> ## 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. # Jess Fishlock Scores Stellar Brace, Passes Rapinoe for Reign Scoring Record in Key Win - URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/seattle-reign-jess-fishlock-brace-passes-rapinoe-team-scoring-record/ - Published: 2026-09-26T05:30:31.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-08T06:10:13.000Z - Author: Qasim Ali - Tags: News, Analysis, Game Day, Reign, Jess Fishlock, Laura Harvey, Maddie Dahlien, Sofia Huerta \[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1505"\] ![ Maddie Dahlien (left) and Jess Fishlock (right) celebrate during a Seattle Reign game against the Boston Legacy on Friday, Sept. 25, 2026 at Lumen Field in Seattle, Wash. (Jane Gershovich / Reign FC Communications) ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1d/f2/1df2f77b-83dd-4bc0-a6d2-6d1bb5df89a3/content/images/2026/10/credit-2bseattle-2breign-2bfc-jane-2bgershovich_6-format-original.png) Maddie Dahlien (left) and Jess Fishlock (right) celebrate during a Seattle Reign game against the Boston Legacy on Friday, Sept. 25, 2026 at Lumen Field in Seattle, Wash. (Jane Gershovich / Reign FC Communications) \[/caption\] SEATTLE, Wash. — It was the grit-fest Laura Harvey thought it would be. The Seattle Reign coach watched as her squad battled the expansion Boston Legacy at Lumen Field on Saturday, just a few precious points out of the NWSL Playoffs with five games remaining, as each confrontation was loaded with physicality. The Legacy, third-to-last in the table, had notched a 3-0 win over the high-flying Washington Spirit just 12 days prior, punching above their weight by imposing their physical will on teams that appeared to overlook them. But the Reign were ready. Headlined by the decision to start 39-year-old club legend Jess Fishlock in her final season, the Reign dished back the physicality by using a controlled press to dominate Boston all night, allowing the Legacy to have the ball around 60% of the time. Then came the issue of scoring. Fishlock, not as spry as she once was, has been a scorer before anything at this advanced stage of her career. Harvey was set to start the usual central attacking midfielder, a younger Sally Menti in her first season playing the position, but Fishlock wowed all week at training, by Harvey's account. She eschewed her usual super-sub position to play a starting role. And in the 23rd minute, the Reign faithful got to see what had given Harvey the confidence to start the veteran. > Jess Fishlock from distance 🫨 [pic.twitter.com/PjCERFk5bu](https://t.co/PjCERFk5bu?ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com)— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) [September 26, 2026](https://x.com/NWSL/status/2103652728358522992?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com) She blasted a transition shot from 25 yards out to score in the bottom-left corner to break open a game in which neither team was getting many chances. Fishlock hadn't scored from outside the box in five seasons. Nearly 20 minutes into the second half, she got everything of a strike from 21 yards to find the top-right corner to double Seattle's lead. It was a stunning turn of events for the Welsh legend, who passed Megan Rapinoe for the Reign's all-time regular-season scoring mark with the second strike in a 2-0 win. It was Seattle's fifth straight clean sheet at home, moving the Reign (12-10-4) to sixth in the NWSL with four games to play. > #️⃣5️⃣2️⃣ > > Jess Fishlock is now the Seattle Reign's all-time leading goal scorer 👏 [pic.twitter.com/1hQMGGbKIG](https://t.co/1hQMGGbKIG?ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com)— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) [September 26, 2026](https://x.com/NWSL/status/2103668278845415924?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com) At Fishlock's age, however, she quickly asked out of the game after her second goal, as she felt a bit of discomfort after playing over 60 minutes. She gave Menti a brief hug as they swapped, before getting bear-hugged by Harvey. Two Reign originals on one last ride. "Tonight, it was her opportunity to get some flowers, and I'm glad that she did," Harvey said. Fishlock, ever the competitor, had one remark for Harvey in that hug. "In the hug (Fishlock) went, 'I told you I was ready…' And I was like, 'Yeah, you did, and you showed it,'" Harvey said. > [#ReignFC](https://x.com/hashtag/ReignFC?src=hash&ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com) legend Jess Fishlock became Seattle’s all-time regular-season leading scorer with a brace on Friday night. > > She shared a big hug with coach Laura Harvey postgame; here she is talking about that moment as her career comes to a close after ‘26.[@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/6TqCgNKcVf](https://t.co/6TqCgNKcVf?ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com)— Qasim Ali (@qasimasports) [September 26, 2026](https://x.com/qasimasports/status/2103689524006281435?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com) "It's nice to just know that I've played for so long, and I'm doing something useful," Fishlock said before shifting the focus of the night to her team's performance. "Obviously I scored the goal, I got the record which is super fun, but we got three points... that's kind of what was the most important." ### A Needed Turnaround Going into their previous road trip, the Reign had been flying high from a summer that saw them turn an ugly slow start into a contention for a home playoff berth. But as they sputtered out of the gate in both matches of a two-team road trip, they needed a reset when they again grazed the home turf. "We wanted to come out on the front foot defensively and offensively, and I thought we did that," Harvey said. "That's what was so frustrating about the last two games prior to tonight." Harvey was harsher on her team than she'd been all season after the team's 2-1 loss to Denver last week. She lamented the team's slow first half, and that type of disconnected effort would've been exactly what Boston needed to stage the road upset. Knowing this, part of Harvey's game plan was to insert a veteran presence into the middle of the Reign's press in Fishlock. "I know that we needed our press to be spot on, and she's just really smart," Harvey said of Fishlock. "She's a bit of a conductor… the others around her trust that if she's telling them to go, they should go." While one game against a team near the bottom of the table doesn't fix everything, the last thing Seattle needed before a final playoff push was to have feelings of doubt about their press creep in. The Reign remedied that issue tonight. By the end of the night, the Reign brought on well-established pieces off the bench like Menti, Brittany Ratcliffe, Madison Curry and Nérilia "Coco" Mondésir, all of whom have gained plenty of experience closing out gritty games this season. Seattle got a second wind, as its first unit had started to fade. Having that ability to reinvigorate her lineup with a few subs is something Harvey is clearly hanging her hat on. On the offensive end, Seattle came into Friday having seven one-goal showings in their last eight games. Harvey has spoken about her team looking its most dangerous when it was consistently making runs in behind even when obvious scoring chances aren't present. There was plenty of unselfish running on Friday. Striker Mia Fishel, who hasn't had the scoring season some fans may have hoped for in year two, ran full out to clear the right side on Fishlock's first goal. In the 43rd, defender Sofia Huerta bided her time in the area before launching a header that forced a kick save. Throughout the night, Maddie Dahlien was opening up the left side with her pace before finding Fishlock on her second goal with a smooth pass in stride. Fishlock even compared Dahlien to Rapinoe as the second-year winger is coming into her own as one of the shiftiest wingers in the league. "The sky is the limit for Maddie Dahlien," Fishlock said. "She's dangerous, she's going to create something... it's truly a career that I cannot wait to continue to watch." ### A Fishlock Classic to Savor Fishlock hadn't scored from outside the box since 2021 and hadn't bagged a brace since 2023. With her falling into a substitute role starting last season, the odds of Fishlock having this kind of game grew longer with each passing week, but it came nevertheless. Fishlock could've even kept trying for a hat trick through the discomfort she appeared to be feeling in her lower body, but she saw the bigger picture: The younger Reign need her quality and composure if they are to compete to their fullest potential in any playoff setting. For Fishlock, the decision to come off was simple. "The beauty of our group is I'm not going to push myself into an injury when I know the talent we have," Fishlock said. "I trust this whole squad." With just four games left in the regular season, Fishlock is battling for every minute she can get for a simple reason. "It's just a joy and an honor to be able to finish my career with a group that I truly enjoy playing with," she said. Her teammates aren't taking it for granted. "She's single-handedly helped me develop so much at this club," Dahlien said of her vet. "We have four more games to celebrate her and make it a season to remember." ### Up Next Seattle moved into sixth place in the NWSL table with their win against Boston Legacy, though three teams within two points of them have a game in hand over Seattle as the weekend continues around the league. The Reign are back at home next Friday night against another team fighting for a playoff spot in North Carolina. And with every match vital in the postseason chase, no reminders should be needed to show up for a duel with the Courage.