SEATTLE, Wash. — The Seattle Reign are taking ownership of everything they can right now.

After spiraling out of the playoff picture in the spring, the Reign (11-8-4) are firmly in control of the eighth and final postseason spot thanks to three straight close wins at home. The latest victory came on Saturday as Brittany Ratcliffe scored on a stoppage-time breakaway to secure a 2-0 win over ailing Bay FC.

The three-game stretch marked the first time since 2023 that the Reign managed three straight shutout wins, with Sofia Huerta scoring off a Nerilia "Coco" Mondesir-drawn penalty in the 51st. Reserve keeper Cassie Miller earned the clean sheet as usual starter Claudia Dickey recovers from getting stitches to her forehead after the last win over San Diego on Sept. 6.

Miller had four saves on the night, as the 31-year-old coming off a torn hamstring is now 2-2-0 in four starts this season with 22 saves to show for her efforts.

But ownership for the Reign goes beyond just winning games.

The team had to evaluate its entire approach to how it talked about self-improvement — a key for a young squad in which GM Lesle Gallimore is hoping develops greatly in the next few seasons. After all, she kept the roster largely the same after last year’s fifth-place finish.

Head coach Laura Harvey said after Saturday's win, she and her staff made wholesale changes to how they handle team film meetings after the World Cup break, a period in which Seattle was out of the playoff picture and struggling to look dangerous.

"We're looking at ways in which we can be a bit more interactive… I just didn't feel like the way that we have operated and had our process previously was really, like, sinking in," Harvey said.

TUKWILA, Wash. — Ami Diallo, the Seattle Reign's newest forward who joined the team just last Thursday after signing on Aug. 18, was asked who she liked to watch in the NWSL before she entered the league herself. She thought for a moment and named Brazilian legend Marta. Then, quietly, as is her way, she named Maddie Mercado — her new teammate on the Reign enjoying a breakout season in 2026.

Mercado, whose notoriety is far from that of the great Marta, was on loan this time last season with the Carolina Ascent to get more minutes. The 24-year-old from Notre Dame was struggling to get on the pitch, but scored four goals in just six games for the Ascent, leading Seattle GM Lesle Gallimore to recall her ahead of the NWSL Playoffs. In 2026, a 25-year-old Mercado is up to eight goals to lead the team and has made herself irreplaceable as she tracks toward being the first Reign player to score 10 or more goals since the legendary Megan Rapinoe in 2017 (franchise record 12 goals).

But it's quite apparent that no one, even the Reign in their decision to recall her, believed in Mercado more than she believed in herself.

She put a trigger in her last contract through 2026 that would activate a player option in 2027 if she hit a minutes-played threshold this year. With eight games to play this season, Mercado already hit the threshold to push her deal through the 2027 season.

"This year I kind of had it in my mind that I wanted to earn that," Mercado said of the clause after training on Tuesday. "This year really is the first year where people have seen, I think, what I'm really capable of on the field."

Indeed, Mercado had put up just 587 regular-season minutes in her first two seasons combined after being drafted in 2024, scoring one goal in 19 regular-season appearances. As she pushed her appearances for 2026 up to 22 and her minutes to 1,805, Mercado scored her latest goal on Sunday in a 1-0 win over the San Diego Wave in which she leaped over a defender to head in what would be the game-winning score. It was her seventh game in the last 10 with a goal contribution, as Mercado has manned the right wing consistently with Mia Fishel operating at striker.

SEATTLE, Wash. — The Seattle Reign are growing up.

With the chance to sweep a San Diego Wave side that has been at or near the top of the standings all season, the Reign found themselves up 1-0 and up a player in the second half.

The talented Wave (12-8-3, 5th in NWSL), who Reign head coach Laura Harvey called "the most enjoyable (NWSL team) to watch" postgame, controlled nearly the entire second half, as stars like Ludmila and Kenza Dali helped San Diego outshoot Seattle 9-1 in the back 45 alone. Seattle had looked like the more organized team early, and capitalized as Maddie Dahlien delivered a perfect ball to breakout leading scorer Maddie Mercado in the area for a powerful header in the 29th to snatch the lead.

