Reign vs. Courage: Highlights, stats, quotes

Seattle Reign had what felt like a must-win game at home on Sunday evening against the North Carolina Courage, a team that sat just two points behind them on a tight NWSL table. Despite giving up the first goal, the Reign rallied with two goals in the second half to earn a 2-1 win.

Hannah Betfort put the Courage up in the 57th minute, just minutes after Maddie Dahlien's goal was called back after a video review determined she was offside. The Reign found the equalizer 14 minutes later when Emeri Adames crossed the ball to Jordyn Huitema. Huitema got some contact on it, and the ball redirected off defender Ryan Williams and bounced into the net.

Dahlien got another chance in the 80th minute, cutting inside and slipping her shot under goalkeeper Marisa Jordan for the game winner.

The Reign (9-7-6, 33 points) head back on the road this weekend to face Gotham (9-6-7, 34 points), a team that is unbeaten in six straight games. That match kicks off Sunday, October 5, at 1 p.m. PT and will air on FOX 13+, NWSL+, and Paramount+.

Highlights

Stats

SCORING SUMMARY

57' - Hannah Betfort (assisted by Ryan Williams) - NC

71' - Ryan Williams (Own Goal) - SEA

80' - Maddie Dahlien (assisted by Sally Menti) - SEA

LINEUPS

66' - Emeri Adames for Nerilia Mondesir; Ainsley McCammon for Jess Fishlock

84' - Ana Maria Crnogorčević for Maddie Dahlien

90' - Lauren Barnes for Sally Menti

73' - Natalia Staude for Manaka Matsukubo; Aline Gomes for Hannah Betfort

87' - Natalie Jacobs for Dani Weatherholt; Meredith Speck for Ryan Williams

90+1' - Heather MacNab for Shinomi Koyama

ATTENDANCE

8,563 - Lumen Field, Seattle

POSSESSION

Reign: 35%

Courage: 65%

EXPECTED GOALS

Reign: 0.23

Courage: 0.88

TOTAL SHOTS

Reign: 3

Courage: 9

SHOTS ON TARGET

Reign: 1

Courage: 3

SHOTS OFF TARGET

Reign: 2

Courage: 4

SHOTS BLOCKED

Reign: 0

Courage: 2

SHOTS FROM INSIDE THE BOX

Reign: 2

Courage: 7

TOUCHES INSIDE THE OPP. BOX

Reign: 15

Courage: 18

PASSES

Reign: 311

Courage: 571

PASSING ACCURACY

Reign: 72.3%

Courage: 86.5%

PASSES IN FINAL THIRD

Reign: 79

Courage: 156

PASSING ACCURACY IN FINAL THIRD

Reign: 48.1%

Courage: 73.7%

CROSSES (EXCLUDING CORNERS)

Reign: 4

Courage: 19

CORNERS WON

Reign: 2

Courage: 4

OFFSIDES

Reign: 2

Courage: 1

FOULS

Reign: 13

Courage: 10

YELLOW CARDS

Reign: 2

Courage: 0

RED CARDS

Reign: 0

Courage: 0

Quotes

Laura Harvey

Thoughts on the game:

I say this a lot, sometimes you get what you deserve in games and sometimes you don't. And if you just go on the play, maybe we didn't necessarily deserve all three points, but I think on mentality, on grittiness, willingness to dig in and push through, maybe that pushed us over the edge. And sometimes it's not about quality and really dominating an opponent. And I've sat in this chair before and really felt hard done by when we've done those things and not got three points. So I'm sure they maybe feel that way tonight, the opponent. But I think at this stage of the season, what is the most vital is the three points. And I know this group and I know these players and we will work to get better on some of the things that we weren't great at. But yeah, overall just really proud of the group because tonight wasn't about quality and it wasn't about all those things that we really talk about a lot. It was about mentality and grit and determination and they showed that in abundance in the second half.

