round. The Reign will have a friendly against Angel City FC on Feb. 21 at 1:30 p.m. (to be broadcasted on FOX 13), and team media staff confirmed two closed door scrimmages will take place during Seattle's time at the invitational.

With chances to compete against new competition forthcoming, Harvey and USWNT call-ups in forward Maddie Dahlien and defender Jordyn Bugg spoke to The Spectrum last Wednesday about how they plan to get their offense on track.

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