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# Reign Swept Away by Shield-Winning Current in Frustrating Loss
- URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/reign-swept-away-shield-winning-current/
- Published: 2025-09-21T05:48:43.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-08T05:58:07.000Z
- Author: Qasim Ali
- Tags: News, Reign, Sofia Huerta, Jess Fishlock, Maddie Dahlien, Lauren Barnes, Sally Menti, Claudia Dickey, Angharad James, Mia Fishel, Nérilia Mondésir

\[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="4694"\]

![ Seattle Reign defender Lauren Barnes goes for a tackle on Kansas City Current forward Temwa Chaŵinga during a game on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025 at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City, MO. (Photo courtesy of Seattle Reign FC) ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1d/f2/1df2f77b-83dd-4bc0-a6d2-6d1bb5df89a3/content/images/2026/10/credit-seattle-reign-fc_1-jpg-format-original.jpg)

Seattle Reign defender Lauren Barnes goes for a tackle on Kansas City Current forward Temwa Chaŵinga during a game on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025 at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City, MO. (Photo courtesy of Seattle Reign FC) \[/caption\]

The Seattle Reign faced their toughest test of the season in Kansas City on Saturday night, and came out battered and beaten.

Their opponent, the league-leading Kansas City Current, dominated the first half completely and kept Seattle's revived attack off the board in the second half to win 2-0 and clinch the NWSL Shield for the first time in franchise history.

The Reign stayed in the sixth seed with the loss and fell to 8-7-6 (W-L-D) with the result. Seattle will remain two points out of the eighth and final spot in the NWSL playoff picture while Kansas City improves to 17-2-2, unbeaten in its last 14 games now.

For the first time in league history, a team was presented the shield on the night of their clinching the best record in the NWSL — something Seattle head coach Laura Harvey and company, who have hoisted the trophy three times, took exception to.

"The league's never done that for us, but they're doing it for Kansas. We'll take that and deal with it however we want to, but it's just reality," Harvey said postgame, having pointed that reality out to NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman while walking off the pitch.

Let's dive into how that reality manifested itself.

### Lots of Bending with No Breaks Early

Considering just how prolific this Kansas City offense has been in 2025, keeping the Current from scoring the game's first goal was always going to be a priority for the Reign.

But the Current, led by former Reign and USWNT coach Vlatko Andonovski, began the game with a brutal high press that forced mistakes and poor passes by Seattle for the first 45 minutes. In fact, by the end of the first half, Kansas City not only dominated possession at 66 percent, but outshot Seattle 13-0 and had 155 passes in its opponent's half to Seattle's 17\. Current keeper Lorena didn't even touch the ball until the 25th minute as Seattle didn’t generate a meaningful chance early on.

All that dominance meant a busy start to the game for Seattle's backline, and they held up about as well as they could have. While Kansas City managed some promising chances, including a near-miss wide right in the seventh by Nichelle Prince, a miss left by Gabrielle Robinson in the 10th and a shot right at Seattle star keeper Claudia Dickey in the 15th, the Reign refused to let one in.

You could feel Seattle bending constantly, but it snapped back into place whenever 2024 MVP Temwa Chaŵinga had chances on counterattacks as Lauren Barnes, Jordyn Bugg, Madison Curry, and Phoebe McClernon gave a commendable effort in clearing away balls. Bugg and Curry would each clear five by the game’s end.

### A Costly Hand Ball

For as hard as Seattle defended in the early going, one slip-up folded their house of cards in the 33rd minute.

KC winger Ally Sentnor sent a ball into the box from the right side, which connected with a slightly extended arm from Seattle midfielder Angharad James-Turner. After a lengthy review, the Current were granted the second penalty given up by Seattle this season. Forward Debinha nailed a shot left through a block from Dickey in the 37th to draw first blood.

The Reign weren’t thrilled to give up a goal in that fashion after playing their hearts out to start the match.

"Hand balls these days are so subjective to whatever the referee wants to call, and it just sucks when we see other ones not get called and that one is the one that does," Curry said.

With Kansas City on the board, the Current became free to leverage a defense that had allowed just 10 goals in 20 games coming into Saturday’s game.

### Subs and Circumstances Change the Game

The Current's press from the first half dissipated into a more conservative look with the new lead as Seattle brought on Sally Menti for James-Turner and Maddie Dahlien for Lauren Barnes to start the back 45\. Each provided an offensive jolt to help Seattle make the most of its newfound ability to possess the ball.

But with the field opening up, Mia Fishel found herself twisting an ankle going for the ball in the early second half. She would play for a spell longer before going down again and coming off the field minutes later. Jess Fishlock replaced her in the attack while Laura Harvey suggested postgame that Fishel could miss over a week, though no concrete diagnosis was divulged.

