Valkyratings: Listlessly listing along

Seattle Reign's loss to the Houston Dash was a frustrating match in a lot of ways: the Reign weren't the measurably worse side, but they also didn't really do enough to win, and they certainly didn't make their own luck in any real way. A flat performance, with most of the side playing fine, but nobody stepping up and making something happen in a big moment. Opportunities to run into space, lost by collapsing narrow and trying to thread through an organized Houston back line. Duels won all over the pitch, but nothing done with the moments of leverage that came after.

And ultimately, Yazmeen Ryan manufactured a moment of magic (like she has all season, largely without reward) in the 57th minute, Ryan Gareis put in a wicked cross uncontested, Maggie Graham laced the ball in with authority from five yards out, and the Reign didn't have a comeback in them.

Alyssa Nichols blew the whistle for full time after a maniacally short 3 minutes, but honestly, the Reign probably weren't finding an equalizer even with another ten; the chances were occasionally there, but they were too few and too far between.

So... study the film, do better next time out, and on to Louisville.

Goalkeeper

Claudia Dickey – 6

In the 80th minute, Dickey made a huge save on Yazmeen Ryan to keep the deficit to just one goal and give the Reign every chance to get back into it. Ryan might've been offside anyway, but Dickey made sure it wasn't in the VAR's hands to decide. The goal against was a huge chance, brilliantly worked by Ryan and Gareis, finished authoritatively by Graham; Dickey might've had a chance to cut out the cross if she read it quickly enough, but it's a big ask of any keeper on that sort of play.

Going forward. Nothing in this game changed that Claudia Dickey has been, to this point, the best goalkeeper in the league.

Defenders

Lauren Barnes – 6

Lauren Barnes played another generally solid game, helping the Reign limit the Dash to only two opportunities the entire night, and also getting forward fairly aggressively and progressing the ball effectively. Unfortunately, she also lost track of Graham for the split second that she could least afford to, and Graham slammed home Gareis' cross for the winning goal.

Going forward. Lu is thriving as the left defender in a three-centerback formation. She got caught between decisions with Bárbara Olivieri and Graham both in space to attack the cross, but she doesn't get caught like that often.

Phoebe McClernon – 6

Phoebe played another generally solid game, helping the Reign limit the Dash to only two opportunities the entire night, and once again setting the pace from the center of the back line. She had an opportunity to close on Gareis on the scoring play, and probably should have closed more aggressively, but after Ryan won back the ball, the Reign were stretched and compromised defensively in a way that left her with the option of closing the crosser or leaving Olivieri unmarked, neither of which is a good choice.

Going forward. It's hard to seriously critique much about Phoebe's body of work. She shares in the blame for the play that lost the game, but as with Lu, she was caught between multiple bad options after the turnover.

Jordyn Bugg – 6 (off 86' for Maddie Mercado)

Bugg played another generally solid game, helping the Reign limit the Dash to only two opportunities the entire night and providing consistent service to Crnogorčević forward. Unfortunately, she was also caught out by Ryan with the Reign entirely out of shape, losing the ball to the dangerous Houston midfielder and failing to get pressure on her in the immediate aftermath. Four touches later, the Dash had their lead.

Going forward. The moment Ryan stole the ball off her begged for a tactical foul to prevent the play from developing into a clear-cut opportunity, especially with a ref so committed to letting things go. Chalk it up as a learning experience.

Midfielders

Maddie Dahlien – 4 (off 71' for Emeri Adames)

This was probably Maddie Dahlien's most frustrating match as a pro. She drifted inside, rather than taking the wide space Houston was offering, and in doing so made it easy for the Dash to defend her. In denying herself the space and opportunity to zoom, she cut away a lot of what makes her so difficult to guard, and other than a 53rd-minute sequence with Lynn Biyendolo and Ji So-yun as the late runner crashing the box, she never really found the game.

Going forward. Chalk it up to a learning experience and move on. Dahlien adds a dynamism that the Reign absolutely need, but only when she's taking the opportunity to be dynamic.

Angharad James-Turner – 5 (off 71' for Ainsley McCammon)

Haz led the field in tackles won and ground duels won, and helped make the Reign midfield a bloodbath for the Dash, one they created nothing through: plenty of possession in the middle third, but every time they tried to press forward in possession, Angharad was there to make it miserable for them. Unfortunately, she didn't have much to add with the ball at her feet, and a midfield morass wasn't enough for the Reign to pick up points.

Going forward. The Haz / Sam midfield pivot has been a proper nightmare for opponents to play through, and Houston marks one more team that couldn't create a fucking thing in the middle of the field.

Sam Meza – 6 (POTM)

Second only to James-Turner in tackles and ground duels won, Meza added a relentless midfield engine and a will to get up the pitch and mix it up when the opportunity arose. She got on the ball a whole lot, made things happen on the dribble, and did everything she could to spark something out of nothing. Touching the ball to Emeri Adames in the 77th minute yielded a shot that splintered the crossbar, but unfortunately, the Reign would never get closer than that to drawing things level.

Going forward. Even on a flat night for the squad as a whole, Sam put in a plus performance, was probably the Reign's best player, and her increasingly astute partnership with James-Turner is a nightmare scenario for opposition midfielders.

Ana-Maria Crnogorčević – 6 (off 71' for Shae Holmes)

It might've been a different game if AMC had put that 37th-minute header on frame, rising up to meet the Lu Barnes corner from six yards out. Unfortunately, she mistimed it, popped it into the air, and Abby Smith collected it. That aside, Crnogorčević's game held up well on rewatch; she got into the right places, she made the right passes, she tackled hard and pressed relentlessly. It was mostly a good outing, it just wasn't her night in the little ways that could've made a difference.

