Reign vs Louisville Recap: Seattle wins second half and three points

It was a tale of two halves between Louisville and Seattle, the first half ending 0-0 on Sunday, when Savannah DeMelo went down with a serious health issue, leading to suspension of the match. It was resumed on Tuesday, with DeMelo on the mend at a hospital in Seattle and her team staying in town, in a closed-doors stadium. It ended with a 90th minute winner from Jess Fishlock off the bench.

As noted, the biggest and most important news is that DeMelo is apparently showing positive signs. After she went down early in first half stoppage time, it was a consensus between Seattle and Louisville, along with NWSL, to suspend the match. The immediate focus of everyone in both organizations was DeMelo’s health, according to Laura Harvey:

Everything on Sunday was all about Savannah. Myself and [Head Assistant Coach] Scott [Parkinson] took [Louisville coach] Bev [Yanez] to the hospital after the game, and I popped my head in for a minute just to make sure she was okay and say that we were thinking of her. It was great to see her up and about and seemed really okay, and speaking to Bev today it sounds like she is making progress, which is fantastic. . . . Our thoughts and sympathies go with Savannah and we will constantly keep in touch to make sure that she is doing okay.

Louisville stayed in town to support DeMelo and be available for a potential continuation of the match. It was fortunate (for the Reign at least) that it was able to be resumed just about 48 hours after the match was suspended.

The first half on Sunday was largely uneventful, with one big chance for DeMelo off of a misplayed back pass from Lauren Barnes that Claudia Dickey saved. Seattle had the bulk of possession, but largely in their own end and Louisville had more shots. DeMelo's was the only one of high quality though, with most other shots long-distance hopefuls or blocked through tight marking.

When the second half kicked off, the only change was Katie O'Kane replacing DeMelo. Harvey noted that with the game being resumed more than 24 hours after it was suspended, they could have made up to three substitutions without using any of their allotted five, but she chose to stick with the same group that was out there. Louisville came out on the front foot, playing with energy and pressing Seattle's attempts to play out of the back. Seattle responded by playing direct and trying to spring Jordyn Huitema on the counter. Louisville had an excellent chance on their own counter when Ella Hase broke through on the left and delivered a quality cross to Emma Sears open in front of net, but Sears' attempt flew straight up, missing the open back half of goal.

Louisville lost a bit of steam in their press and Seattle responded by controlling more possession and progressing through the midfield via Madison Curry, Nerilia Mondesir and Sam Meza. That play produced some half chances on crosses and corners but nothing solid. The teams remained deadlocked going into the final 20 minutes. Harvey brought on Maddie Dahlien for Mia Fishel in the 72nd minute and then went for a final push with Fishlock on in the 85th minute for Barnes and shifting formation to a back four. The moves paid off with Dahlien and Fishlock combining on the game-winning goal to claim all three points for Seattle.

Making the right moves

Harvey said after the match the plan all along was to bring in Dahlien and Fishlock when the time was right. She told the pair to be ready to come in after 10 minutes as she hoped Fishel, Huitema and Mondesir would come out running and earn a quick goal. Harvey knew Dahlien could get in behind and exploit Louisville's high pressure. "It was never about if, it was always about when and how." After bringing in Fishlock and moving to a back four, Seattle was able to find pockets in behind to attack and thus created the lone goal of the match, moving back to a back five to see out the rest of the match.

Clean Sheet Claudia

Claudia Dickey is up to second in the league in saves and second in post-shot expected goals minus actual goals. Dickey was her usual humble self after the match when these statistics were pointed out, saying "we give up a lot of shots, but I'm never having to do that much. . . Our defense and midfield and forwards have made it so easy for me that it doesn't feel like that." Of course, Fishlock interjected to give Dickey her flowers:

Claud's been phenomenal for us this year. Yes, she will say some saves were routine for her, but there are also times where she does pull a save out of her behind that I am just in awe of. She had a couple of those on Sunday actually. And so I would just like to say that she has really grown into the position. We are really able to rely on Clauds in our goal, which is always nice in our group to know that, yeah okay, you can shoot from 20, 25 yards, we are okay with that because we have Claudia in goal.

Fishlock went on to say she feels the same security with Claudia in goal that she did at the beginning of her career in Seattle with Hope Solo in net, which she said was the biggest compliment she could give. It has been that kind of year on the rise for Dickey, getting some looks with the national team and earning more recognition in the league for her quality play. She has made the easy stuff look simple and the hard stuff look easy.

Timeless Dragon

The vibe shift on the field was immediate when Fishlock came on. In addition to the formation and captaincy change (Barnes handed off the armband to Fishlock when they exchanged places), there is just something different when Fishlock is on the ball. Every touch of Fishlock's was positive and, of course, when she had her opportunity in front of net she buried it. Dahlien and Huitema created the opportunity from the press, with Dahlien winning a 50/50 ball and Huitema playing Dahlien into space with a deft touch, then Dahlien finding Fishlock in the resulting 2-v-1. Other players had their own opportunities in front of net, but it was Fishlock who buried hers.

The short shift after a stressful and "unique" couple of days did not faze Fishlock. Dickey quipped "the 15 minutes? that's her favorite type of game." She made her mark in the little time she had, and that's what we call efficiency.

What's Next

The Reign end the night in a four-way tie for third on 30 points, though they are in sixth by tiebreakers. Next up is an away game at first-place Kansas City this Saturday at 4:30 pm Pacific.