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.
Other than Hershfelt's goal, however, Seattle had been stingy in giving up chances.
Washington's first goal came after a tough call on Holly Ward for fouling Rodman on the top left corner of Seattle's box in the first half. In the 18th, Leicy Santos went for goal and delivered a winding strike to the bottom right corner of the net as Seattle keeper Claudia Dickey had little chance at keeping the shot out of goal.
The most dangerous chances Seattle conceded were against the run of play.
After defensive star Sam Meza came on at halftime to spell a midfield composed of Ainsley McCammon and Angharad James-Turner, Seattle's defense regained some of its staunch nature. With center back Phoebe McClernon playing a solid game in crisis defense and USWNT defender Jordyn Bugg playing alongside her for her first 90-minute game of the season, the Reign didn't allow looks at goal for the first chunk of the final half.
That is, until Dickey delivered a casual pass to her backline just six yards from goal, which Hershfelt pounced on in the 73rd. Her shot skied over the net from in close, but it was certainly a chance that scores most times.
After some solid pushes from Seattle's offense to get into Washington territory, a turnover in the Spirit's third led to a Rodman fastbreak.
Seattle, playing out of shape with so many players committed to the attack, didn't stop Rodman's run as she leisurely passed to Hershfelt some 35 yards from goal.
Hershfelt took it the rest of the way, as James-Turner misjudged how far the Washington attacker was willing to take the ball. The answer to that question was about 22 yards from goal, as Hershfelt delivered a strong shot.
"We've got to try to suffocate the opponent. We just gave them too much time to do something going the other way," Harvey said.
It appeared to be savable to the right side, but a slide deflection off the inside of Bugg's boot left a diving Dickey helpless to keep the ball out of the middle of the net.
"Gut-wrenching, really," Harvey said of the deflection.
Instead of getting another bite at the apple, James-Turner was blindsided by Rosemonde Kouassi in the 86th minute close to Seattle's goal. Dickey made a spectacular save, but the Reign's chances at points were squashed.
It Was Washington's Game, But Seattle Could've Stolen “Something”
"Disappointed to not come away with something," Harvey said, wanting more out of the 1-0 loss to Washington a few weeks ago and now Saturday's loss. "We can hold our own, we've held our own twice now (against Washington), and come out of it disappointed with the result but maybe not necessarily disappointed with our performance."
Santos' strike was divine; there's no doubt about it. Most times that shot doesn't go in, but it did, and Seattle had to chase that deficit.
Sure, Ward gave up the set-piece in a dangerous spot, but a force like Trinity Rodman will make moments like that happen against most defenders. The point being, it was a concession that Seattle could live with — especially considering the Reign were handed an own-goal in this one.
Seattle's defensive shape was great, but there were players and moments that held the performance back.
James-Turner faded late, allowing Hershfelt to work to a dangerous spot and almost allowing the third on a careless turnover late.
Maddie Dahlien struggled to create on the left wing, but was left on a bit of an island by Harvey. Mercado played nearly the whole game and has been dangerous, but without a midfield attacking force like Meza and an experienced attacker like Nerilia "Coco" Mondesir for the first half, the offense looked anemic outside of an early surge.
Emeri Adames and Brittany Ratcliffe subbed in in the waning moments of the game, but Harvey will need to be more aggressive with this lineup going forward.
It was the same XI that got a win in Boston last week, but against a far more talented Washington squad, Harvey put out a starting team that isn't goal-dangerous for the most part.
The kicker? This was the type of game where scoring the first goal changes everything.
Not having Meza in the first half hurt, but Harvey said postgame that the star midfielder just isn't 100%, leaving her to choose to reduce her minutes to the second half.
Still, Harvey is a coach that rarely plays the same lineup twice, and this wasn't the time to break that tendency.
Going forward, Seattle has established an identity. The Reign, through 11 of 30 games, are among the least feared offenses in the NWSL.
They possess individual quality in Meza, Mercado, Mia Fishel, Mondesir and Dahlien, but have consistently failed to show it with team play and final quality. Seattle's nine goals in 11 games are tied for the second worst in the league, and games like Saturday with a stunning lack of chances make that number even more concerning.
This is one of the youngest teams around, however. Growth is seldom linear, and there's a lot of soccer left to be played.
Harvey was asked postgame what she'd add to the roster in the summer transfer window, and her sole thought was experienced players. With Jess Fishlock and Lynn Biyendolo still sidelined for the foreseeable future, Seattle's a team practically dominated by under-25 talent.
As such, it's a team that reflects the ups and downs of younger players coming into their own.
But if Seattle can't get this back on track after the break, there will be real questions about how this team fits together.
