Reign Leap to No. 4 Seed with Comeback Win Over North Carolina

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="6192"]

Seattle Reign forward Maddie Dahlien celebrates her goal as Jess Fishlock points at her during an NWSL game against the North Carolina Courage on Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025 at Lumen Field in Seattle, Wash. (Jane Gershovich / Reign FC Communications) [/caption]

SEATTLE, Wash. - The Seattle Reign stole a home win on Sunday night against the North Carolina Courage, and boy did they need it.

The Reign (9-7-6) rose all the way into the NWSL's fourth seed with the result and staved off a Courage team (7-8-7) that fell out of the playoff picture to the ninth seed.

Seattle showed grit in this one, powering past a disallowed goal and a mid-game deficit to snag what could prove to be a turning point as we roll closer to the November playoffs.

A Scripted First 45

If Seattle's identity has been to allow plenty of opposing opportunities while letting only a few in, the Reign were right on script in the first half. As expected, the Courage dominated possession at 70 percent in the first half and ended the first 45 minutes with a 5-2 shot disparity.

One of those opportunities, a right-to-left cross that resulted in a shot right over keeper Claudia Dickey, was narrowly saved just seven minutes in as the Reign found themselves blocking shots over and over again to keep a determined Courage side, fresh off two straight wins, off the board in the first half.

On the offensive end, the Reign didn't manage a shot on goal in the first half — not a great omen for a team that came into the game with just one goal in the last four showings.

Dahlien Raises Hope, VAR Destroys It

Maddie Dahlien, making her first start in two matches, was undeniably the bright spot of the Seattle offense in the second half.

The 21-year-old forward worked the left side of Courage defense in the 50th minute and launched a laser into the right side of the net to push Seattle ahead. The team celebrated as the weight of another shutout had been lifted.

But it wasn't to be.

A late VAR sequence found that Dahlien was well offside as Seattle had to reset its mindset in a hurry.

That all proved to be too much as the Courage pounced on the momentum swing in the 58th on a perfect header from striker Hannah Betfort.

Seattle went from a possible three-point result to a draw projection to what felt like a dreadful loss in eight short minutes.

Subs, Dahlien Revive Seattle's Offense

In the 65th, Reign skipper Laura Harvey decided to give her offense an infusion of dribbling. Ainsley McCammon and leading scorer Emeri Adames each came on.

McCammon showed off her dribbling as Seattle began to control the ball more consistently, nutmegging defenders almost immediately after coming on. In the 71st, McCammon nutmegged another defender on a feed to Adames, who put the ball into the box for a streaking Jordyn Huitema. Huitema's shot went off Courage defender Ryan Williams for a much-needed own goal to tie it up late.

From there, it was all about Dahlien.

Unphased by the striking of her first score from the docket, Dahlien worked the left side again and struck the ball between a defender's leg and through a save attempt to put her team on top — no flags raised this time.

An ecstatic Dahlien celebrated a bit too hard, as the young star had to come out of the game after her celebration caused her to cramp up.

"I mean, damn, the cellies really got me. My hammy was cramping a little bit, I twisted my ankle in the first one … I gotta get them a little more under control, but yeah, I'm fine," Dahlien said with a laugh postgame.

Major Takeaways: A Solution to a Staggered Offense?

"If you just go on the play, maybe we didn't necessarily deserve all three points," Harvey said of her team’s performance. "But I think on mentality, on grittiness, willingness to dig in and push through, maybe that pushed us over the edge."

It's true, the Reign won this game with two goals despite putting just one shot on target and never replicating the flurry that North Carolina generated at the top of the game. But the work rate of Meza, Nérilia Mondésir, Sally Menti, Phoebe McClernon and Madison Curry was the great equalizer.

When you consider just how good the subs were, with Adames netting a pseudo assist of sorts on the own goal and McCammon dribbling through a stingy defense with ease, the Reign were able to weasel their way to a three-point result.

While this game moves Seattle into fourth, these standings are sure to change a few more times before November. The more important result of this game was the morale boost it could provide as every game starts to take on a playoff feel.

This offense scored two goals despite scoring just one in the previous four fixtures combined, and was able to let one of its young stars loose in Dahlien. According to Harvey, getting back to working in transition and threatening teams in dynamic opportunities is the way to go in today's league. To that effect, Harvey switched the way her team pressed in the second half — a tactic that allowed playmakers like McCammon and Dahlien to work in space.

"In 2023 and '22 a little bit, we defended how we defended in the second half tonight a lot in those years. I think we scored 76% of our goals in transition in '23 … with the players that we have, I actually think that it can be a really big tool for us," Harvey said.

With how sparse this offense has looked in trying to weave through defenses methodically lately, turning to sudden lightning-strike goals could be a viable path forward.

On the defensive end, Sam Meza's performance was player-of-the-match worthy. The 23-year old USWNT talent led the game with nine duels won and six tackles, as she continues to be the most consistent player on Seattle's roster (per FotMob).

Meza was all business postgame.

"It's my job, right? I'm paid to be out there and do my job well and I think I take pride in doing that," Meza said.

Fair enough.

Up Next

The Reign will head out to New York next Sunday to take on the team one seed above them in Gotham FC. With a win, Seattle could move into No. 3, but the Reign remain just five points out of falling out of the playoffs altogether as this wild NWSL season continues.