Theo Lloyd-Hughes pointed out an interesting stat after the Reign-Racing match last week: the Reign completed just 148 passes, the fourth-fewest completed passes in a match in the history of the league. Also interesting: the five teams completing the fewest passes in league history went undefeated (three wins, two draws, 9-3 goal differential) in those five matches. What I'm saying is passing is a sucker's game, and clearly the team that learns how to complete the fewest passes over a full season will run away with the Shield and the Cup.
Okay, no, not really, but it is a fascinating bit of trivia that reinforces that what you do without the ball is often just as important as what you do with it, and you don't need to dominate possession or put together long, beautiful sequences to get a result.
The Reign, with very little of the ball, did enough to get the win on a windy-ass day in Louisville, some 16 hours after the originally scheduled kickoff of a match that was (rightly) delayed over a tornado warning. Number of normal games played against Racing? Still zero. Number of wins against Racing? That number's all the way up to three.
This was a weird match to watch and a weirder match to rewatch. The weird ones still count, though, so let's get right into it!
Goalkeeper
Claudia Dickey – 6
For a goalkeeper who faced 20 shots, Claudia Dickey sure wasn't asked to actually do very much: just a single save, on a somewhat weakly-taken shot from 17 yards out, in the 5th minute of first-half stoppage time. The closest Louisville would come after that was on the final play of the match, when Savannah DeMelo splintered the outside of the woodwork with a free kick from 20 yards with a ball that never actually threatened to score. On a day that demanded it, Dickey was quite good in the air, plucking floating balls out of the sky repeatedly. With the ball at her feet, she mostly opted to boot the hell out of it, with limited success.
Going forward. The Reign are a team still finding their feet, but Claudia's consistently excellent play has them in striking distance of second place in the standings.
Defenders
Shae Holmes – 6 (off 75' for Emily Mason)
Four interceptions, two duels won, and very little joy for Emma Sears or Savannah DeMelo, who came up Holmes’ side of the pitch often, and found space to do anything dangerous infrequently. Despite Louisville's field-tilting possession advantage, they never showed anything actually threatening after the 21st minute, and with Holmes and Lu Barnes anchoring the left side of the pitch, it was a cold afternoon in Kentucky for some of the opposition's best attackers.
Going forward. When the plan is to make the opponent beat you with the ball, Shae Holmes is real, real hard to beat.
Lauren Barnes – 6
Lauren Barnes was the only Reign player to register more than 50 touches on the ball. She was also one of only three Reign players (along with McClernon and Huitema) to complete better than 67% of her passes. She also won three of four duels, blocked a shot, dropped seven clearances, and generally combined with Shae Holmes to neutralize the danger from DeMelo, Sears and Lauren Milliet. Who needs possession anyway?
Going forward. The Lunnaissance continues. Barnes looks refreshed and ready to take on all comers.
Phoebe McClernon – 6
One good chance, three average chances, and sixteen poor-quality or outright speculative shots. While Louisville held on to the ball, Phoebe McClernon's back line effectively kept them to the outside and denied them real opportunities for danger. (Half of Louisville's xG came in a three minute window – 19' through 21' – wherein they got three decent looks from inside the area; after that they created literally zero shots of even average quality.) Aside from the oddly effective gameplan of "give Louisville the ball and dare them to do something with it", Phoebe posted two interceptions, two blocked shots, won three of four duels, and dropped a good foul to break up the play. Tidy enough to get the result.
Going forward. Still the anchor of a defense that's been over-performing by a solid margin all season.
Jordyn Bugg – 6
Nothing of much use for Racing came up the right channel, either, as Jordyn Bugg and Madison Curry gave Janine Sonis plenty of time to receive and pass the ball and nowhere useful to put it. Bugg won four tackles and four of five duels when Racing put her to the test, took a deserved but impactful yellow card late that likely saved a good opportunity, and went ahead and added seven clearances for good measure. A strong multi-tool performance that contributed heavily to Louisville averaging just 0.05 xG per shot.
Going forward. Bugg has already made herself indispensable for the team. The only real question is just how much more she still has to show.
Madison Curry – 6
Alongside Bugg, Madison Curry was on a mission to destroy, sharing the team lead with four won tackles while winning five of seven duels. Curry is the genuine article. Last season, I lamented the lack of eau de give me that ball; Madison brings that like nobody else on the team. She wants the ball and she will come and take it from anyone, anywhere, at any time. Magnificent, much-needed edge that makes the Reign a whole lot harder to play against or play through.
Going forward. The obligatory once per match foul in a rough spot is more than a fair tradeoff for Curry making life this miserable for the opposition.
Midfielders
Angharad James-Turner – 6 (off 85' for Ainsley McCammon)
Haz was probably one of the less effective starters on the pitch, and... she still blocked three shots, won two tackles, posted three clearances, and made an absolute nuisance of herself all over Racing's attempted build outs. This sort of game plan actually plays quite well to James-Turner's skillset, as she's very good at defending space and very comfortable playing hard minutes without ever getting on the ball.
Going forward. As the more defensive half of a pair, Haz frees up Sam Meza to be aggressive higher up the pitch and take risks.
Sam Meza – 7
Another match, another big moment that won the Reign points. Sam Meza broke the game with her 39th minute assist to Danger Maddie, a pinpoint pass along the ground that bisected the wind and gave Dahlien nothing but goal to run at. And, no big deal, she was up to her usual midfield shenanigans, switching off destroyer duties with Haz and denying Louisville the ability to build up the middle. That denial of space pushed them wide, where they met... well, refer to the entries for Bugg, Curry, and Holmes. Meza created the game's best chance, Dahlien buried it, and Racing had no answer for the Reign's positional discipline.
