In their final home tie at ONE Spokane Stadium, the Reign hosted expansion side Denver Summit for the first time, and played out a tight, hard-fought, nervy, and ultimately scoreless match.
With Mia Fishel, Maddie Dahlien, and Holly Ward all nursing injuries, the Reign came into the match more than a little short on forward depth, but started on the front foot regardless, controlling play and generating a series of chances for the first half hour. A 27th minute close range chance from Jess Fishlock looked particularly tantalizing, but went begging. Denver worked their way into the game as the first half wore on, with Janine Sonis in particular constantly popping up in the right place to be a danger for the Reign, but Seattle still gave as good as they got, trading a series of near-misses, not-quites, and slightly mistimed runs, every attempt at creativity snuffed out by strong defense.
The tension was palpable, the nerves were high, the chances were there, but neither team could break through, and they went into the break scoreless.
The second half started much like the first, with the Reign controlling proceedings and looking the more dangerous team – but never quite finding the right touch, the right pass, the right moment to break the deadlock. As the second half progressed, Denver began to take over. Carson Pickett had their most dangerous opportunity in the 67th minute, and by the 70th minute, the Reign were on their heels.
While Emeri Adames and Nérilia Mondésir got out on the break on a couple occasions, and late substitutes Brittany Ratcliffe and Sally Menti nearly created magic on a couple occasions of their own, it was the Summit with the bulk of the chances to steal a late winner, and a long and terrifying spell of pressure – with corners, free kicks, and long throws – in and around the Reign penalty area.
Much like the first half, though, neither side could find the one pass, the one touch, the one moment of magic to break through. Despite repeated fair chances by Denver and a nearly-huge 91st minute moment that Maddie Mercado got all wrong, 96 minutes came and went, and referee Atahan Yaya blew his whistle for full time.
In the end, it was a hard-fought – and probably fair – point for each team.
WHAT ABSOLUTELY WORKED: The Mezazoic Era continues
In an absolute meatgrinder of a match, Sam Meza barely put a foot wrong, and for a second consecutive match looked the part of a world-class, game-changing defensive midfielder. While the Reign sometimes struggled to contain Janine Sonis in any given moment, Meza made sure that Denver had no space to turn a momentary mismatch into a clear-cut opportunity.
She absolutely lit up the scoresheet, too, with 7 tackles, 7 recoveries, and 11(!!) duels won. It was another defensive midfield masterclass from a player who's still just getting better and better. In a sometimes frustrating and disjointed match, her pure will to destruction was an unabashed joy to watch.
WHAT ALMOST WORKED: Mason going long
For the past two matches, we've seen Emily Mason show off her vision and passing touch on balls over the top and deep up the wings, with a series of almost theres that haven't quite connected. Against Denver, she had a number of near-misses – a ball just out of Maddie Mercado's range, a ball just a little too fast for Nerilia Mondésir to take in stride, a ball that Emeri Adames corralled but then didn't have enough field left to run into.
Despite the execution not quite being there, it's something to build on, and Mason's vision could prove to be a real asset. And on the somewhat larger pitch at Lumen Field, with slightly faster burners like Maddie Dahlien returning to the team, those almost theres should start turning into attackers in clean.
WHAT KIND OF WORKED: Containing Ryan and Sonis
While Janine Sonis in particular was a thorn in the Reign's side all night, and Yazmeen Ryan had a couple moments of brilliance, the Reign on the whole did well to contain Denver's most dangerous pieces. After a big letoff on a 67th minute chance, the Reign allowed Denver a ton of the ball, but closed down their shots and passes and contained their danger admirably.
Sonis found a ton of the ball, and created plenty of chaos and almost with her 90 touches, but Denver couldn't manufacture that one chance to steal all three points at Seattle's home away from home. A team effort to shut down a well-coached and scrappy opponent ensured the Reign finished their bonus road trip on at least a partially positive note.
WHAT DIDN'T NOT WORK: Starting positive
The Reign have started strong every match this season, whether through early goals or getting under an opponent's skin until she takes two terrible yellows in quick succession. Against Denver, they started strong once again, opening the match with four decent looks in the first 15 minutes and seven chances inside the penalty area in the first half.
Unfortunately, they weren't able to convert, and much of that is a credit to Abby Smith and Denver's disciplined team defense. There were plenty of moments of creativity, but breaking down the Summit and getting a clean look at Smith's goal required a little something extra, and the Reign never managed to find that special touch to get there.
"We dug in and didn't concede"
Madison Curry was complimentary towards the Summit's effort, but saw positives in the Reign's resilience and ability to come out of pressure to find chances of their own on the other end.
"I think momentum always changes in games and I thought Denver did a good job at handling that at the beginning of the second half. I thought we dug in and didn't concede which is really important in those times, and we turned the momentum around at the end of the game."
She also noted that the team feels good about their start, while still coyly acknowledging the letdown – and their disappointment with the result – in Portland:
"Obviously we could be better in a lot of ways than we were tonight but I think we're really proud of the five... four games we put together on this first stretch of games."
Phoebe McClernon agreed, adding:
"I think we did an incredible job of shutting them down when we were inside our own eighteen. So I think that's something that we take a ton of pride in. I also just think that we're like, a gritty defensive team. I think we have players all over the field who want to get stuck in – and maybe the next evolution of that is just the decision after we create that turnover."
"I don't think we need to look at this game in isolation"
Laura Harvey was sanguine about the match, calling out the Summit's quality of play but optimistic about the chances the Reign were able to find. She was, overall, quite positive in her assessment of her team's performance over a tough five match schedule to start the season:
"We still created chances tonight. The game had a lot of swings in momentum. They're a good team. So I think we've learned a lot about ourselves in all five games that we've played. It's been a really challenging four weeks. The rest now in the FIFA break is going to be nice – but I think still tonight, maybe it wasn't our best performance, but we still created chances in periods where, if you take one of them, I think we could see the game out.
"Really proud of the players. I think they have put in an unbelievable shift over five games. And now we – I just said to them at the end that I don't think we need to look at this game in its isolation. I think we need to look at all five games and learn from all five games in different ways. But we said from preseason we want to create more chances. We did that again tonight."
Up next, the league takes a two-week hiatus for an international window, giving the Reign a bit of time to get healthy and review what's working and what's not. They'll return to action at Lumen Field on April 26th, 2026, at 5:00 PM PT. The match will be stream on Victory+.
