Young players power Seattle Reign to road win in San Diego

In her first professional start, homegrown player Sally Menti scored a banger from outside the 18-yard box while Emeri Adames added some late magic of her own to give the Seattle Reign a 2-1 win on the road against the second-place San Diego Wave.

With several players needing rest after international duty, as 11 players were called up by their national teams during the FIFA break, the Reign started a lineup that averaged 24 years old. The starting lineup included 17-year-old Ainsley McCammon, 18-year-old Jordyn Bugg, 19-year-old Adames, and Menti, who is currently signed to a short-term deal through June.

While San Diego had more possession and created better chances in the first half, the young Reign squad held the Wave to just three shots, marking the first time the Wave have been shut out in the first half since mid-April.

Menti's goal came in the 67th minute. The Reign did well to keep control of the ball in the right corner. After whipping it into the box, they dropped it back to Lauren Barnes. Instead of crossing back into the box, she passed to Menti on her right, who took a dribble and then unleashed a shot that darted across the goal and into the left corner to put the Reign up.

Delphine Cascarino equalized for the Wave in the 75th minute, flicking a corner kick sent to the near post by substitute Maria Sanchez with her head.

The Reign wouldn't let that be the last play, however, and pushed hard with their substitutes. In the 87th minute, Lynn Biyendolo brought down a long ball and passed to Jess Fishlock, who chested it backward to an on-rushing Adames. The 19-year-old dribbled at her defender and then cut to her right. With the defender caught twisting, Adames switched back to her preferred left foot and ripped a shot into the right corner, mirroring Menti's strike from the other side.

The Reign moved to 5-4-2 and finished the night in fifth place with 17 points.

What worked: Breakout Emeri Adames performance

Adames was asked to play a different role for the Reign on Friday night, and she was great on both sides of the ball. The Reign played a 5-3-2 formation, with Adames in an attacking midfielder role. While she didn't get on the ball often, as the Reign had just 37% possession, Adames was always a threat when she did have it, scoring a world-class game-winning goal and constantly putting pressure on the Wave's backline.

Defensively, Adames was tasked with keeping a tight mark on either Savannah McCaskill or Kenza Dali and preventing them from finding Delphine Cascarino in dangerous positions. Adames did well to limit both players from their usual task of progressive passes to Cascarino and other teammates up the field.

Head coach Laura Harvey was full of praise for the young attacker's quality in that moment and how much effort she put in on the defensive end to make things difficult for the Wave.

"I think she's committed to being good defensively," Harvey said about why Adames has been earning time in recent games. The Reign coach noted that defending wasn't something Adames had to focus on much in her youth soccer days. "She's really honed in on that."

What worked: Sally Menti banger

Sally Menti grew up in Seattle, attending Roosevelt High School and playing for Crossfire. She trained with the Reign in the summer between college seasons at Santa Clara, so the club was familiar with the kind of player she was when they invited her to preseason camp. Unfortunately, Menti ended her college career with an injury and was still recovering this preseason, so it took her longer to settle into training and get minutes.

She's shown well in training lately, and after subbing late in the last match, Menti earned her first start on Friday night. Facing a tough Wave midfield with players putting in MVP performances, Menti is the name that will be remembered from this game. In addition to her goal from distance that opened the scoring, Menti completed 29 of 35 passes, created one chance, and had 11 defensive actions.

"She's a baller. An absolute baller," Harvey said about the midfielder.

What worked: Clawwwwwwdia

While Claudia Dickey didn't actually have to make many saves, she made one of the best saves of the year when it mattered most – getting her hand on a Cascarino shot that was destined for the upper corner. Dickey dove and pushed it off the crossbar, with the ball bouncing just behind her and getting cleared by Phoebe McClernon.

"I want everyone to go back and watch that save because it is unbelievable, and she won the game today," teammate Lauren Barnes said.

"That's one of the best saves I've seen live. Everyone thought it was in; they even put the smoke up. They thought it was in. It was an unbelievable save," Harvey added.

What didn't work: Set-piece defense

Cascarino created a few dangerous chances in the first half, getting beyond Shae Holmes and Lauren Barnes and whipping in some crosses that just missed her teammates. While those opportunities didn't result in a goal, the Reign did concede on a Wave corner kick – a disappointing result, as the team had been defending corners well this year. On the play, Cascarino wasn't marked tightly enough and was able to flick the cross behind her and into the net.

Notable quote

"Right now, the team that we need to be is: we need to be really solid defensively, and we need to be really good in transition ... We just need to keep working at being who we are right now, and then when the summer comes, we have time to master the other side of the ball. When we've got everyone fit, we've got time to train and really hone in on being better on the ball. But I think tonight is an example of the team we can be right now. We can defend. We can let the other team have it. And we can hurt you in transition, and I'm alright with that."

- Laura Harvey, on how the team was able to score two goals on Friday night

Key stat

10 – The Reign have 10 points in five road matches. They had just seven points on the road throughout their entire 2024 season.

Seattle Reign continue their three-game road trip next Saturday, June 14, with a trip to the Windy City. They kick off against the Chicago Stars at 2 p.m. PT. The match will air on ION TV.