Three stats: Seattle Reign vs. Houston Dash

It wasn't a particularly pretty match, but Seattle Reign made it count when they needed and walked away with a point on the road against a Houston Dash side that was riding a three-game unbeaten streak, with the Dash coming from behind in all three matches.

After Seattle gave up a goal just after halftime off a poor giveaway, Jordyn Huitema headed in a goal in the 65th minute. The Reign held on for the result, something they weren't able to do in their prior two matches.

Here are three stats from the Reign's 1-1 road draw.

47%

The Reign didn't have a ton of possession against the Dash. They often won the ball in deeper positions, as the team relied on a deeper midblock defensively since they weren't pressing high in the heat and were trying to ensure Houston's speedy frontline didn't get opportunities in behind. In possession, it was the Reign's three centerbacks who helped shuttle the ball forward. The Reign completed 30 passes into their final third against Houston (per FBref), their third highest total this season.

Nearly half (47%) of those passes were completed by the centerback trio of Lauren Barnes (7), Phoebe McClernon (3), and Sofia Huerta (4).

According to FotMob, the centerbacks combined to complete 125/151 passes (83%). Against Chicago, the Reign's three centerbacks completed 78/104 (75%) passes – with just three total completed passes into the final third between the three players.

That's an indication of the increased possession the Reign had in Houston versus against Chicago, and also the fact that the Reign were starting from a deeper position in Houston.

"We knew we were coming to Houston and we were going to be hot ... and we knew that we weren't going to be able to press all the time. So we'd worked on a bit of a mid-block and making sure we didn't give them space in behind us," Laura Harvey told reporters after the match. "I don't think they got in behind us once in 90 minutes. That was our aim and we didn't want them to do that."

At the same time, Barnes is one of the best passing centerbacks in the league, so her addition certainly helped increase the team's forward passing and pass completion numbers.

Huerta also seems to be settling into her new role. Reign fans have been understandably curious about Laura Harvey's decision to play Sofia Huerta as a centerback in the Reign's five-back system. Harvey expanded on her decision in the post-match press conference, noting that the Reign rely on their wingbacks to get high up the field on the wing, and when the cross isn't an option, the team has struggled to adjust. She thinks Huerta can be an outlet in moments like this—and she can then deliver her signature cross from a deeper position.

That's exactly what happened on the Reign's lone goal. Madison Curry got the ball wide, didn't have any options, and dropped it back to Sally Menti, who quickly found Huerta. The centerback had time to pick her head up, find Jordyn Huitema making a run, and send her trademark cross into the box.

Playing as a wingback a few games prior against Angel City, Huerta's cross led to the Reign's first goal in a 2-0 win. While her ball came from a more traditional spot higher up the field, her run started from a deeper position.

"In the way that we want to play, our wingback, we want to be really high, and a lot of the time they don't get in positions to cross," Harvey said post-match. "But if they are super high, the centerback behind them can get in a position to cross. That's the way we actually want to play, that sort of ball-side centerback can get high enough up that they're basically like a fullback. That's what we're trying to do. That's the aim of the formation."

After two years of struggling to earn the assist that would give her sole possession of the NWSL all-time assist record, it is pretty ironic that Huerta finally notched that tally as a centerback.

It appears Harvey will continue to play Huerta at centerback, as she likes her 1v1 defending abilities and pinpoint long balls and crosses. If the Reign can continue to get more looks like this as a result, the decision adds a new dynamic to the Reign attack.

13

After some struggles in the midfield against Portland and Chicago, Sam Meza returned to her usual defensive menace against the Dash. She led the match with a combined 13 ground duels and tackles won, going 13/22. She did that without committing any fouls, and added six recoveries and one clearance.

Meza provided the bite that the team needed in the midfield and looked more like the defensive midfielder that received a U.S. women's national team call-up in June. She remains top three in the league in tackles won thanks to performances like this one.

"I think she's had a tough go of it," Harvey said about Meza's recent difficult matches in the midfield after a strong start to the season. "But this is part of her development. I think she was great tonight. She just breaks up play, that's her specialty. Sam Meza's special skill is she sees where the ball's about to go and gets there and breaks it up. And it's an exceptional trait to have. I don't know today if she still has these stats, but for the first half of the season she was the best defensive six in the league. There wasn't anyone near her. And the second best was Haz [Angharad James-Turner]. So it just shows what relationship they were building, and obviously with the introduction of Sally [Menti] into that, who's maybe not as good defensively as them, but she's a little bit more creative on the ball. That sort of match has been great, and I thought Ainsley would do great tonight stepping in for Sally."

As Harvey mentioned, Ainsley McCammon, who turned 18 a week prior, was called upon to start in Houston in place of Menti. She was one of the team's most effective players — completing 21/26 passes, creating one chance, winning 5/8 duels, leading the team with five progressive passes, and finishing with three clearances and two interceptions.

0.36

After giving up seven goals in their last two games, it's no surprise the Reign focused on being defensively strong against the Dash. They did well to limit the Dash from getting in behind, with Houston's lone goal being gifted to them off an unfortunate Reign givewaway in the box. That goal accounted for nearly half of Houston's expected goals (xG) total for the entire game (44%).

However, the Reign are still struggling to figure out how to balance defensive dominance with attacking opportunities. They finished with just five shots that generated 0.36 total xG. This marked the team's second-lowest total all season, behind only their 1-0 home win over the league-leading Kansas City Current.

Some of the team's attacking struggles on Sunday weren't a big surprise. The Dash defended well, and Harvey was clearly rotating due to the fact that they played Sunday and again on Friday, with travel and a hot and humid game in between. That meant Jess Fishlock and Emeri Adames, the team's most dangerous attacking threats this month, started the game on the bench. Lynn Biyendolo also confirmed on the Good Vibes podcast this week that she's dealing with a knee issue that's limiting her minutes. Harvey has said that she'll be cautious about how she integrates Mia Fishel into the squad.

Still, the Reign have plenty of attacking threats, and they need to get that balance of attacking and defending with quality right. It feels like whenever their turn their attacking or defending dial in one direction, they struggle to get it right on the other end. There's still plenty of season left to correct this, but the team has to start figuring it out now.

The Reign have a chance to get that dial more balanced on Friday, August 29, when they return to NWSL play. Seattle will host the San Diego Wave at Lumen Field, with kickoff at 7:30 p.m. PT. The game will air on FOX 13+, NWSL+, and Paramount+.