Going forward. If the Reign go somewhere this year, a lot of that's going to come down to Meza's emergence as an omnidirectional threat. I for one welcome the Mezazoic Era.
Forwards
Maddie Dahlien – 7 (POTM) (off 75' for Maddie Mercado)
Sam Meza puts in a dime, Danger Maddie takes the ball in stride and zooms up the left wing, picks the corner pocket, shoots, scores! The Reign completed fewer than 150 passes, but they sure made the ones they completed count, and Dahlien beating the back line for both touch and pace and calling her shot upended the game. Was she effective defensively? Eh, to an extent. Did she find her teammates? Not really. Did she do much with the ball at her own feet? That and then some. 22 touches, 16 carries, 3 shots, all of them on target, 1 goal.
Going forward. Playing as a winger/forward gets the most out of Dahlien's world-class short acceleration. Keep giving her chances and she's going to sink more of them.
Jordyn Huitema – 6 (off 86' for Ana-Maria Crnogorčević)
So this is a bit of an interesting one: Jordyn Huitema, not really known for being a plus passer, was one of three players on the Reign with a positive passing g+. (She was also one of two players with a positive receiving g+, but that's more normal for her.) While she didn't take a shot and didn't create a chance on paper, she was immense in holding things together for the Reign and their sparse possession, providing one of the few reliable outlets to take off pressure and let the defense reset. She was four for seven in duels, and she led the side in progressive passes. It was not a traditional Huitema-style game, but it was a points-securing performance nonetheless.
Going forward. BlueSky soccer wonks were skeptical to deeply amused at Harvey's premise that Huitema is becoming more of a playmaker. Maybe Laura saw something the rest of us didn't, and now we're starting to see the results on the field.
Lynn Biyendolo – 5 (off 90'+4 for Hanna Glas)
The Reign didn't have enough of the ball to really unlock Biyendolo, but she still did good stuff in limited opportunities. Create a chance? Check. Lead the press and make Racing uncomfortable? Check. It was a solid, professional, put in the hard work even when the ball's not coming to you sort of performance. This wasn't Lynn's game, this wasn't at all where she thrives, and this might've been her least-influential performance of the season, but she fought and scrapped for position and did enough to secure the points by full time.
Going forward. In general, the Reign play better when they get Lynn Biyendolo the ball, something that's hard to do consistently when you're conceding 65% possession by design.
Substitutes
Emily Mason – 5 (on 75' for Shae Holmes)
The first substitute late in a hard-fought match, Emily Mason spelled Holmes for the final quarter-hour. She did enough to help see out the result, winning a tackle and two duels in those 15+ minutes to pick up the hard-nosed defending right where Shae left off.
Going forward. The Reign are stacked with young players able to confidently play hard minutes. Rookie Emily Mason has some chops, and looks like a very good defender for the future.
Maddie Mercado – 5 (on 75' for Maddie Dahlien)
Keeping up the all-important conservation of Maddies, Mercado came on for Dahlien in the 75th minute and completed no passes but did win two tackles and intercept a pass, with two of those three defensive actions coming in the final third to force Racing to scramble back rather than ramp up pressure.
Going forward. Mercado is out with an excused absence against the Spirit, and the any-position, any-game state skill and calm she brings will be missed.
Ainsley McCammon – N/A (on 85' for Angharad James-Turner)
Another short appearance for Ainsley McCammon where she didn't necessarily have a lot to do, but impressed with what she did. Four defensive actions (a tackle, a ground duel, a clearance, and a recovery) on five touches, all of them successful, all of them breaking up Racing's rhythm. Not bad for short minutes in a match like this.
Going forward. Like many of the kids, McCammon needs more minutes to fully grow into herself, but this was probably not the match to throw the kids to the wind, figuratively and literally.
Ana-Maria Crnogorčević – N/A (on 86' for Jordyn Huitema)
AMC ran hard, got up in Racing's face, touched the ball three times, and marked her attacker on the DeMelo set piece in the dying seconds. It was enough, it was what the game required.
Going forward. We already know that AMC can cook in high leverage short minute game states.
Hanna Glas – N/A (on 90'+4 for Lynn Biyendolo)
Hanna Glas made her first appearance of the season, approximately 90 seconds that helped nurse the clock. She neither touched the ball nor particularly impacted play.
Going forward. With Sofia Huerta, Ryanne Brown, and Lily Woodham ostensibly returning soon, the Reign have approximately ten million choices to make about the outside back position, and limited roster spots to make those choices with. Glas definitely still has game but may well be surplus to requirements.
Referee
Iryna Petrunok – 6
There were many weird and wild things about this game. Petrunok did a fine job in some tough conditions. I could wheedle and nitpick about some small things. Taylor Flint could've seen yellow for a bad tackle late. Sam Meza probably could've seen yellow too, and I'd have little cause to complain. But, at the end of the day, the wind was swirling, the ball was sailing, the players were fighting the conditions as much as each other, and at the end of the day, the calls made sense and the cards were warranted.
Going forward. This was fine. In an ideal world, I'd like to see cards shown for hard or cynical tackles with more consistency, but this was a game in weird conditions mostly handled well.
And Another Thing..!
I'm gonna be real here, I don't think there's much to be learned from this one. Meza is tenacious? Dahlien is fast? Kentucky can get windy as fuck between early winter and late autumn? Racing is allergic to actually having the ball?
Young Reign, take the three points and run.
We'll just leave it at that.
