Reign inconclusively draw Wave, 0-0

The Reign hosted the third-place San Diego Wave on Friday night, the first of a series of huge matches against playoff contenders that will likely decide the Reign's postseason fate. In a hard-fought match, neither side was able to separate themselves – though San Diego controlled possession throughout, they were unable to crack a stalwart Reign defense, and the Reign, in their rare moments on the ball, often looked the more likely to score. Despite some flashes of potential, some tense moments in both 18-yard boxes, and some sequences of beautiful play, no goals and few real chances proved forthcoming.

While the Wave held a significant possession advantage from the opening whistle, it was the Reign's press giving them fits that created the first real chances of the half. First, in the 8th minute, Jess Fishlock got her head to a well-struck corner kick, forcing a big save out of Kailen Sheridan. Fifteen minutes later, it was the Reign's pressure again causing problems, as Emeri Adames got on the ball in quick transitions twice in quick succession, but both times took a speculative shot when looking for the next pass might have better served her.

As the half carried on, San Diego found a little bit more of the ball but struggled to convert that into actual danger or shots, as the Reign's defensive organization turned them back from the penalty area time after time. It wasn't until first-half stoppage time that the Wave found their first good look, a chipped ball over the top falling kindly for Kristen McNabb, who put her contested volley wide of the post.

The second half was more of the same, though both sides found better chances than in the first. For the Wave, the best opportunity of the night came in the 69th minute – Gia Corley, driving to the six yard box, got a solid right foot to the ball, but Claudia Dickey was all over it, smothering the danger. For the Reign, a scramble in the area following a well-delivered corner looked the most likely to score and generated a few successive efforts, but ultimately, referee Calin Radosav blew the play dead for an apparent foul by Jordyn Huitema, and the opportunity went begging.

Ultimately, neither team found another clear-cut look at goal, and after a brief stint of stoppage time, Radosav blew the whistle for full time on a 0-0 draw with few real opportunities to speak of.

What Worked: Stifling defense

San Diego took 13 shots, but just five amounted to decent chances, and only four challenged Claudia Dickey at all. While the Wave held the ball for prolonged periods of time and probed for weaknesses, they seldom found a clear shooting angle, and were rebuffed entering the penalty area repeatedly. After defensive disaster classes against Portland and Chicago, a pair of low-scoring draws have helped the Reign back line find their rhythm again.

With Phoebe McClernon back from injury, Jordyn Bugg looking confident and ready to go after a couple rough outings, and Sofia Huerta reintegrating with the back line, the Reign look to be reclaiming their form on the defensive side of the ball.

What Worked: Picking up points

While they couldn't find the game winner in a tightly fought and ultimately scoreless affair, picking up a point against a big-time contender was essential, and despite the scoreless draw, the Reign did climb up the table. One point proved enough to separate them from the Portland Thorns, who lost at home 2-1 to the Utah Royals in their concurrent match at Providence Park.

Friday's results see the Reign in 5th place, six points clear of the playoff line, and a point shy of home field advantage in the first round of the postseason.

What Didn’t Work: Finishing the early chance

Early in the match, the Reign had several opportunities in transition to run at an out of sorts San Diego team and make them pay. Madison Curry in the 7th minute, Jess Fishlock in the 8th, Emeri Adames in the 24th and 26th, Sally Menti in the 30th. A goal in any one of those pressing sequences changes the complexion of the match, and might have gone a long way towards turning one point into three.

Unfortunately, they were unable to convert on their early opportunities. Kailen Sheridan was up to the task when the Reign tested her, and on too many opportunities, they didn't really test her. As the match wore on, San Diego gave up fewer dangerous transition moments, and the Reign found further opportunities to take a lead few and far between.

"We had a really good first half"

Lauren Barnes was sanguine about the Reign's performance, calling out the efficacy of the press and the strength of the defense while acknowledging the failure to score and take all three points.

"We prepared well, we executed well, I think we had a really good first half, picked up the ball in their half quite a bit, we just need to punish as much as we can. On the flip side, if we can keep ourselves in the game with a shutout, that's what we need to keep doing."

"We've been frustrated with ourselves on certain things a bit," Claudia Dickey added. "Obviously, like [Lauren] said, we need to punish them in our chances, but to go out there and get a clean sheet against them is a credit to all of the work we put in."

"It's fun to go out there every day and play in front of them"

"We actually noted that during the national anthem, the turnout tonight," Barnes spoke about the attendance, calling out the growth and the Friday crowd but expressing a desire to see more. "I still want to continue to see it grow more, I was hoping that it would be more than what it is right now – and this is not to be negative at all, but Seattle is such a good sports city. I see it for every other sport. So I want to continue to grow it for the Reign."

Finishing on a positive note, she tipped to the fans: "Saying that, tonight, having them there, it honestly is a game changer. I want the fans to know that we appreciate that so much."

Dickey followed up, bringing up her experience watching the fan culture develop and grow since her Seattle debut.

"I think our fans, progressively since I have been here, have gotten better and more involved. It's fun to go out there every day and play in front of them."

Up next, the Reign go back on the road, visiting the 2nd place Washington Spirit on Sunday, September 7th at 1:00 PM Pacific. The match will air on NWSL+ and Paramount+.