With Dahlien, Fishlock and Menti on the field and free to work, Seattle started to give KC's relatively unscathed backline some real work as the game clock crept over 60 minutes. Menti had a shot blocked off a Fishlock set piece in the 63rd, while Fishlock took a shot off a volley that narrowly missed just a minute later. Dahlien left a ball for Fishlock in the 67th, but she was blocked again as Kansas City's defensive class started to show.

Still, generating feasible chances in the Current's third was a measurable improvement from a first half in which Seattle was stuck playing on the back foot. Seattle finished the second half winning the shot battle 9-5, something that doesn't happen without Dahlien and Fishlock working KC on the left side.

"When we know what we're chasing, our subs come on and do a great job," Harvey said. "Jess and Maddie's relationship and movement caused them a ton of problems … we just lacked that little bit of final finish, really. I thought in the second half we were by far the most dominant team."

Seattle would get its first and only shot on goal from Menti in the 73rd, a routine save for Lorena.

### Chaŵinga Slams the Door

With Seattle dominating possession in the second half, Chaŵinga and company knew they had to capitalize on a crease in the 74th. Haley Hopkins worked the ball into Seattle's box before Beatriz was able to get a shot blocked straight up about seven yards from the net. 

Chaŵinga didn't waste a second, beating Curry to the spot to head the ball past a racing Dickey for the demoralizing insurance goal.

The score highlighted a major disparity in the game, as the Current flooded back on defense in the blink of an eye all night while the Reign struggled to fill out their backline quickly at times.

"Just disappointed with the goals, really. They were preventable," Harvey said.

Seattle continued to put pressure on as the game waned into 10 minutes of stoppage time, but didn't register another shot on target. Part of the reason was poor service from Sofia Huerta, whose free kicks and corners missed the target at an alarming rate for a passer of her stature.

The final whistle blew as Seattle came to terms with scoring no points despite showing some of their best football at times.

### Major Takeaways

It looked like Seattle may never get a real opportunity at the net in this game by the end of the first half, but they came away with nine shots and 45 percent possession. The service from Huerta was certainly poor at the end, especially by her top-notch standards, as Seattle's set-piece opportunities late and in stoppage time were foiled by unreachable passes. While it was a draining and physical game, Seattle relies on Huerta's service at the end of the day, and it's not a trend Harvey's crew can afford going forward, given that they have scored one goal in their last four games.

In terms of the defense, it was serviceable. Curry labeled hand-ball calls in the VAR era "subjective," and the team wasn't thrilled to give up its first goal in such a huge spot to a penalty, but that's just the game. Kansas City finished the first half with a 13-shot advantage and practically played the game in Seattle's third; it earned chances to force a call. 

It is heartening to see Fishlock and Dahlien's connection grow even stronger on that left side, though, and it was really the main positive on the offensive end for Seattle on Saturday night. The Reign struggled to string passes together before those two came on the field, but their chemistry and mistake-free football set the tone for a second half that Seattle looked more than respectable in on offense. Losing Fishel for what seems like a while is certainly a negative, but the depth of this team will help in that regard as Nérilia Mondésir looked solid opposite of her at times.

In terms of the second goal from Chawinga, it's the cost of doing business with an absolutely relentless KC attack. Seattle has to fill its backline out quicker, and one slip-up in that regard puts this game out of reach.

All in all, Seattle didn't need to pull the upset to have a successful result in this one. While this was objectively not a success, given that Seattle leaves Kansas City without points, the Reign's defense put the league on notice by standing up a KC attack that was all over them for the entire first half.

On the offensive end, there are problems to be dealt with. The lack of touch and finishing opportunities for timely goals seems like it will be the top question for Harvey and co. as the season winds down. Emeri Adames didn’t come on until the 79th minute and didn’t play in the win over Louisville — odd given she’s this team’s leading scorer.

Still, the Reign felt they earned more than they got on Saturday night.

"We'll remember how this feels for a long time, because this isn't how we feel the game should have ended," Curry said.

McClernon saw it all, playing the whole game. She'll remember the feeling of watching KC celebrate as the postseason draws closer.

"There's a lot of season left and honestly, the shield means nothing if you come back and you win the championship, which is still what we're fighting to do at the end of the day," McClernon said. "So they can go enjoy their little party, and yeah, we'll see who makes it the furthest."

### Up Next

The Reign will have another tough playoff-atmosphere match on their hands next Sunday as the North Carolina Courage come to town. With the Courage sitting in the NWSL's final playoff spot just two points behind Seattle and No. 9 Houston just four points back, the Reign will need a result badly at home.