Reign Continue Spokane Success with 2-1 Win Over Louisville
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Seattle Reign forward Maddie Mercado dribbles the ball against Racing Louisville on Saturday, March 28, 2026 at ONE Spokane Stadium in Spokane, Wash. (Jane Gershovich / Reign FC Communications) [/caption]
The Seattle Reign have found themselves quite a home east of the Cascades.
The team, set for three straight games in Spokane while Lumen Field finishes World Cup renovations, finished the second fixture of that stand with a 2-1 win over Racing Louisville on Saturday afternoon. Maddie Mercado struck first on a keeper error in the 10th minute before Nerilia "Coco" Mondesir turned a smooth team play into the team's second goal right before the half.
Although a late stoppage-time Louisville goal spoiled a would-be clean sheet, Claudia Dickey and the Seattle defense were superb in shutting down a Racing side missing one of the league's brightest stars in Emma Sears. With the result, the Reign improved to 3-1-0, with all their contests coming away from the Emerald City as the team is just under a month away from returning to its home pitch in SoDo.
By the end of Saturday’s match, however, those two first-half chances for Seattle outweighed anything Louisville could produce despite 19 shots by the final whistle.
"I think it might be a conversation about moving (to Spokane)," Reign head coach Laura Harvey joked postgame.
A Second Straight Dream Start for Seattle
Seattle scored three goals in 33 minutes in their Spokane opener on Wednesday against the Shield-winning Current, and Saturday's first half was just about as satisfying for the Reign.
Louisville, missing its USWNT attacker and star Emma Sears, relied on its vaunted press to keep Seattle out of scoring position. It worked in the early going, as the game was mostly played in the middle third, but Seattle still owned the ball for 71% of the time over the first 30 minutes of the contest.
In the 10th minute, an opportunistic Seattle side, fresh off its best offensive showing of the season, earned a throw-in in Louisville territory. Sofia Huerta found Sam Meza, who ran to the center of the top of the 18-yard box alongside striker Maddie Mercado.
Mercado, fresh off a header goal in the KC game to open her season ledger, struck a pass from Meza well to the left side of the goal, but Louisville keeper Jordyn Bloomer secured the one-bounce ball with both arms. Or so she thought, as the ball somehow slipped away at the last moment and fell into the net for an unthinkable goal for Louisville coach Beverly Yanez's side.
Still, a goal is a goal, and Seattle was on the board early.
"If you don't shoot, you don't score," Harvey said with a shrug postgame.
From there, the Reign's defense stepped up as Meza won three of four duels she participated in in the first half to display her USWNT talent. Another standout was reserve center back Emily Mason, who made her fourth straight start for injured NWSL Defender of the Year finalist Jordyn Bugg.
Mason, who has struggled at times in maintaining Seattle's line this season, looked patient and in control, blocking two shots and a dangerous cross with her body in the first half.
Ainsley McCammon, 18 years old and making her third start of the season in the midfield alongside Meza, then found Nerilia "Coco" Mondesir in the 41st minute for her first career assist. With that moment, McCammon became the youngest Seattle player to ever pick up an assist.
In the lead-up, Mondesir first won a ball off a Louisville goal kick near midfield before Mercado passed the ball back to McCammon to eye an opening for a through pass.
She found one, waiting a moment for Mondesir to start her run before delivering a picture-perfect pass in stride. Mondesir settled behind the ball, wide open on the right side of the box, and fired a grounded shot past Bloomer for her first goal of the season and first since 2024.
"I saw Coco running in behind, and I was like 'Oh, I know she's going to finish this, and (I) just gotta pass it and it was a great finish from her," McCammon said. "I was just super happy to be in that position."
Though Racing managed a few half-chances, blocks from Mason and quality dueling from Huerta, Madison Curry and Phoebe McClernon prevented Louisville from truly threatening the Reign early on.
Seattle Hunkers Down, Again
Louisville looked like a team missing its primary playmaker in Sears, but reassumed some of its bite in the second half as Seattle didn't manage a shot on target in the back 45.
Kayla Fischer managed the first chance, working past Huerta before taking a shot that Dickey easily handled on the left side. Louisville worked back into the box in the 68th before Mason blocked another cross.
