> ## 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 Devastated By Late Washington Goal in Loss, Continue Scoreless Streak - URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/seattle-reign-washington-spirit-devastated-late-goal-continue-scoreless-streak/ - Published: 2026-05-11T05:05:29.000Z - Updated: 2026-05-11T05:05:29.000Z - Author: Qasim Ali - Tags: News, Analysis, Reign, Maddie Mercado, Maddie Dahlien, Laura Harvey, Mia Fishel, Claudia Dickey, Madison Curry Seattle Reign coach Laura Harvey was dejected in her postgame presser. Sunday saw her team try to break a three-game scoreless streak against a hot Washington Spirit team led by USWNT star Trinity Rodman. Though the Reign hit the crossbar in the early going, their issues with quality in the final third continued to frustrate the team as the game wore on. With six minutes of regular time to play, the Spirit, which hadn't generated many of their typical chances all night, drove a dagger into the Reign as substitute Claudia Martinez scored off a Seattle turnover. Seattle dropped to 3-3-2, now winless in their last four with zero goals to show in each. "Every (Washington) player who came to speak to me from their team said, 'We can't believe we just beat you,'" Harvey said. Harvey, the winningest coach in NWSL history, admitted this was the worst of the recent winless fixtures for her. Washington (5-1-3, 2nd in NWSL) produced just two shots on target for 0.4 expected goals and walked away with its fifth straight W. "They showed one glimpse of quality, you know? So this is a tough one to take. I would say out of all the games we've played this year, this is probably my most disappointed I've been." ### Excuses Are Starting to Run Dry On the offensive end, the Reign generated 0.8 expected goals. The best look of the night came early, when Maddie Dahlien chipped a ball in to Sam Meza in the box, who headed it to Maddie Mercado for a 1-on-1 chance about 12 yards from the net. Mercado, looking for her third goal of the year, shook center back Esme Morgan out of her boots and launched a missile at the crossbar. Keeper Sandy MacIver would have had no shot at a save, and Seattle wouldn't get a chance that clean for the rest of the game. While one can argue Mercado’s effort warranted a shot on target, the Reign managed just three shots on frame in the entire game, none truly threatening for MacIver. Seattle took 12 total shots. Moments after Mercado's try, striker Mia Fishel whiffed trying for a tough re-direct of Nerilia "Coco" Mondesir's corner kick, and Seattle went on to be dispossessed. Seattle managed 20 touches and 11 shots in Washington's box in this game, but can't rely on a round xG number this time around because of the lack of actually dangerous strikes. Sure, Mercado whipped a slow header on frame to force MacIver to go to ground in the 64th, but that effort will rarely net a goal. That moment was indicitive of what kept happening throught the game. Seattle cut through a rabid Spirit press and slowly progressed into the final third. But even in the box, the Reign didn’t trouble Washington enough. "We didn't really work the keeper," Harvey said. Harvey, ever the realist, knows what earns wins in the NWSL, and it's more than what the Reign have mustered for the last month. "Do we want to be a team that plays good football in their defensive third and gets to the mid-third and does great, and then gets to the final third and doesn't? Because that's not going to be a team that gets to the playoffs and wins," Harvey said. ### Not For a Lack of Trying Quality. It's a word Harvey has thrown around quite a bit in this four-game slump. In the world of soccer, it implies technical ability and know-how in progressing and scoring the ball, and it's something she wants more of. "I thought that in two-thirds of the field we were very, very good. In the final third of the field, we didn't show enough quality, desire, want, maybe. I think we were unlucky," Harvey said. Fans in tune with the postgame musings of Seattle's longtime skipper have heard that sentiment plenty, and the team responded this week by focusing on drills fine-tuned around finishing in close with… quality. From my astute observation of Wednesday’s training: Many shots went over the net, many went wide, many went in. The point being, the team knows it's slumping and is trying to drill its way out of the funk. So with the reigning NWSL champion Gotham FC in town as early as Friday night, Seattle has its work cut out. The good news is that the team has allowed one goal in two games and still rates among the better defenses in the league. But a veteran offensive commodity in Jess Fishlock won't bail this young team out as she recovers from her ankle injury. Dahlien, Emeri Adames, Mercado, Mondesir. They're all names that have proven they can generate chances and score in this league. Every team has lulls, and this isn't an organization that's ever been content to let them run long. The challenge for those four attackers, plus Fishel, who’s yet to net a goal in Seattle, in this upcoming stretch is to be a bit more selfish at times. Mercado is the only attacker who has consistently worked with her head down to get her own shot on target this season — though I have to credit Dahlien with a valiant run for a shot on frame in the 86th of this game. Dahlien and Adames are consistently billed, correctly, I might add, as two of the most dynamic young wingers in the league. There is no reason for Dahlien to wait for desperation time to start taking over on the wing. The young Reign have made the motto "no one is coming to save us" their rallying cry this season. They can show they mean it by showing the "want" Harvey alluded to when it counts. "We're inching towards what we want in our identity, and yeah, we just have to keep working," defender Madison Curry said postgame. "Once it rains, it's going to pour goals for us." ### Defense Stands Up… Mostly > What a goal by NWSL newcomer Claudia Martínez for the Spirit! [pic.twitter.com/TYPUN0GSVY](https://t.co/TYPUN0GSVY?ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com)— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) [May 11, 2026](https://twitter.com/NWSL/status/2053639611067322427?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com) The late concession wasn't great. It was a transition chance as defender Gabrielle Carle put a perfect cross in for Martinez for a devastating finish. But outside of that moment, a Washington team fresh off 11 goals in its previous four matches failed to threaten Seattle much at all in its standard build-up. Curry emphasized that the team's focus after giving up three goals to Utah was on making sure it i s sound defensively before it worries about trying to score on the other end. To that degree, conceding once against the hottest offense in the NWSL, however disappointing the concession was, is progress after a clean sheet in Houston last week. The Reign once again showed through their bruisers like Meza and McClernon that they weren't going to be bowled over by a very physical Spirit squad. "We gave them a battle," Curry said, as the Spirit relied on shooting from outside the box most of the game. "I don't think that they necessarily liked that. I don't think that they're used to that… I'm proud of us for not, you know, letting them dictate in that way." ### Possession Mistakes Linger In Seattle's last loss at home, that 3-0 drubbing to Utah two weeks ago, it gave away the ball twice in its own half to ignite scoring chances that drowned it. In this one, the Reign were much sharper throughout, but had two moments that are cause for concern. With a superstar talent like Rodman constantly pressing, Meza delivered a slow cross-field pass for Madison Curry that Rodman easily stole just 25 yards or so from goal. Rodman tried for a screamer, as her curling shot to the top left corner just barely missed. In the 63rd, star keeper Claudia Dickey tried to clear a ball over Washington's Hal Hershfelt, but kicked it right at the midfielder. Hershfelt immediately struck a shot that just floated out of danger with Dickey completely out of position. Though Dickey is vying for minutes with the USWNT and moments like those don't help her case, having that kind of lapse in a 0-0 game against a top-three team like Washington just can't happen. Luckily for Seattle, this portion comes out to a nitpick as neither giveaway cost a goal. This time. ### Up Next The Reign will have just four days to prepare before they host fifth-place Gotham, fresh off a four-game unbeaten streak.