Reign fall to Portland despite two-player advantage

It was always going to be a tough rivalry match for Seattle Reign, who had to come to Portland for their second match of the 2026 NWSL season with early injuries to key players and a harrowing set of weather and travel delays after their match in Orlando last Sunday. But those heavy legs can't be blamed for the team's performance on Friday evening, which was one of the most frustrating Reign games in history. Despite two Portland red cards in the 9th and 57th minutes, the Reign struggled to create any real chances and conceded two goals off defensive mistakes — falling 2-0 to their rivals.

"This game is going to be a really hard, difficult, painful lesson for all of us," Jess Fishlock said after the match.

The Reign started the first few minutes strong, creating a few promising looks through counterattacks – including a good 1v1 opportunity on the left wing that Maddie Dahlien put wide. Things got even better in the 9th minute when Cassandra Bogere was sent off after earning two yellow cards in a one-minute span. The first came when Bogere took out Jess Fishlock after she'd already gotten her pass off. On the second yellow, the midfielder tried to muscle Nérilia Mondésir off the ball but slipped and then dragged the Reign forward down with an obvious, aggressive tug of her arm. It marked the first red card in Cascadia rivalry history.

Despite being down a player, Portland was the more dangerous side for the rest of the game, as the Reign struggled to create any dangerous chances while the Thorns sat in a deep block.

Portland got on the scoresheet in the 27th minute when Pietra Tordin headed in Olivia Moultrie's corner kick to put the Thorns up. The corner came after a communication miscue when Emily Mason could have cleared the ball out but instead let it roll over the endline, thinking it touched a Thorns player first.

Things went from bad to worse in the 37th minute when the Reign gave the ball away, allowing Portland another transitional opportunity. A progressive pass found Tordin, who passed to a streaking Reilyn Turner on the left wing. The forward slipped behind Mason to get on the end of Tordin's pass and buried her shot into the far-post corner.

The Reign were gifted another lifeline in the 57th minute when Reyna Reyes was sent off with a straight red card after a video review confirmed she grabbed and pulled Madison Curry's hair when challenging for a ball. They still couldn't produce more than half-chances and made contact on just 7 of their 49 crosses during the match.

The Reign have to learn from the match and then move on quickly, as they travel to Spokane on Monday to prepare for their midweek match against the Kansas City Current. That game kicks off at 7 p.m. PT on Wednesday, March 24, and will air on NWSL+.

What worked: Nothing

There are truly no positives to take away from this match from a Reign perspective. This was one of the worst and most frustrating performances in their 14-year history. Yes, they had tired legs. Yes, they had injuries to key players. Yes, they had no time to prepare due to weather delays. Still, they struggled to complete even the simplest of passes and try anything more than hopeless crosses into a packed Portland box. If there was one tiny positive, it was that Holly Ward and Sofía Cedeño made their Reign debuts. Sorry it had to be in this context.

What didn't work: No attacking adjustments

If teams go up a player, they have to know their opponent is going to drop, defend with lots of numbers deep, and look to transition. Portland did just that, and while they did it really well, the Reign didn't make any adjustments in the first half while they had the player advantage. Their defenders weren't pushing up, which would have caused Portland's wingers to drop, and they couldn't do much of anything aside from pass the ball along their backline.

While the Reign tried to make adjustments after halftime — asking Curry to push a lot higher on the left wing, in particular — they still looked lost. They struggled to get Sam Meza and Ainsley McCammon involved in the middle of the pitch and never once tried to get the ball to the end line and cut it back instead of trying early crosses for 80+ minutes.

"When they went down to 10, I felt that we just wanted to force it. We felt like we needed to score immediately, and I didn't think we needed to do that," Reign head coach Laura Harvey said after the match. "We needed to move the ball and shift them and make them run, and we didn't do that enough. And I think that was our downfall; we just kept trying to force things."

As a result, the Reign generated just 0.95 expected goals (xG) on their 17 shots, with a dismal 0.51 xG on target, while Portland generated 1.04 xG on eight shots.

"We kept playing it wide to people and leaving the 1v1. We have two more players than they do, so we could create overloads and we didn't do that enough," Harvey added.

This is one of the first times this young Reign squad has faced a low block. Last year, they were the team sitting deep and looking to counter. Hopefully, they can take this as a huge learning opportunity.

What didn't work: No leadership

In such a frustrating match, the Reign needed someone to step up and provide the team with some motivation and direction. Nobody rose to the occasion. Nobody was able to turn the game around and get their teammates back in the match. Hopefully, a few nights of sleep in their own beds can help change that. The Reign have a lot of season left to prove they can be the offensive chance-creators they want to be this year.