> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Cassie Miller Shines, Reign Top Thorns 2-0 to Split Cascadia Series - URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/seattle-reign-cassie-miller-top-portland-thorns-split-cascadia-series/ - Published: 2026-07-13T02:13:21.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-08T06:11:02.000Z - Author: Qasim Ali - Tags: News, Analysis, Game Day, Reign, Laura Harvey, Cassie Miller, Ryanne Brown, Sam Meza, Maddie Mercado, Mia Fishel, Ainsley McCammon, Sofia Huerta, Jordyn Bugg, Phoebe McClernon \[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="2976"\] ![ Seattle Reign players celebrate with defender Ryanne Brown after her early goal against the Portland Thorns on Sunday, July 12, 2026 at Lumen Field in Seattle, Wash. (Olivia Vanni / Reign FC Communications) ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1d/f2/1df2f77b-83dd-4bc0-a6d2-6d1bb5df89a3/content/images/2026/10/credit-seattle-reign-fc-olivia-vanni_1-jpg-format-original.jpg) Seattle Reign players celebrate with defender Ryanne Brown after her early goal against the Portland Thorns on Sunday, July 12, 2026 at Lumen Field in Seattle, Wash. (Olivia Vanni / Reign FC Communications) \[/caption\] SEATTLE, Wash. - The Reign came into Sunday's rematch with their vaunted rival, the Portland Thorns, at 4-6-2 and losers of four of their last five games. But records never matter in the biggest grudge match in the NWSL, and Seattle proved it by delivering the Thorns their only shutout loss of the season to place Portland at 8-4-3 in a 2-0 win. Seattle moved up to 10th place with the win, still three points out of a top-eight playoff spot with a game in hand over the Orlando Pride. Reserve keeper Cassie Miller, in for the second straight week for injured star Claudia Dickey (ankle), had the game of her life to earn the clean sheet. Miller tabbed nine saves in front of nearly 15,000 fans — Seattle's fourth-highest attendance figure in any match. It marked the full circle of a story for the 31-year-old that featured a leg injury, which forced her to miss most of the 2025 season. Also rounding out a comeback story was right back Ryanne Brown. Brown tore her ACL during the 2024 season, prompting her to miss all of 2025 and play just 22 minutes total in 2026 in the lead-up to Sunday. She earned her first start with typical starter Madison Curry (ankle) out with an injury, and scored an incredible long-distance goal to open the scoring. Maddie Mercado doubled the advantage later in the first half while Miller endured 10 shots on frame to seal a 2-0 win. Head coach Laura Harvey, who hasn't had much to smile about on the field lately, put this game up there with any of Seattle's performances in 2026. "It was probably the closest to the best 90-minute performance that I can probably remember since (the 2-1 win) over Orlando (in March)," Harvey said. "Really proud of the group." Chants of "Build a bonfire, build a bonfire, put the Thorns on the top!" rang out as time wound down on a picture-perfect day — one that could turn Seattle's season around. ### Back-and-Forth First Half Dictated by Opposing Presses The Reign came into Sunday as a team heavily banking on its defense to create offense. It probably didn't know that that offense would come from a defender, specifically from Brown. After some early corners from Portland were parried away and a shot from Mercado went wide from her right wing spot in the seventh minute, Brown ran the right sideline and watched a deep pass from 18-year-old midfielder Ainsley McCammon drop into her path on the right side of the pitch. Just entering the box with three supporting attackers to her left, Brown did the unthinkable. She took an extra step to her right and launched a cross-goal shot from just inside the 18-yard line to the top-left bin, stunning the Shield-pursuing Thorns early on. "Always go for the shot," Brown said when asked whether she intended to cross the ball in instead. "Coming into it, there was obviously some nerves, but I felt like extremely encouraged by my teammates… that just kind of helped throughout the whole game." It was Brown's first NWSL regular-season goal, and considering the five-game scoreless streak the Reign were on before the June break, no one really cares where the goals come from anymore. Brown, 27, was jumped on by Mercado as the entire team came to celebrate a storybook moment for her. > WHAT ABOUT IT! > > Ryanne Brown puts one deep into the net for the Reign EARLY 🚀[#NWSLRivalries](https://x.com/hashtag/NWSLRivalries?src=hash&ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com) | [@Ally](https://x.com/Ally?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com) [pic.twitter.com/UP6sMjRxcT](https://t.co/UP6sMjRxcT?ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com)— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) [July 12, 2026](https://x.com/NWSL/status/2076403171736645704?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com) Once the moment wore off, the Thorns started to show why they're the top offense in the NWSL. Miller was forced to go to ground by a shot from Thorns star Olivia Moultrie in the 12th, starting a long series of Portland presses to win the ball in Seattle's third. McCammon was forced to block a Wilson shot in the 13th. The Reign got a rare offensive chance in the 15th when Maddie Dahlien delivered a cross-goal cross to Mercado, but it narrowly missed the forward's head. From there, the Reign struggled to get out of their own third, turning it over to a Thorns defense that jumped pass after pass and relentlessly pressured dribblers. USWNT star Sophia Wilson skied a Thorns shot directly off a Phoebe McClernon turnover in the 19th while McClernon was forced to make a tackle right in front of goal to prevent a transition score. Three minutes later, Wilson won the ball off McClernon and Seattle manufactured another blocked shot to avert disaster. Seattle was maintaining its 1-0 lead better than it had in its previous game against North Carolina, when it conceded mere minutes after its opening goal. Still, a Portland goal felt inevitable. But Seattle took it one possession at a time, turning away a Moultrie set-piece from 35 yards away. The Reign were standing tall. > [#ReignFC](https://x.com/hashtag/ReignFC?src=hash&ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com) takes down their nemesis [#Thorns](https://x.com/hashtag/Thorns?src=hash&ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com) 2-0, correcting some issues they had with conceding quick equalizers this season. > > GK Cassie Miller (9 saves) and HC Laura Harvey spoke about being hard to beat, even when things aren’t easy, postgame. [@EmeraldSpectrum](https://x.com/EmeraldSpectrum?