So, this was the Reign's second-worst match of the season. And unlike the disaster against Portland, there really were no mitigating or explanatory factors for such a flat performance.
A couple games ago, the results felt more unlucky than outright bad. Rewatching this game was an uncomfortable exercise in watching a team that was never particularly close to scoring, never comfortable on their home pitch, and, while occasionally showing some fight, largely outplayed from start to finish.
More than anything else, though, it just felt flat. There were, for sure, bad moments, but the story of the match was less about Tierna Davidson scoring a layup while the whole back line stopped to watch than it was about the attacking band finding touches high up the pitch but ending up isolated and unable to create a solution to Gotham's defensive shape.
(Though, obviously, the whole back line stopping to watch as Tierna Davidson scored a layup didn't help things.)
To quote Laura Harvey, long exasperated sigh. Let's, ah, let's just get through this.
Goalkeeper
Claudia Dickey – 5
Facing three shots on target, Claudia Dickey was only able to get a claw to one. Two of them were extremely high-quality ones, the sort that make highlight reels when you actually save them. The third was also dangerous, and Dickey did well to get down to block it away. It's a lot to ask, but even making one of those highlight reel saves might've changed the game. Then again, it also might not have, the Reign weren't making much happen elsewhere on the field.
Defenders
Shae Holmes – 4 (off 72' for Jordyn Bugg)
As a rotational centerback, Shae Holmes has mostly been quite good for the Reign. I remain pretty unconvinced by her at fullback. Jordynn Dudley scorched her repeatedly, most memorably in the 24th minute, ending in Jaedyn Shaw's opening goal. She worked hard, put in three good tackles, had six progressive passes (mostly springing Maddie Dahlien), and was stuck in a bad matchup for basically her entire shift.
Phoebe McClernon – 5
All I can say is this was an insanely weird one by McClernon. Zero for 9 on long passes, but also two long-ass marauding runs all the way into zone 18 leading to some of the Reign's best chance-creation of the evening, but also lost 7 of 9 duels and gave up two free kicks in bad spots, but also had eight recoveries and 10 defensive contributions, but also got caught ballwatching on Tierna Davidson's backbreaker of a goal... she had that Phoebe Phlair for the thunderous clearance and big block, but she also got a bit discombobulated, just like the rest of the team.
Emily Mason – 6 (POTM)
In an unusually unimpressive shift from the back line as a whole, Emily Mason did her best to pick up as many of the pieces as she could. She won every one of her duels, dropped five tackles, and I literally lost track of how often she ran hard to help cover for a beleaguered Holmes. On the other end of the pitch, she met another corner with her head for a fairly open look, but sadly couldn't put it on frame. Mason did the work, but couldn't change the game.
Sofia Huerta – 5
All things considered, Huerta was basically fine, winning a majority of her duels and winning the loose ball more often than not. She had 11 recoveries and frequently challenged Jaedyn Shaw, where, despite Shaw's fabulous game overall, she came out on top more often than not. On the other hand, she had a pretty forgettable match delivering the ball. One of the most outrageously good crossers in league history, Huerta completed only three crosses, and only one of those turned into a bona fide chance.
Midfielders
Sam Meza – 5
The effort is always there for Meza. She's indefatigable, relentless. She's also being asked to do too much. On a few occasions, Sam crashed forward hard, put in a ball to try to make something happen, try to jumpstart the Reign's faltering attack. On those occasions, she didn't really have the quality of delivery to make it happen, and Gotham was unfortunately quite good at taking advantage of the space she vacated. She showed up just about everywhere in defense, as usual, but Gotham was often able to find the pass, the touch, or the run to cut her out of the play despite her relentless effort to blow up their combinations. For the second consecutive match, Meza lost more duels than she won, though she still racked up 9 defensive contributions, including three tackles and a big block to cover for a collapsing defensive left.
Nérilia Mondésir – 5 (off 62' for Brittany Ratcliffe)
Operating as the closest thing the Reign had to a central attacking midfielder, Coco did some decent work. She took a couple shots as a crashing late runner, but unfortunately couldn't do much with either. Her touch was better than most of the team (albeit not a high bar in this match), and she had a couple dribbles and a couple passes that led to danger for the Reign. Unfortunately, the influence wasn't consistent: Mondésir got on the ball far too little to make the good moments add up to something great, and disappeared for long stretches of the game.
(Also, she was fouled around 17 times, but only one of them warranted a whistle.)
Angharad James-Turner – 5 (off 81' for Sally Menti)
The good was mostly in the defensive cover, as Haz did provide some of the sandpaper and grit she so consistently offers, covering a ton of ground to support from one touchline to the other. The bad was mostly in giving up a really unnecessary free kick, getting beaten cold in all of her duels, and completely checking out of the play on Davidson's goal. The sort of in the middle was Angharad's two shots, about four minutes apart, both sailing well over the goal – in one sense, welcome, because nobody else was taking a whack at the ball, but in another sense, emblematic of how little the Reign's attack was creating, and how few options her teammates were giving her when the ball turned over.
