Reign Battle to Scoreless Draw with San Diego

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Seattle Reign defender Sofia Huerta dribbles during a match against the San Diego Wave on Friday, Aug. 29, 2025 at Lumen Field in Seattle, Wash. (Jane Gershovich / Reign FC Communications) [/caption]

The Seattle Reign have seen draw after draw recently, but none have felt the same.

Friday night's 0-0 result against the third-seeded San Diego Wave left the squad feeling positive this time, as they executed their gameplan to a tee. San Diego won the possession battle, but Seattle had more dangerous opportunities to show for its reduced time with the ball. Seattle (7-5-6 W-L-D) moved into fifth-place in the NWSL, surpassing rival Portland after the Thorns lost at home.

While head coach Laura Harvey would have rather walked away with a win, considering Seattle had more shots on target (5-4) than San Diego, four points in a season series against a quality team like the Wave isn't something to scoff at.

No Possession? No Problem.

The Reign only managed to possess the ball 36 percent of the game, a fact that was practically sealed before the initial whistle sounded. San Diego is the top possession team in the league and won that category with a 63 percent rate in its first loss against Seattle in June.

What wasn't guaranteed, and what was needed for Seattle to have a chance, was strong on-ball defense and opportunistic counters on offense.

Seattle got both in the first half, as a 24th-minute interception by Jess Fishlock led to a strong strike from leading scorer Emeri Adames that had to be saved by Wave keeper Kailen Sheridan. Sheridan racked up three saves in the first 25 minutes and had five by the end of the match.

San Diego doubled Seattle up on touches in the opposition's 18-yard box, but most times passes were made in the same opportunity that led to nothing promising.

Reign midfielder Jess Fishlock did yell at her teammates for not pressing the Wave more at midfield right before the halftime break, and Seattle played with more intensity in getting the ball back in the second half. After all, San Diego possessed the ball at a 68 percent clip in the first half, meaning Seattle sat on possession more in the back 45 to bring that figure down to 64 percent. Credit Sally Menti and Adames, as the younger players stood out in enforcing Seattle's press at times.

Reign veteran defender Lauren Barnes was happy with how things played out, including San Diego's high possession figures.

"One thing about stats is so weird. I think their possession is probably in the middle and their back, so they weren't really close to our goal, which is actually OK … we were OK with them having the ball," Barnes said. "We knew they were going to have a lot of the ball."

No Seattle opportunity popped like a 91st-minute corner in which Seattle's Sofia Huerta served the ball into the far post. It took a deflection and bounced around in the box for a few seconds before it was picked up after a foul. Adames had a few lasers from deep and took four shots to lead the game.

The game largely played out similarly to the first match between these two, except that three goals were scored in the final 25 minutes of that one. A beautiful strike from distance from Sally Menti and a game-winner from Emeri Adames highlighted the matchup — Harvey would have liked to watch that reality unfold again on Friday.

"Although they had a lot of the ball, they had a lot of the ball when we were down there (and won), that was the tactic," Harvey said. "We've got to hurt them in those moments that we get."

Limiting Wave Opportunities

The individual defensive performances in this game are the reason Seattle held one of the better offenses in the league scoreless. With a world-class scorer in Delphine Cascarino and one of the best passers in the NWSL in Kenza Dali, San Diego is always a threat to strike fast. In fact, Dali finished with 10 passes into the final third (per FotMob) and managed to create decent opportunities despite a hounding Seattle defense.

But Sam Meza's performance in the midfield was a key going into this game, and she popped for the full 90 minutes. The 23-year old won seven out of 10 ground duels (per FotMob) and wreaked havoc when the Wave tried to turn their long possessions into opportunities.

Cascarino swapped from the right wing to left in this game, but the change from Jordyn Bugg and Lauren Barnes to Madison Curry and Sofia Huerta proved just as difficult. In the center of it all was Phoebe McClernon, who was coming off a tough game in Houston in which a sloppy pass resulted in the Dash's only goal of the contest.

She bounced back in a massive way, clearing eight balls and intercepting three (per FotMob).

"You always believe in those tight moments in games that she's going to defensively be able to solve things for you, and she does the majority of the time," Harvey said of McClernon.

This is a Claudia Dickey stan account 🧱 pic.twitter.com/ICZ7JknXjd— Seattle Reign FC (@reignfc) August 30, 2025

Seattle star keeper Claudia Dickey wasn’t called on too many times, but she faced the music each time.

Dickey had four saves, but her magnum opus was a show-stopping diving save left in the 73rd minute on a quick shot from about 15 yards.

“The defense is so good in front of me, (I) trust them and then when the ball gets to me, that’s what I need to do,” Dickey said of staying ready for those moments.

A Better Draw This Time Around

As Laura Harvey walked out of the postgame presser, she joked to media members that she was in a better mood than the last time she was in the home interview room fielding questions.

Of course, that last time was on the heels of a 3-3 draw to Chicago in which the Reign led 3-0.

That was a Chicago team that has struggled to find results and has been near the bottom of the table for the whole season. Friday night was a consistent effort from the Reign against a No. 3 San Diego squad that already had a loss on record against Seattle to learn from.

For a team as young as this Reign squad, even split-point results like these can be confidence builders going forward.

"It's the joys and the despairs of having a young group where we don't often make the same mistakes, but it still means we're learning and developing, and I'm alright with that," Harvey said. "We're on a journey together."

Up Next

The journey will have a bit of a gap coming up.

Seattle has had some quick turnarounds lately, getting just days of rest since its Sunday draw at Houston. Luckily for the Reign, they will have nine days to get right before they face an explosive Washington Spirit team on the road next Sunday.