On what the subs brought:

We changed the way we pressed them in the second half and I thought that really helped us. And then I thought the subs that came on did a good job. I think Ainsley [McCammon] was excellent. Emeri [Adames] was fantastic when she came on and everyone responded to them, too. I think that's a big part of the game as well, is if Emeri and Ainsley come on and they're great but the others don't respond with them, it doesn't really matter. So I thought they were great and then I thought Ana's [Maria Crnogorčević] and Lu's [Barnes] experience late in the game was really needed. So yeah, just really happy that we could get the three points. What tonight's about ultimately and really proud of the group for getting a bit of a telling off at halftime and responding in a really positive way.

If McCammon was a planned sub and why Harvey thought she'd make an impact:

None of the subs were planned honestly. When they scored, Mia [Fishel] obviously got a knock last week in Kansas and she's trained this week but she's not been completely right, and my immediate thought was to put Mia and Emeri on. And then I took a minute and thought we could maybe get Sally [Menti] higher and get Ainsley in. I thought the game suited Ainsley, I thought she would be able to get the ball in positions to hurt them. Was she the one who played Maddie Dahlien in?

Ainsley's got quality. And I've said a lot with Ainsley, to her face, that her journey is going to be a long one. Her career is going to be full of lows of highs. She's an exceptional talent but she can't judge it on minutes right now. But what she's done when called upon is she shows everybody what her quality is and that can be off from a start and she gets 60 minutes and she does a job that she needs to do or rarely we bring her on as a sub unless it's really late. But tonight I just felt the game was going to suit her, and it did, and I thought she did a great job.

On Sam Meza's consistency:

She's just committed to what she wants to be good at. Her ability to break up plays is something like we've not seen for a long time. She's fantastic at it and her ceiling's so far away from where she's at right now, which is so exciting. So yeah, really, really happy for Sammy. I thought she was going to have to come out with the knock she got, but I think that's a big part of Sammy's growth too, is it's hard to play at this level every week and you're going to get kicked about and things might hurt, but you've got to grind it out sometimes. And tonight she did that, so proud of her.

On scoring twice after struggling offensively:

Yeah, I think honestly getting Maddie Dahlien in those positions that we got her in, I mean even the goal that was rolled back for offside was so tight, is great because they're the things that early in the season, we were doing a lot of that. And again, we've come away from it a little bit. So I think it all gives us a load of confidence going into the last bit of the season.

Sam Meza and Maddie Dahlien

On the highs and lows of the game:

Dahlien: I think after my first goal got called back, I tried to stay pretty level-headed and I think I told myself, I was like, you're going to get another opportunity and put it away. I knew exactly when she was taking away endline I was going to cut in and shoot again. Luckily, I got another opportunity and put it away, but I'm just really proud of how the team responded. In the second half, I thought we really gritted it out and I thought the people who came on the field, the game changers just really changed the momentum for us.

On what she looks for when deciding to continue her run or cut inside:

Dahlien: I think the body position of the defender is a huge one. So if their body position is facing towards the endline, then I can use the momentum against them to cut inside. And then I think if they're more squared up, I can go either way. But I think I've just really tried to have versatility in which ways I go so that it's really unpredictable, and I think you saw I went endline one time and I feel like right after I was able to cut in again. So it's just kind of having versatility in that.

Meza on her consistency:

Meza: I think first of all, it's my job, right? I'm paid to be out there and do my job well and I think I take pride in doing that. Honestly. It's just about going out there and giving my all every time that we go out there for my team. And secondly, it's fun, right? I love doing this and it's not every day that everybody gets to wake up and go kick the ball around with some of your closest friends. So yeah, I would say those are the two main things.

On the importance of this win:

Meza: I think it was huge, right? The table's tight and every game is important for us, so ultimately it is about taking it one game at a time. And yeah, it's massive. We needed these three points and I think we've been really pushing for it in the last few weeks and haven't been able to really get it. But today we were able to, and like I said, it is just massive for us and I'm really excited for us and just really proud and hopefully we can keep the momentum going in the next few weeks.