Forwards
Maddie Dahlien – 5
Three wins in five duels, four carries into the opposition penalty area, and countless selfless runs up first the left wing, then the right. Dahlien worked hard, and really tried to run down every desperate long ball the Reign put her way. Too much is being asked of her on too few opportunities and with too little rhythm from the middle of the park, and though she got into attacking positions comparatively frequently, Dahlien seldom had options, and even more infrequently found the best choice when she did have them, as the goose eggs for completed crosses, completed passes in the attacking third, and chances created attest to.
(Also, she was clearly and obviously fouled in the penalty area in second half stoppage time, but referee Alyssa Pennington was busy watching a different game.)
Mia Fishel – 4 (off 62' for Holly Ward)
More than anything: Fishel was a non-factor, isolated on an island and unable to find service. She had a few dangerous touches, including a great chip pass to Mercado in the second half, but Gotham mostly succeeded in bottling her up. The Reign need to find a way to get her on the ball in the attacking third. They were unable to do so, and she was, consequently, largely a non-factor.
(Also, she was fouled around 17 times, but not a single one of them warranted a whistle.)
Emeri Adames – 4 (off 46' for Maddie Mercado)
More than anything: Adames was a non-factor, isolated on an island and unable to find service. (Did I already write that sentence...) She took no shots, created no chances, completed no crosses, and exited at halftime after a shift where one could be forgiven for forgetting she was on the pitch at all. Consistency only comes with minutes, though, and I would much rather Emeri play a hard, ineffective shift and learn from the tape than ride the bench.
Substitutes
Maddie Mercado – 5 (on 46' for Emeri Adames)
A halftime sub, Maddie Mercado came on for Adames and was marginally more effective, coming up with a couple moments of slick combination play with Coco and Fishel, though nothing actually came of it. She took one shot, a glancing header that missed well wide, actually cracked the secret sauce to get Pennington to blow her whistle, and won three duels high up the pitch, making a game effort to give Gotham problems and turn them over. Which, it should be noted, still did not significantly alter the flow of the game.
Brittany Ratcliffe – 4 (on 62' for Nérilia Mondésir)
While something needed to change and the Reign weren't creating much, the 62nd minute double sub didn't really change things for the better. Ratcliffe... touched the ball, on occasion. She did stay high, and she pressed well, and she found as many touches in the attacking penalty area as anybody. And out of absolutely nowhere, she found herself with the ball on her foot for the Reign's biggest chance of the night. Which... she put right at Ann-Katrin Berger. Sigh.
Holly Ward – 4 (on 62' for Mia Fishel)
On rewatch, with less frustrated eyes, I found more to like from Holly Ward's substitute appearance than I expected to. She was, ultimately, as ineffectual as the rest of the team, but she did have some really nice passes and staked herself out running the wide channels and making herself an option. On another night, maybe literally anything would've come from it. On this night, it mostly ran into a brick wall.
Jordyn Bugg – 5 (on 72' for Shae Holmes)
The team has really missed Jordyn Bugg, and it's not accidental that in the 20 or so minutes she played, the Reign had their best spells of possession and looked their likeliest to find a breakthrough. Faint praise, yes, but Bugg did offer something different, completing 13 of 15 passes, springing Maddie Dahlien on two beautiful marauding runs, winning a free kick, and locking down the shakiness in the Reign's defense with approximately one big contribution every three minutes.
Sally Menti – N/A (on 81' for Angharad James-Turner)
Seven touches, four of five passes completed, put Dahlien in for the penalty area entry that should've won a penalty. On a team full of players who failed to provide any game changing moments, Menti also wasn't a game changer, but she had a few nice beats in a short shift.
Gotham POTM
Tierna Davidson
Gotham had a few standouts – Jaedyn Shaw, Savannah McCaskill, and Jordynn Dudley all played a great game – but Tierna Davidson dictated the match from the back, leading all players in touches, defensive contributions, and accurate passes while winning nine of 10 duels, pocketing Mia Fishel and Maddie Mercado, and scoring a goal herself.
She was simply not going to be beaten.
Referee
Alyssa Pennington – 3
I was somewhat reticent to rate Pennington honestly, given how it's guaranteed to read as sour homerism, but she was a somewhat unusual refereeing case study where each rewatch left my view on her performance at CR worse. So, to preface, the Reign did not lose because of Pennington, they lost because Jordynn Dudley burned the left side for the first goal and Tierna Davidson caught the entire back line ballwatching for the second.
I'm disinclined to stretch this section with an itemized list of uncalled fouls or unshown yellow cards. None of us have the time for that. Instead, I'll just paraphrase Pennington herself, who explained that she declined to award a penalty for a boot to Maddie Dahlien's heel, from behind, with no play on the ball, because she ‘didn't deem the contact to be unfair.’ It says all you need to know about how she called the game.
She has to do better than this going forward.
And Another Thing!
The Reign have not scored since Jess Fishlock, the closest player to a true creative midfielder on the roster, went down with an ankle injury. The quality of play has (in general, there have been some good phases of play regardless) dropped off dramatically since that moment. The team needs a creative midfielder to stir the drink, so to speak.
I think they should simply sign Yui Hasegawa.