Racing wouldn't get another chance until the 85th as late sub Rachel Hill delivered a ball into the box from the left side. After a deflection, a putback shot was parried by Dickey in the keeper's biggest moment of the game, before Lauren Milliet's follow with Dickey out of position skied over the goal.
In the fourth and final minute of second-half stoppage, however, Dickey would see her clean sheet slip away. Striker Sarah Weber delivered a perfect ball into the box, which 87th-minute sub Macy Blackburn attacked with her head. The shot went off the crossbar and Dickey's hand, barely crossing the threshold fully for a goal before bouncing out.
Racing wouldn't get a chance to add on as the game ended immediately after.
Individual Improvement on Showcase in Spokane
The Reign came into this three-game stand in Spokane searching for answers on the offensive end after losing to arch-nemesis Portland on the road with the Thorns down multiple players. With one more Spokane game against the expansion Denver Summit set for next Saturday, the Reign are up 5-1 over two contests at ONE Spokane Stadium.
Mercado, who Huerta described as one of the team's best finishers after the win over KC, has stepped up with two goals in two games while the Reign's offense as a whole looks more opportunistic even with striker Mia Fishel out.
Mind you, Seattle got multiple goals on the board without a single minute played by veteran captain Jess Fishlock (rest), young star winger Maddie Dahlien (leg) or Fishel (leg).
At the center of the Reign's offensive success has been Coco Mondesir.
The 27-year-old Haitian national now has a goal to pair with her two assists in the opener at Orlando and has generated a solid portion of Seattle's chances with her dribbling and visionary passing. Mondesir didn't get a chance to return to Haiti in the past offseason, and Harvey believes the upside of her having to stay in Seattle with no option but to work on her game is paying dividends already.
Mondesir played her first two seasons in Seattle with one goal and no assists through 30 games.
"I think Coco made really big strides last year; she maybe just didn't get the reward that she deserved from that progress," Harvey said, as Mondesir appeared in 20 games with no goal contributions. "Coco has shown that she has the physical capabilities to compete game-in, game-out, and (I’m) so happy for her that she got a goal today."
On the defensive end, Seattle was completely in control for the first 85 minutes or so of this game before Louisville started putting together some truly threatening touches in the final third.
Mason, who struggled to fill the enormous shoes Jordyn Bugg has left as she recovers from a nagging hamstring, has looked more than serviceable in Spokane.
In the Orlando and Portland games, Mason often found herself too high in the formation, allowing stars like Reilyn Turner and Barbra Banda to sprint in behind her and open games up. On Saturday, Mason showed a resolve to allow the game to come to her, and was rewarded with a boatload of deflections, including two blocked shots and seven clearances to pair two duel wins (per FotMob).
"I think for a young player, coming out of the Orlando game, coming out of the Portland game, it could have been quite easy for her to drop her head… she hasn't done that. She's done the complete opposite, which says a lot about her."
In the defending midfield, Meza and McCammon made their third start of the season together. Both players are from Texas and played for the youth side Solar SC. To rediscover their bond playing professional soccer together has been a thrill for the duo as each player stars for Seattle early.
"I've actually known (McCammon) for some time now," Meza said. "Just growing up with Solar, so it's really cool to kind of have like a full-circle moment and to kind of just like be back at the same club playing together."
McCammon, six years Meza's junior, has been appreciative of how the quiet star approaches the game. Meza has been a routine call-up to the USWNT lately, taking her game to a new level on the defensive end to Seattle's benefit.
"She's really come out of her shell and just like taken the team under her wing," McCammon said of Meza. "I know that I can come to her with anything, and we're constantly communicating on the field and problem-solving."
One problem the team was left to solve was that late goal. Though the win was practically secured by the time it happened, Harvey was surprised to see how upset her team was with the concession as they huddled postgame.
"It's so interesting how the group responded at the end, because they were very happy with the three points. But immediately they're like, 'We want to see the goal. We want to know what we could do better at,'" Harvey said. "I think that says a lot about our group right now… they're not happy and satisfied."
Up Next
The Reign will have one more game in Spokane against Denver next Saturday before a three-week international break. Fans waiting to see the Reign finally play in Seattle this season will have their chance as the team hosts the Utah Royals at Lumen Field on April 26 to resume play following the break.
