Reign vs. Dash: Highlights, stats, quotes

Houston Dash rookie Maggie Graham scored her third goal of the season as the Dash defeated the Seattle Reign at Lumen Field on Sunday evening. The Reign struggled to build any momentum and connect during this Mother's Day match and couldn't find an equalizer.

Up next for the Reign (3-3-2), who finished the weekend in 8th place, is a road match against Racing Louisville (3-3-2, 9th place).

Highlights

Stats

SCORING SUMMARY

57’ - Maggie Graham (Assisted by Ryan Gareis) - HOU

LINEUPS

57' - Madison Curry for Ji So-yun

71' - Ainsley McCammon for Angharad James-Turner; Emeri Adames for Maddie Dahlien; Shae Holmes for Ana-Maria Crnogorčević

86' - Maddie Mercado for Jordyn Bugg

46’ - Barbara Olivieri for Messiah Bright

64' - Paige Nielsen for Christen Westphal

78' - Michelle Alozie for Ryan Gareis

83' - Sarah Puntingam for Delanie Sheehan

ATTENDANCE

6,841 - Lumen Field, Seattle

POSSESSION

Reign: 49.1%

Dash: 50.9%

EXPECTED GOALS

Reign: 0.63

Dash: 0.67

TOTAL SHOTS

Reign: 6

Dash: 3

SHOTS ON TARGET

Reign: 1

Dash: 2

SHOTS OFF TARGET

Reign: 3

Dash: 0

SHOTS BLOCKED

Reign: 2

Dash: 1

SHOTS FROM INSIDE THE BOX

Reign: 4

Dash: 2

TOUCHES INSIDE THE OPP. BOX

Reign: 24

Dash: 12

PASSES

Reign: 431

Dash: 459

PASSING ACCURACY

Reign: 73.1%

Dash: 75.6%

PASSES IN FINAL THIRD

Reign: 124

Dash: 88

PASSING ACCURACY IN FINAL THIRD

Reign: 52.4%

Dash: 63.6%

CROSSES (EXCLUDING CORNERS)

Reign: 14

Dash: 4

CORNERS WON

Reign: 5

Dash: 2

OFFSIDES

Reign: 5

Dash: 3

FOULS

Reign: 5

Dash: 12

YELLOW CARDS

Reign: 1

Dash: 0

RED CARDS

Reign: 0

Dash: 0

Quotes

Laura Harvey

Her thoughts on the game:

I thought we were lackluster. I thought we never really got going. And I think the frustrating part about that is when it's the whole team, you've got to look at everything that we've done to prepare. I said prior to the game that we'd set the tone, that it's games like this that this is going to determine our season. It's not games against Kansas, it's games like today. And unfortunately, we didn't turn up for it. So I said to the players at the end, 'I think I have to take responsibility for that.' But I think we have to understand why that is, because I thought we looked lackluster, we were flat, we never really got going. Even when the substitutions came on, Emeri [Adames] hits the bar, but we never really enforced ourselves on the game. So yeah, disappointing.

On what she meant about these games determining the season more than KC:

I think we have to look at who's going to be in and around us [in the standings], and how do we make it that we become above them and not below them. And last year, that was a big struggle for us. We actually did okay against the top teams, but against the ones that we're fighting against, we didn't get a ton of points. And we've done a decent job of that this year with scraping a point out in Bay, beating North Carolina away, all those little things. The two games that I think we come away and we're disappointed with over the stretch we've had is this one and Angel City. So I think we can turn the tide for sure, and picking up wins against Kansas helps when you don't win a game like today, they sort of even themselves out, but you can't have that as a pattern or you're not going to get where you want.

On Claudia Dickey's performance:

I honestly think Claudia has been, if not the best goalkeeper in the league this season, she's definitely up there in my opinion. And I'm sure I'm biased, but she has grown a lot, she's matured a lot. Me and her had a really good conversation after Angel City. I actually went and watched the U.S. national team training and I came back and said there's no way you shouldn't be in that. And the reason you're not in it is you. It's things that you can change, it's in your control. And I'm not picking the team, that's not my job, but I think that if she goes on, if she continues on the trajectory that she's on, I believe she's got every single tool to be able to be this country's number one goalkeeper. I think the ceiling for her is still really high. She's very young as a goalkeeper and I think that there's loads of ceiling ahead of her, but I think what she's shown this year is consistency in performances. She makes big saves. That was a knock on her that she didn't necessarily do that before. She's doing that now. She's the best goalkeeper I've ever seen off a cross and her feet are great. So she's got all the attributes. She's just got to keep pushing.

Angharad James-Turner and Lauren Barnes

Their thoughts on the game:

Barnes: I think before heading into this game we talked about, it's going to be a tough one. We'd just come off a win against Kansas City and trying to keep that mentality and momentum going. We knew we had to win first and second balls and be aggressive today, and I think we lacked that a little bit, and that's just something we have to stick to the game plan with and be aggressive and see out a game like that. So we'll have to go back to film and look at that and prepare for the next game. It's a quick turnaround.

On the lack of connection in the game:

Barnes: I feel like we lacked a little bit of chemistry today, just not on the same page. It happens in this game, and you go down 1-0 and you have a lot of momentum, it becomes chaos. So you've got to find a little calmness in those moments, and I think we need to do better. We have a younger team this year, so making sure the veterans are able to step up into those moments and make sure we see out a game. We had 10 minutes left and we're already stretching the game and I think we can play a little bit more and have better opportunities in the final third.

On the team's issues creating chances in the final third:

James-Turner: I think we have to show a lot of respect to Houston. I thought they had a good game today. I think collectively as a group, we know we weren't at the races and we weren't good enough all around, both in and out of possession. Why that is, we need to figure that out ourselves internally and work on that. And I think we are not creating the chances that we'd like for our forwards to have. And that's on us as midfield, as defenders behind us, to make better service for them to finish the chances. But this is just a blip in one game. We've had a few good run of games and we've had really good positive performances up until now, so it's a blip and we just can't take too much from it and learn from our mistakes today and be better for Friday.

On the message at halftime:

James-Turner: At halftime it was about concentrating on ourselves and us as a group and if we were to deliver the game plan and up our game, we would've won the game. And we didn't do that. So that was the black and white of the situation. We came in and we weren't happy with the first half, but we were still in the game. It was still nil-nil at the time, and we knew if we'd upped our game that being at home in front of our fans with them behind us, it would've made a difference. But we weren't at the races today and we're the first to admit that as a group and all we can do now is look forward, look ahead and make sure we put it right for the next game.