Seattle Reign welcomed the Washington Spirit to Lumen Field on Sunday afternoon for their second home game of the year, hoping to recover the attacking form which has forsaken them over the past three matches.
So many things were almost great for the Reign in this game. Their tactics were smart and denied a dangerous Spirit attack much room to operate while also creating attacking overloads of their own, and finding numerous opportunities to get the ball into dangerous spots. Unfortunately, “almost” isn’t enough in a game with binary outcomes, and instead of this recap lauding their quality game plan and tactical acumen, it needs to discuss what is now a 400+ minute goal-scoring drought and four-game winless streak that has seen them fall to 8th place after a late Spirit goal secured a 1-0 victory for the visitors.
What worked (for 85 minutes): Denying Washington space to operate
The Spirit absolutely boat-raced the KC Current and Orlando Pride in recent matches, using their lethal speed and quality up top to disrupt their opponent and keep them unbalanced en route to decisive victories. Seattle had clearly prepared well for this and came out very strongly, putting aggressive pressure on the Spirit back line to force early passes, and the midfield and defense were well positioned to cut out those passing channels to recover the ball. Although there were a couple of nervy moments early in the game off free kicks and corners, nothing presented by the Spirit truly tested Claudia Dickey until Paige Metayer struck a shot right at her in the 81st minute.
What worked: Breaking the Spirit high press
Similar to Utah, the Spirit like to press aggressively and disrupt play high up the pitch to win the ball back. The Reign game plan accounted for this effectively, with one- and two-touch passing around the back to open channels and move the ball forward without any serious risk of a turnover. There were a couple of errant passes back to Dickey in the first half which briefly raised the specter of another Utah debacle, but in each case, the ball went harmlessly out for a corner that the Spirit ultimately did nothing with, and the yips settled down almost as quickly as they arose.
What didn’t work: Finding that little bit of quality
The Reign dominated nearly every statistical category in this match, outshooting the Spirit 12-8, had more of those shots on target, put up better quality chances (0.81 xG to 0.44 xG), more possession, more touches in the attacking box, more accurate passing, but unfortunately, there’s no award for being statistical champions if all those metrics don’t turn into actual goals. Today that bit of missing quality manifested as things like a cross just behind Maddie Mercado in the 64th minute which she needed to reach back to head toward goal, Maddie Dahlien doing all of the work to dribble herself into space in the box, just to scuff the shot directly at Spirit goalkeeper Sandy MacIver in the 86th minute, and the crossbar once again being a thief of joy as a deflected Reign shot rang off it and over the net in the first half.
On the other side of the ball, it manifested late in the game as Mondesir, who had just moved into the attacking mid role, just barely missed the ball as she lunged to disrupt a pass to spring a Spirit counter in midfield. Madison Curry was tightly marking the player who received the ball but got turned inside just as Gabby Carle was making an open overlapping run as Coco rushed to get back. Even at that point, the Reign looked to be in a decent position, with two players closing on Carle and three others marking two Spirit runners in the box. Unfortunately, despite being goal side of Claudia Martínez, Sofia Huerta lost track of her for just a moment, which was all Martinez needed to one-time the shot past Dickey.
What a goal by NWSL newcomer Claudia Martínez for the @washingtonspirit.com!
— NWSL (@nwslsoccer.com) May 10, 2026 at 5:54 PM
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Quotes
“You've got to be good in all the thirds of the field”
In her postgame remarks, head coach Laura Harvey didn’t mince words when asked about the team building an identity and playing well in some aspects but not all during the current winless streak. “It doesn’t matter if you don't score goals. Anyone who hasn't watched the game today, anyone who didn't watch the game against Utah, anyone who didn't watch the game against Denver, all you remember are the scores and we have to turn it, in my opinion, we have to turn, what do we want to be? Do we want to be a team that plays good football in their defensive third and gets to the mid third and does great and then gets the final third and doesn't? Because that's not going to be a team that gets in the playoffs and wins. You've got to be good in all the thirds of the field. And we were lacking that. We've been lacking that obviously over four games.”
“I think we gave them a battle”
Washington plays with a grit and physicality that can punish opponents who aren’t prepared to roll up their sleeves and match it. While a lack of consistency in the officiating left something to be desired, the Reign were prepared to match that and set the tone in the game, as Madison Curry noted in her postgame remarks.
“I think we gave them a battle. I think, you know, we fought back, and I don't think that they necessarily liked that. I don't think they're used to that, and that comes out in our possession and overall scheme of the game. I thought we had a lot of the momentum. Obviously, it didn't work out in our favor today, but I think in the future it will, and I'm proud of us for not letting them dictate in that way.”
The Reign won’t have long to ruminate on this result, as they have a quick turnaround to prepare for hosting Gotham FC on Friday evening. That game kicks off at 7 PM PT and will air on Victory+.