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com) | [#NWSL](https://x.com/hashtag/NWSL?src=hash&ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com) [pic.twitter.com/SO0hPAAR7Y](https://t.co/SO0hPAAR7Y?ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com)— Qasim Ali (@qasimasports) [July 12, 2026](https://x.com/qasimasports/status/2076447558424309798?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com) "We'd spoken all week, honestly all summer, but really after last week's game of when there's moments in games when you're going to get tired, you're going to get fatigued, the other team has momentum, don't get beat," Harvey said. The Reign were getting back quickly and in numbers, as Harvey praised her attackers for their hustle and support in emergency defending. Soon enough, the Reign were able to push Portland back into their territory, starting their own press of the Thorns. Two straight forced turnovers in Portland territory led to two skied shots from Sally Menti, who made another start at the central attacking midfielder spot with veteran Jess Fishlock out of the XI. Fishlock didn’t see the pitch on Sunday, but was available for selection. Sam Meza, Seattle's starring midfield presence, took over in the 43rd, stealing the ball back with back-to-back slide tackles on the left touchline before launching a cross to the far post. Mercado got behind it well, hitting it first time to the bottom right corner to double the lead. "I brought up the tackle at halftime, and said 'That's stuff that can trigger us into action," Harvey said of Meza's moves to win the ball back. "It triggered us into scoring a goal." Harvey praised Meza for taking her staff's coaching point of getting service in quickly in that moment, and it paid off with a massive goal. ### Reign Survive Comeback Bids Some say 2-0 is the most dangerous lead in soccer, as the thought of a multi-goal lead might lull some teams to sleep. The Reign instead started on the front foot, forcing a blocked Mercado shot in the 48th. From there, the Thorns struggled to get moving forward. When the Thorns earned a corner in the 67th, they were able to push a slow rolling ball to the bottom right corner of the net. Fishel cleared it off the line, as Seattle's front four found themselves just as involved in protecting the lead as McClernon and center back partner Jordyn Bugg. Fishel forced a kick save in the 81st off a Nerilia "Coco" Mondesir through ball, as the reality of Seattle's upset win began to sink in. Miller punched away a cross in the 87th and went to ground for a save in the 88th, punctuating a brick-wall, player-of-the-match performance on a day chock-full of worthy Seattle performances. ### Individual Dominance Turns Into Signature Win "I want this to be our standard," Harvey said. "I'm not willing to let our standards drop, because it's hard to keep saying we know we can do it and we're not doing it. We've shown today we can do it." Practically every individual on the pitch for Seattle played to or past their role on Sunday. Miller finished with four diving saves, nine total, as a reserve keeper. The 31-year-old's judgment on when to come out of goal was superb, preventing 1.4 xG against one of the most balanced and lethal offenses in the league. "When someone goes through a long-term injury like (Miller), like (Brown), you're just waiting for that moment for them and you're hoping that it's a moment really where they can get praised," Harvey said. "(Miller's) just calm in those moments, and yeah, I always think backup goalkeepers are so important to your roster." Brown, in addition to scoring a worldie, held her own at right back against NWSL assist leader Pietra Tordin, who still managed nine touches in Seattle's box. To have both Miller and Brown, who both missed either the entirety or most of last season, perform this way was satisfying. "I was basically living with (Brown)… in the treatment room and we stuck together. We got through it," Miller said. McClernon's strong interventions saved the Reign from a Portland equalizer while Jordyn Bugg helped dribble out of the press at times. Sofia Huerta did the same, laying out some of her signature lead passes to open the field up and swing momentum back Seattle's way. In the midfield, Meza's ability to turn Portland over put the Thorns on the back foot, and McCammon ended up with three blocks and three tackles in the win. Mercado found her third goal of the season, delivering multiple dribbles to add another layer to a more potent Seattle attack in transition. Dahlien put a couple of assist-worthy crosses into the box, going 2-for-4 on dribbles per [FotMob.com](http://fotmob.com/?ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com). While Menti didn't find the net, her contribution in the press and constant early shots put Portland in a bind. Finally, Harvey called Sunday's performance Fishel's best since the opening win at Orlando. Though she missed a few decent looks at her first Reign goal since joining the team a year ago, Fishel was solid in hold-up play and a menace in the press that flipped this game on its head. A few more bites at the apple, and Fishel very well could have put her name on the scoresheet. In all, this may have been the most complete game this group has put together, stunning a worthy opponent thanks to an ensemble cast of strong performances. ### Up Next The Reign will start a three-game road trip next Saturday in New York, taking on defending champion Gotham at 9:00 a.m. before heading to San Diego for a July 26 duel with the league-topping Wave.