Nervy Reign fall to Spirit 2-1 at Lumen Field

The warning signs were there early, with the left side of the Reign defense struggling against the touch and pace of Rosemande Kouassi and Rebeca Bernal. Five minutes in, the Spirit looked to have opened the scoring, with the Reign given only a brief reprieve by VAR confirming that Gift Monday had drifted into an offside position before collecting the rebound and slotting it home.

Five minutes later, the Spirit struck again, this time with Casey Krueger delivering the early, long cross and Croix Bethune getting the better of Shae Holmes to touch it home. Another VAR stoppage confirmed that, despite some awkward jostling, Bethune did not handle the ball, and the Reign were staring at a well-earned deficit.

The 2025 edition of the Reign is nothing if not scrappy, though, and they finally woke up a little bit after Bethune's tally. A better stretch of pressure and effort led to a chaotic sequence in the attacking penalty area, with the ball falling to Shae Holmes near the six yard box. Holmes took a touch and laced it top shelf to level the scoring.

Unfortunately, the Reign weren't yet finished with their defensive struggles, and in the 34th minute, they conceded for a second time, with Gift Monday receiving a killer through ball and delivering it to Ashley Hatch, who simply beat Lauren Barnes for pace to touch it home.

The Reign rallied a little after that and had some scattered moments through the rest of the half, including a stoppage time sequence where Maddie Dahlien went down under a ton of contact in the attacking penalty area, but VAR declined to intervene and the Reign returned to the locker room a goal down.

The second half was substantially better for the Reign. Nérilia Mondésir and Jess Fishlock returned to action for the first time in weeks, and combined with veteran subs Lynn Biyendolo and Ji So-yun, the Reign carved out numerous opportunities to find the equalizer – Lynn with the ball at her foot and one player to beat, Jess rising up for the header off a corner kick – but couldn't get another past Aubrey Kingsbury.

As the match rolled into stoppage time, the Spirit were able to milk the sting out of the game with a mix of tactical injury stoppages and finding the corner. The Reign fell for the fourth time this season. Sometimes, the evil empire wins the battle – but it's a long season and there's still everything to play for.

What (Kinda) Worked: Quick responses

After conceding the first goal, the Reign woke up a little bit, fighting back hard to get the equalizer. After losing out to Croix Bethune in the opening tally, Shae Holmes got a measure of redemption, fighting for the ball, touching to make space, and delivering a wicked shot.

What Didn't Work: Defending the early ball

The Spirit saw something that other teams haven't tried much this year, and attempted early, diagonal far post crosses repeatedly in the first 30 minutes. The Reign looked shaky defending them, and it ultimately cost them an early goal as Washington put on the pressure.

Twenty-four minutes later, Gift Monday took the through ball on the run and, without giving the Reign defense a chance to get set, centered the ball and bet on Ashley Hatch to beat Lu Barnes, with, unfortunately, good results.

What Worked: Getting the band together

Nérilia Mondésir and Jess Fishlock returned to the pitch after lengthy absences, and their return was an immediate spark for a team that's struggled to assemble enough offensive bite. Fishlock found Biyendolo in a dangerous space within seconds of subbing on, and Mondésir created danger all across the attacking band. They ultimately didn't have enough time to make a difference tonight, but the Reign have shown flashes of being a much better, more dangerous team with all of the pieces healthy. Combined with the emergence of rising young stars Sam Meza, Maddie Dahlien, and Jordyn Bugg, the Reign have shown flashes of tantalizing potential – finally getting some minutes with everyone available is a first step towards trying to find the ceiling.

What Didn't Work: Finding an equalizer

The second half may have been better than a disastrous and sometimes outright lackadaisical first, but it ultimately wasn't good enough to secure a result. The Reign pushed hard, but the Spirit were able to hold strong and, after some nervy moments in their own penalty area, take the bite out of the game and work the clock until the final whistle.

Not for the first time this season, the Reign have gotten close but failed to get the final touch.

"We hurt ourselves more than they hurt us today."

Asked about the dynamism of the Spirit midfield, Phoebe McClernon was deferential to their talent but pinned responsibility on the Reign defense. "I'm not saying this to be bitter, but I think we hurt ourselves more than they hurt us today. Obviously they're all very talented players and they can create at any given opportunity, but like, we hurt ourselves today. It wasn't some magical feat by an amazing midfield that did us in, we did ourselves in."

Fishlock added, "I actually think Kouassi caused us more problems. She was super dynamic and super direct, and I think early in the game, I think she caused us problems, and that stopped us being aggressive in our press. [...] Early on, Kouassi's positioning, I think, caused us a lot of problems, and it took us awhile to figure that out. And it shouldn't take us 45 minutes to figure that out."

Later, asked if she agreed that the Reign hurt themselves more than the Spirit did, Laura Harvey gave a characteristically succinct, two word response: "Yeah, absolutely."

"Our momentum and our mentality comes from defending."

Talking about the Reign's offensive struggles and how the Reign can create more clear-cut opportunities, Harvey talked about finding offense in the press and the transition.

"Honestly, I think this sounds a little bit off, but I think our momentum and our mentality comes from defending. When we press high, when we force the opponent to give us the ball back, that's when we gain the chances. [...] I felt tonight there was a few times we did that in the first half, but gave the ball back to them. I think they even scored off one of those. So I think that’s the key for us.”

The Reign now depart for a blistering run of road games, playing the Wave, Stars, and Royals before returning home in August after a summer pause in league play. The road trip begins away at San Diego on June 6th, 2025 at 7:00 PM. The match will stream on Prime Video.