Seattle Reign FC extended their scoring drought by another match on a drizzly Friday evening, falling at home 2-0 to NJ/NY Gotham FC.
The match opened as a battle of mutual disruption, with both sides trading possession early. Jaedyn Shaw broke through for the visitors in the 24th minute, finishing an end-to-end sequence of line-breaking passes. Nérilia Mondésir created space for Jaelin Howell on a give-and-go before momentarily losing track of Howell’s run into the final third. Howell found Jordynn Dudley out wide, and Dudley put Shae Holmes on skates in a 1v1 before delivering a perfect touch to Savannah McCaskill at the top of the box. McCaskill one-touched the ball forward to Shaw, who executed a composed stop-and-chip around Sofia Huerta, squeezing the finish through a narrow gap between teammate Esther and Reign defender Phoebe McClernon.
Chances were few and far between for Seattle. One of the Reign’s best opportunities came in the 55th minute when McClernon found Mondésir, whose shot sailed just over the crossbar.
Any offensive spark was snuffed quickly on the soggy grass at Lumen Field, as Gotham doubled its lead in the 56th minute off a corner kick. Tierna Davidson scored her second NWSL goal and her first since 2019, redirecting a shot from Sofia Cook. The Reign had one final late opportunity through substitute Brittany Ratcliffe, but Ann-Katrin Berger came up with the save.
What worked: Sam Meza
She’s here, she’s there, she’s everywhere — earning high praise from Angharad James-Turner postmatch: "She is at her best every single day. She drives this team forward, and we’ve all got to match that.”
Meza’s trademark consistency showed all over the pitch, finishing with three tackles, five clearances, and two recoveries.
What worked: Defense… kinda
The Reign defense once again posted a characteristically solid performance on the stat sheet. Jordyn Bugg made her season debut in the 72nd minute and wasted no time returning to the form we've come to expect. She completed 15 passes at 87% accuracy, won three ground duels, and added two tackles and two recoveries. We love defense. Unfortunately, defensive-touch-maxxing doesn’t win games.
When asked where her squad stacks up against the rest of the league, head coach Laura Harvey said: “Defensively, we can match anybody on a given day … but you’re not gonna win games if you don’t score goals.”
What didn't work: most things
This was a rough one. ‘Nuff said.
What didn't work: playing back
Playing out of the back can be an effective strategy — Gotham’s opening goal exemplified that. But retreating at the slightest pressure and recycling possession without a clear plan is not a winning formula, especially against Gotham’s organized transition defense.
“We played too much in front of them and not behind them,” Harvey said post-match. “That’s the game they want. They want you to play short all the time. When we played through later on, the game opened up a bit.”
What didn't work: too much sauce
If goals were scored by shooting over the crossbar, there would be no drought to lament.
Quotes
“I don’t think any of this is about effort. I think it’s about quality.” — HC Laura Harvey
“We have standards, and we’re not meeting them right now.” — Angharad James-Turner
“At the end of the day, we can’t do anything but try to stay positive.” — Sam Meza
The Reign will regroup and look to end the drought next Friday with a visit to Boston Legacy FC* before heading to Washington to cap off a short East Coast road trip before the June break. Friday's match will kick off at 5:00 PM PT and will stream on Prime.
*If they have too many balls, maybe one will go in the net for the Reign? 🤞
