> ## 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. # Reign Overcome Slow Second Half to Beat Short-Handed Wave - URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/seattle-reign-outlast-shaky-second-half-san-diego-wave/ - Published: 2026-09-07T06:53:57.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-08T06:10:27.000Z - Author: Qasim Ali - Tags: News, Analysis, Game Day, Reign, Laura Harvey, Maddie Dahlien, Maddie Mercado, Sofia Huerta, Angharad James, Sam Meza, Phoebe McClernon, Ryanne Brown \[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1680"\] ![ Seattle Reign midfielder Maddie Dahlien dribbles the ball during a game against the San Diego Wave on Sunday, Sep. 6, 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-seattle-reign-fc-jane-gershovich_5-format-original.jpg) Seattle Reign midfielder Maddie Dahlien dribbles the ball during a game against the San Diego Wave on Sunday, Sep. 6, 2026 at Lumen Field in Seattle, Wash. (Jane Gershovich / Reign FC Communications) \[/caption\] 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. ### A Tale of Two Halves The Reign didn't reinvent the wheel in the first half, but they were just better than San Diego while they were up a player. Of course, Seattle went up a player when Wave wing back Amelia Van Zanten took out Maddie Dahlien's legs as she sprinted toward a breakaway ball. After a Denial-of-Goal-Scoring-Opportunity (DOGSO) review in the 13th, Van Zanten was sent off, and the Reign started to dominate the chances, winning shots 8-4 and being decisive in close. Then came Dahlien's assist to Mercado in the 29th, in which the former got to the end line and saw the latter leap over San Diego's Perle Morroni for a strong header to put Seattle ahead. > ANNNND IT'S IN THE BACK OF THE NET! > > Maddie Mercado heads home a great ball from Maddie Dahlien. [pic.twitter.com/HtOACa9vWf](https://t.co/HtOACa9vWf?ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com)— Seattle Reign FC (@reignfc) [September 7, 2026](https://x.com/reignfc/status/2096776644027408458?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com) Mercado, with her eighth goal of the season, became the first Reign player to hit that mark since Bethany Bos did it last in 2021\. If Mercado keeps this pace with seven goal contributions in the last 10 games, she'll be the first Reign player to eclipse double-digit goals since the prolific Megan Rapinoe in 2017. "She's been so dominant aerially, which I think is something that's missing sometimes in this league," Dahlien said of Mercado. “I mean, that header was banged in the back of the net." But the second half saw the Reign become one-dimensional on the offensive end and more timid defensively, something the uber-talented Wave midfield took advantage of. 18-year-old Wave midfielder Kimmi Ascanio had multiple solid dribbles, but finished with six passes into the final third and a dangerous shot to the corner late in the first half that required saving from Dickey. Of course, Seattle was missing its teenage phenom in Ainsley McCammon as she participates in the U20 Women's World Cup, and was replaced by veteran Angrahad James-Turner. "We weren't as clean as we wanted to be on the ball, but then also defensively, I think we shifted ways we got pressure on the ball. Maybe that had an impact on the game," Dahlien said. On the offensive end, the Reign, who had just one shot in the second half after putting up eight in the first 45, seemed to fizzle out practically every time they came down the field. Often, however, there was an open attacker waiting for the ball to cycle around to open up a true chance. But the Reign barely switched the field, something Harvey wants to see improvement on as Seattle looks to get back its attacking form with one goal in each of its last four games. "We fell into the trap that they wanted," Harvey said of her team overusing the same channel on possessions. "We would get frustrated at giving the ball away… It's a bit of a mental thing… when you're playing against a team that has less players, because you're like, 'Why can't I find a pass and why isn't there a spare?' "We would go down one side when we needed to switch it, but again, all of these things we can really dig in and solve." The Reign, still with a young nucleus fully exploring what makes winning work at this level, have the tools, in Harvey’s estimation, to fix these mental issues. Winning helps. “How we actually operate is if we win, we’re probably way more critical on ourselves about our performance… that’s what makes this group so great… they want to learn, they want to get better.” ### Gritting Out Wins Seattle is 5-3-2 since coming back from the international break, but the team is more importantly turning Lumen Field into the fortress it certainly wasn't to start 2026\. The Reign lost all three of their opening games in Seattle this season, but since then, they have collected 10 points in a four-game unbeaten streak under the arches of Lumen. Last game, the Reign downed Houston in another scrappy 1-0 win. Two games ago, the Reign went to Kansas City and gritted out a 1-1 draw at a strong Current squad that generated over four expected goals. Against Chicago in August, the Reign played the opposite role and won 1-0 despite generating four expected goals themselves. While it's easy to point to blowout wins when building a contending resume, Harvey's young team is finding ways to win when situations are less than ideal. Huerta, the NWSL's all-time assist leader who has seen plenty of wins, knows what it means to string together tough Ws. "I don't think today was the prettiest, but I think good teams win when they don't play their best," Huerta said. "I'm still looking forward to when we have a complete performance and what it's going to look like." To Harvey’s point, it’ll probably involve a more flexible offense that distributes the ball in transition and a quicker trigger from the sideline to shift into an involved press when needed. But what’s been driving success in Seattle, which improved from 13th to fifth last season, is the sense of urgency. The Reign, who were out of the playoff picture earlier this season thanks to a five-game scoreless streak, have been eyeing the table for months with the NWSL playoffs looming in November. "That started July 4th," Harvey said of the playoff push. "We had a really tough May and we put ourselves in a position where we couldn't afford for (losing) to keep happening. And I think you've just seen a shift in us… whether it be seeing games out, whether it be scoring multiple goals." With eight games left, the Reign are holding onto the eighth and final playoff spot with 34 points — eight short of the magic number 42 Harvey's staff sees as the bar for making the playoffs. Seattle, with a game in hand over every team above it, is three points back of seventh-place KC, and just five points out of third-place North Carolina. Needless to say, a winning streak could put Seattle on a trajectory toward hosting a playoff game — something that felt nearly impossible in the dregs of May. ### Up Next The Reign will host Bay FC next Saturday to close its three-game home stand before it travels to face Angel City and the Denver Summit later this month.