Coming off a rather disappointing loss against their biggest rival, the Seattle Reign are looking to rebound when they host the Chicago Stars on Monday night. The game kicks off at 7:00 pm Pacific at Lumen Field and will air on Fox 13+ and CBS Sports Network.
Though the Stars are second-to-last in the league standings, they have grinded out results in four of their last five league matches – drawing Angel City, the Reign, Gotham and Bay (with a loss to the Thorns). Though the Reign will be favored, Chicago has proven a pesky team to put away in this stretch of games.
Thanks to other results over the weekend, the Reign will have an opportunity to move back up over the Thorns despite last weekend’s disappointing loss. Phoebe McClernon should be available after missing last week with a leg injury, and the club may be able to give Lynn Biyendolo and/or Mia Fishel a start, which should hopefully give the defense a little more stability and the offense more spark. It will be a big opportunity to show that last weekend was a just a hot mess on a hot field in a hostile environment, a learning experience especially for the youngsters who have a lot of room to grow.
Head-to-Head
- The Reign are 11-9-12 against the Stars all time, with the opportunity to even the all-time series on Monday.
- This will be the Stars' fourth visit to Lumen Field, where the series has featured a tie, and a win both ways.
- Last year the then-Red Stars won 2-1 at Lumen Field. In 2023, the Reign had a dominant 5-2 home win over Chicago. In that match Bethany Balcer and Jess Fishlock each had a brace, with a Yuki Nagasato OG to fill out the goalscoring for the Reign.
Recent results
- The Stars have tied their last two matches coming out of the international break, with a pair of 1-1 results at home against Gotham FC and Bay FC.
- The Reign have a 7-3-5 record this season, and have scored 21 goals while conceding 17. They're coming off a 4-2 road loss against Portland Thorns, their first loss since May 23rd. However, the match did extend the Reign's streak of multi-goal games to five.
- The Reign tied the Stars just before the international break, a 2-2 match at Soldier Field. Ludmila scored in the 11th and 13th minute for the Stars before the Reign scored in the 87th (Biyendolo) and 89th (Bugg) to complete the comeback and earn points.
- The Stars' only win this year came on the road, a 2-1 win at Bay FC back on April 13th. Their overall road record is 1-4-2.
Offseason moves and transfers
- The Stars had a fairly quiet offseason.
- Their primary addition was Maitane Lopez at defensive midfield, who signed as a free agent after playing last season for Gotham.
- Mallory Swanson is taking the season off, as she announced in May that she is pregnant with her first child.
- The Stars added German defender Kathrin Hendrich in the summer transfer window. The centerback most recently played for VfL Wolfsburg and played for Germany in the 2023 Women’s World Cup and the 2024 Olympics. Most recently she played 67 minutes at the 2025 UEFA Women's Euros and made her debut as a starter for the Stars last weekend.
Stars players to watch
Ludmila: The 30-year-old Brazilian forward has two braces on the season, one of which was unfortunately against the Reign. No one else on the team has more than two goals (which certainly helps explain their place on the table). In that meeting with the Reign in June in the span of just over just two minutes on two counter attacks, she used her elusiveness and speed to beat Jordyn Bugg and Phoebe McClernon on the dribble and her power and placement gave Dickey no real chance to make a save on either goal. Seattle will need to be vigilant in stopping any chances she has to counter to keep a clean sheet.
Taylor Malham: Malham is in her third year with the Stars and second as a starter, after being waived by Louisville in 2023. This year she has played every minute available, their only player to do so. She has 40 total tackles, winning 90% of her tackles on opposing dribblers. She also has 13 blocks, 15 interceptions and 59 clearances. She recently signed a long-term extension with the Stars through 2027 with an option for 2028 (The Equalizer has an exclusive interview about the extension (paywalled)). Though the season has not been a success for the Stars, Malham is a bright spot for the future.
Shea Groom: Many fans will be familiar with this former Reign player, who has had increasing responsibility this year with the Stars. Groom had a goal last weekend and played in 80+ minutes in four of their last five games plus the second half of the Stars' draw with Gotham FC. She has now played over 750 minutes in eight starts, compared to about 500 minutes with three starts last year, now two years removed from the ACL injury that kept her off the field almost entirely in 2023. This is the second year of her two-year deal with the Stars, so the 32-year-old's future is up in the air. If she can stay on the field and find more moments like last weekend's goal, she will have no problem earning an extension or a new contract for 2026.
What to watch
Big Five: In the pregame press conference defender Shae Holmes talked about the concept of a "Big Five", as in the team playing to dominate the next five minutes of the match. That was on display in Chicago when the Reign scored to pull within a goal in the 87th minute, then dominated the next few minutes with the equalizer coming in the 89th. But it was also on display for Chicago earlier when they stunned Seattle for two goals in the span of two minutes early in the match – Big Five going either way. And it was a "Big Five" moment that largely ended Seattle's comeback attempt in Portland when the Thorns scored almost directly off the kickoff just a minute after Jess Fishlock had scored to pull the team within one. If the Reign are to take all three points, they will need these "Big Five" moments to go their way.
Flexibility: One of the biggest questions for the Reign coming out of the international break was how they would reincorporate Sofia Huerta into the defense. In the first NWSL game out of the break Huerta was deployed as the right wingback in a 5-player backline, moving Madison Curry to the left. Last week she played the central CB role in a similar backline, with Curry returning to the right and Maddie Dahlien as the left wingback. Laura Harvey explained that she likes Huerta's 1-v-1 defending and her ability to break lines with her passing and sees her as being able to play across the backline, but some things were just not working against Portland, and it seems likely that Huerta will move back to a wingback position with McClernon available on Monday.
Bravery: In her pre-match press conference Laura Harvey identified Chicago being "braver in their press" and willing to push players higher up the field and expand the game as reasons they have been able to find results in four of their past five matches, despite looking like one of the very worst squads in the league this year. Seattle will themselves need to be brave in playing out of the back and break the press, which they often failed to do against Portland, to find all three points.
Injury / Availability Report
Seattle Reign
OUT: Ryanne Brown (SEI – knee), Ana-Maria Crnogorčević (ankle), Hanna Glas (leg), Veronica Latsko (SEI – lower leg), Cassie Miller (D-45 - leg)
Chicago Stars
OUT: Cari Roccaro (excused absence), Mallory Swanson (maternity leave)
How to Watch
The Reign will host the Chicago Stars on August 18 at 7:00 PM PT at Lumen Field. The match will air on Fox 13+ and CBS Sports Network and can be heard on radio in Seattle on KJR 950 AM.