Going forward. Results notwithstanding, this was one of AMC's best efforts of the year. Getting her rounded into the form she had in the back half of last season could help the Reign turn pressure into goals more consistently.

Forwards

Ji So-yun – 5 (off 57' for Madison Curry)

Ji keeps the ball as well as anybody in the league and can certainly provide value doing that, but with Biyendolo and Dahlien both drifting inside and the Reign largely ceding the width, Ji's control in tight spaces yielded very little in the way of chances. Her best moment was recovering a loose ball in the 53rd minute and putting Biyendolo in with space to shoot – instead, Biyendolo took an extra touch and cut it back to Dahlien, who saw her shot blocked, was awkwardly taken out as she tried to catch up to the rebound, and nothing wound up coming of it.

Going forward. While she can put in a perfectly respectable shift there in a pinch, putting Ji at what was functionally a wide forward position blunts a lot of her best qualities. The ball retention doesn't make up for the lack of space to pass into.

Jordyn Huitema – 5

Houston came in with a clear plan to slow down Jordyn Huitema's recent aerial dominance: simply foul her on every single throw in, goal kick, or set piece and dare the referee to whistle it. Despite wearing Houston defenders like an unfashionable orange cape with absolutely shocking frequency (I literally lost count), Huitema got the call a mere three times, and was largely kept quiet, unable to win the dangerous headers in attacking spaces that the Reign have fed on in the prior few games.

Going forward. While very frustrating to rewatch, Huitema needs to add more consistency to her game when she can't find the moments in the air, because sometimes PRO referees are simply going to let you get held down and undercut 25 times in a match.

Lynn Biyendolo – 5

Lynn Biyendolo showed some slick foot skills to shrug off centerbacks more than once, but she also took no shots, had just one shot-creating action, and seldom found herself in a position to run into space that Houston was very much leaving available to take advantage of – she drifted inside frequently, and with the Reign finding no width, the Dash were able to defend with numbers centrally. There's nobody on the roster I want taking that shot in the 53rd minute more than Biyendolo, but the extra touch and the closing Natalie Jacobs gave her nowhere to shoot.

Going forward. As a veteran that the Reign have rightly rallied around and as just one of the most lethal attackers in the history of the league... I would like to see Biyendolo play a little bit more quickly and selfishly when the moment is at her feet.

Substitutes

Madison Curry – 5 (on 57' for Ji So-yun)

The first sub for the Reign, Curry came on, covered three different positions as the Reign shifted throughout the match, and tackled like she had a personal grudge against every single Houston player that crossed her path.

Going forward. Sometimes, Curry's eagerness to throw the risky tackle (and give up the dangerous foul) is nerve-wracking. Against the Dash, it was needed energy that brought the Reign more in line with the game as it was playing out.

Shae Holmes – 5 (on 71' for Ana-Maria Crnogorčević)

Shae Holmes as a late utility sub has had some mixed results; once again, she wasn't especially clean in possession, but she was right in the middle of the Reign's late push searching for an equalizer, and in the 91st minute she got her head to Maddie Mercado's free kick and... unfortunately did not put it on target.

Going forward. Shae does seem to struggle a little bit coming into a match cold, but she's showing growth playing at multiple positions.

Ainsley McCammon – 6 (on 71' for Angharad James-Turner)

A week after failing to make a single impactful touch, Ainsley McCammon came on for a 20-minute run and was more than just good; she barely put a foot wrong. She completed 10 of 12 passes, eight of them forward-looking, three of them progressive, one of them a combination with Huitema that led to the Reign's 88th-minute chance, the best look they had at an equalizer. Not a bad 20 minutes at all.

Going forward. The vision on this kid is fuckin' unreal. She's 17 and she's not always going to execute it perfectly, but she's already seeing the game on another level entirely.

Emeri Adames – 5 (on 71' for Maddie Dahlien)

How many times did I watch Emeri do something clever with the ball only for none of her teammates to be ready for it, and what could've been something beautiful disappeared, almost like it never was at all...

Going forward. Give Emeri Adames more minutes and more reps with the team so there's a reward for the try-something-audacious energy she brings.

Maddie Mercado – N/A (on 86' for Jordyn Bugg)

Restoring the conservation of Maddies, Mercado subbed on for the last four-plus minutes and in that time managed to find the Reign's best chance of the half, put in the key pass on the Reign's second-best chance of the half, and make an absolute nuisance of herself in the final third. Had there been a goal for the Reign to find, Maddie looked the most likely to find it.

Going forward. On short minutes, Mercado consistently shows that she deserves more minutes.

Referee

Alyssa Nichols – 4

Nichols set the tone in the 16th minute, showing Dahlien a yellow card for a soft but somewhat cynical foul to stop a break where she was a bit out of position. Unfortunately, Nichols declined to follow up on that tone-setting with any further cards, regardless of the persistence of the infringement or cynicality of the foul. Players were warned not to foul again and then simply allowed to foul again, with or without a whistle, repeatedly. Huitema had a perpetual orange cape around her shoulders on every dead ball. Dahlien was taken down from behind in the penalty area – a move at least as much a foul as the one that she saw yellow for – with no real play on the ball and not even a second glance. Lengthy stoppages in the second half were apparently simply ignored in service of showing 3 minutes of added time and getting everyone home ahead of traffic.

Going forward. If only there was some sort of rule about "persistently" committing "infractions", some sort of "card" with a "yellow" hue that referees could show to warn players to cool things down...

And Another Thing..!

With apologies for the truncated column this week, your Valkyrater has been battling a fever and lacked the energy for the usual focus they dedicate to this. Hopefully, the Reign give me a lot to write about and give us all a lot to talk about – in a positive way, of course – against Louisville.