But the young Reign (10-8-4, 8th in NWSL), thanks in part to some late defensive changes, kept San Diego out of goal — protecting a lead Harvey knew would’ve been even more fickle earlier in the season with meltdowns and near-meltdowns against Gotham and Bay FC in mind.

"There's been moments this year, a lot of it in the first half of the season, where maybe we'd have crumbled in those moments, but we didn't," Harvey said.

Indeed, Seattle constantly got players behind the action to thwart transition chances while keeper Claudia Dickey managed six saves in the win. At the end of the game, Dickey collided with Ludmila, leaving the USWNT keeper needing stitches postgame at a local hospital. But after a lengthy stoppage to tend to Dickey, who was replaced by Cassie Miller for the final 10 minutes, Harvey reengineered her press.

San Diego didn't manage another shot on frame to close the game.

"We just couldn't get pressure on the ball and protect what we needed to protect," Harvey said of the second half before she made changes. "We decided to get our wingers to press… we should've done that earlier."

Still, Harvey knows her team needs points however it can get them. Sunday was about survival — ask Dickey and her battle scars.

“Really happy with the results. Huge three points, you know, to take six points off that team is massive,” Harvey said.

The Seattle Reign bounced back from a midweek loss with a 1-1 draw at defending NWSL Shield-winner Kansas City Current on Saturday afternoon, defending chance after chance to split the points.

The result, Seattle's first at Kansas City since 2021, moves the eighth-place Reign to 8-8-4, two points ahead of the Houston Dash with 10 games remaining. Getting the point was monumental, as Seattle was left preserving the 1-0 advantage it picked up off an early Kayla Sharples own-goal forced by dangerous service from Seattle defender Sofia Huerta.

By the end of KC's onslaught, however, the Reign didn't concede a goal in the run of play. Only when striker Mia Fishel's elbow crept up to make contact with a Current pass in the box in the 51st did Seattle concede a goal off a penalty from star midfielder Debinha.

From there, Seattle defended for its life as defensive fixtures Jordyn Bugg (five tackles), Phoebe McClernon (six tackles) and Madison Curry (eight tackles) seemed to only get stronger as the game went on. By the end, KC ended up dwarfing Seattle's 0.7 expected goals with 3.3, but had to split the points.

Reign head coach Laura Harvey knew what type of effort she was going to need from her young team without star midfielder Sam Meza (thigh) for a third straight game, and she got it.

"We know coming here is really difficult," Harvey said postgame. "There's been moments this season and last season where I think some of our inexperience has shown. And I think tonight we looked like an experienced team at times.

"And look. If you'd have said to me before the game started, 'Would you take a point on the road in Kansas?' Probably."

The Seattle Sounders and Seattle Reign both lost 2-1 on Wednesday, with the Sounders falling to MLS foe Austin FC at Lumen Field and the Reign losing to NWSL side Racing Louisville on the road.

The Sounders (7-9-3) dropped their franchise-record eighth MLS game in a row, falling to 12th in the Western Conference. Though young center back Stuart Hawkins scored late, the Rave Green were unable to cope with a rotated Austin team focused on its Leagues Cup run despite narrowly winning the expected-goal battle and outshooting the visitors.

Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer backed the effort his injury-riddled team is putting in during this streak, but watched as All-Star center back Jackson Ragen exited the game early with a hyperextended knee. Schmetzer clarified that Ragen’s removal was precautionary.

At any rate, Seattle is now missing Cristian Roldan, Pedro de la Vega, Yeimar, Paul Arriola, Ragen, Jesus Ferreira and Jordan Morris with a trip to FC Cincinnati looming on Saturday. Cristian Roldan and Morris could make a return by that fixture.

As for the Reign (8-8-3), Wednesday marked another lost lead as Seattle couldn’t defend the advantage generated by leading scorer Maddie Mercado’s (seven goals in 2026) early goal. Instead, Louisville’s USWNT team star Emma Sears ran riot for a brace, scoring two goals against the run of play as Laura Harvey’s squad failed to deliver on a large xG night for the second game in a row.

The Reign, who suffered just their second loss since the June World Cup break, will also play again on Saturday as they head to defending Shield-winning Kansas City.

SEATTLE, Wash. — The Seattle Reign managed their most dominant showing of the season on Friday night, compiling 3.3 expected goals thanks to a 24-5 shot disparity over the last-place Chicago Stars. But by full-time, Maddie Mercado’s 53rd-minute goal ended up being the decider in a 1-0 game that should have had every making of a blowout.

The result puts the Reign at 8-7-3, back into the playoff picture with 12 games left. Beyond helping their place in the table, it also marked a different kind of win for Seattle, which had scored multiple goals in its past five matches and had to defend leads by scoring more.

The younger Reign squad instead had to burn clock and keep possession on Friday night to ensure they earned a win on a night where they underperformed on the offensive end.

Emerald City Spectrum reporter Qasim Ali breaks down how the Reign looked so dominant despite the close scoreline.

Emerald City Spectrum reporter Qasim Ali breaks down a 2-2 Sunday draw between the Seattle Reign (7-7-3, 9th in NWSL) and Angel City FC (7-7-3, 8th in NWSL).

Attacking midfielder Sally Menti and striker Mia Fishel each finished with a goal and assist as the Reign scored their two goals within two minutes of each other in the early second half. The result marks the second straight game Seattle has managed to change a result by scoring in the second half — something the Reign have struggled with in 2026. Fishel’s goal, a curling shot to the top-left corner in the 52nd minute, was a showstopper as the 24-year-old finds her footing with her third goal of the season.

Angel City substitute Prisca Chilufya scored a floating goal in the 72nd, however, to equalize before both teams missed out on late chances at a winner in stoppage.

Seattle remains out of the playoff picture with 13 games to play by virtue of Angel City having a better goal differential. The Reign will be back in action at Lumen Field at 7 p.m. on Friday against the Chicago Stars.

She did it again.

With precious seconds ticking off a blown lead and a 2-2 ball game in San Jose against expansion Bay FC on Saturday night, veteran midfielder Jess Fishlock, in her final season for Seattle Reign, took the field.

A team marred by streaky performances in terms of holding onto leads put their faith in the 39-year-old to bring what they had been unable to attain in 2026: A goal past the 80th minute of play.

Mere seconds into her time on the field, Fishlock scored off a fast-break opportunity to cap off a 3-2 win in which winger Maddie Dahlien scored, and striker Mia Fishel found her first goal in the run of play for Seattle. The result places Seattle at 7-7-2 and ninth in the NWSL — tied with their next opponent in Angel City for the final playoff spot at the midway point of the season.

Claudia Dickey isn't exactly easy on herself.

As the Seattle Reign tumbled down the NWSL standings ahead of the June CBA break, winning one of their last six games, the starting goalkeeper took the blame for nine goals the team gave up in that stretch. A struggling Seattle offense went scoreless in five straight games, leaving itself vulnerable to attacks the other way and goals Dickey couldn't have prevented, but the 26-year-old knows the standard she's set for herself.

"I'm tough on myself," Dickey told The Spectrum over the phone on Wednesday.

This past year, Dickey has made four starts for the U.S. Women's National Team, becoming a regular call-up in the lead-up to the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup in Brazil. Alongside another NWSL star in Utah's Mandy McGlynn, Dickey has been in a battle as the rights to start for the most high-profile women's soccer team in the world are on the line.

But in all the excitement of last year's June national team camp in Brazil, Dickey suffered what she thought was a muscle injury around her foot on day one of camp. She missed the U.S.'s opening loss to Brazil before returning days later to tab a clean sheet in a 1-0 win over the hosts.

When she got back to Seattle, however, she got a further scan of the injured region and found out it was a bone bruise on the top of her foot, The Spectrum learned Wednesday. She would be sidelined for Seattle's first three games back from the break, watching the Reign go 1-2-0 as reserve Cassie Miller made some spectacular saves in a 2-0 win over Portland.

Dickey, who didn't miss a single game in 2025 after becoming the definitive starter a few seasons after being drafted in the second round by Seattle in 2022, took on the challenge of her reserve shining.

"Being challenged every day in training, like the goalkeeper group we had… we're pushing each other to be the best," Dickey said.

She proved why she's under consideration for a starting spot with the USWNT this past Sunday, making her return to the field to the tune of a career-high eight saves vs. the San Diego Wave in a statement 2-0 win. Diving stops, reflex saves and a trot far beyond the 18-yard box to stop a Wave attack characterized what's come to be known as a typical Dickey performance.