In many ways, it felt like a match we'd seen before, mere weeks prior, against the same opponent: a valiant and well-coached defensive approach that neutralized much of the Washington Spirit's threat, only to be undone by a late moment that saw the Spirit take all three points anyway.
In other ways, though, this one felt more inevitable.
By the 75th minute, the Reign looked mentally tired, and the Spirit's goal was preceded by a series of heart-stopping unforced defensive mistakes, the sort of miscues that the Reign, like all teams, do make occasionally, but seldom that many, or that clustered together, or that avoidable – of the Spirit's 1.83 xG, a full 1.25 of it came in the final 15 minutes, and most of that was directly off of unforced Reign errors.
And ultimately, after a stretch of near-misses and near-disaster decisions, the Spirit countered, nobody stepped to the ball, nobody stepped to the pass, and Claudia Dickey couldn't adjust to the deflection.
These two matches against the Spirit, zero points between them, showed a lot of what the Reign do well, but also highlighted the missing pieces the team still has not addressed, and highlighted how narrow the Reign's margins are going to be as currently assembled. With an excellent plan to contain the Spirit and pick their moments, the Reign were probably unlucky to come away with nothing in the first match. With an excellent plan to contain the Spirit and pick their moments, the Reign were probably lucky to not be down another goal or two in the second.
It would be great to sign a midfielder who can change that math a little bit.
Goalkeeper
Claudia Dickey – 4
Notwithstanding that the Reign exposed her to a ton of unnecessary danger, Dickey was also a culprit in the unforced defensive mistakes category, and exposed herself to plenty of unnecessary danger as well – this was a match for Claudia to shake off. There's a certain irony that she saved by far the most dangerous shot she faced (Rosemonde Kouassi in the 86th minute) only to be beaten in the 18th and 81st by a curling free kick that she didn't set herself up to intercept and a deflection that wrong-footed her on what had been a relatively mundane-looking counter with defensive numbers back.
Defenders
Sofia Huerta – 6
Sofia Huerta won 5 of 7 duels, had 4 defensive contributions and 7 recoveries, won 3 free kicks, and also created a good chance. I was a little bit less enamored of her crossing in this match, where she excelled primarily at finding Élisabeth Tsé's head. Sof was a big part of the overall effort of the back six to contain Washington's dangerous attack, and the Reign did that well for the majority of the match, and that warrants mention.
Phoebe McClernon – 7 (POTM)
Phoebe McClernon won 5 of 6 duels, had 12 (!!) defensive contributions – including 5 tackles and 5 clearances – and 9 recoveries, and was a reliable outlet with her passing. I even liked her yellow card, basically the definition of the card you're okay with taking to stop something worse from happening. I did not like some of the lackadaisical moments on the ball in her own defensive penalty area between the 73rd and 83rd minutes, but I trust her to clean that up, and she was the game-long anchor holding fast for a back six effort to repeatedly frustrate and turn away Washington's dangerous attacking corps.
Jordyn Bugg – 6
Jordyn Bugg won 4 of 6 duels, also had 12 (!!) defensive contributions (including 9 clearances) and 6 recoveries, and completed 11 progressive passes. I was a little less thrilled with the weight on her long passes and her switches, things she's normally one of the best at on the team. She simply could not consistently find her touch against Washington, turning many plausible transitional moments into de facto booted clearances instead. In general, the defensive pairing of Bugg and McClernon is starting to look strong as heck again, and that's great, and they did extremely well to contain the Spirit for most of the game.
Madison Curry – 6
Madison Curry had 10 defensive contributions of her own, including 6 interceptions and 2 tackles, along with 2 recoveries as she played an aggressive defense, stepping up and jumping passes. Rosemonde Kouassi got the best of her a couple times (and was a big contributing factor to Curry's winning just 2 of 7 duels) before Trinity Rodman switched sides to get away from Huerta and found no real luck against Curry, either. I would have liked Curry to step to Rodman and pressure her before the game-winning goal, but ultimately, Hal Hershfelt was fairly well covered, and that she collected Rodman's square pass and scored a deflected shot from outside the area anyway is kind of frustrating.
Midfielders
Ainsley McCammon – 5 (off 46' for Sam Meza)
Playing the first half, Ainsley McCammon wasn't especially bad but did disappear for long stretches. When she was on the ball, she was mostly fairly composed and good at finding the next pass, and she delivered a decent shot off a set piece in the 35th minute, forcing Sandy MacIver to make an (ultimately comfortable) save. The Reign weren't able to get her on the ball as much as she needs to make a difference, and she wasn't able to find the game herself.
Sally Menti – 5 (off 65' for Mia Fishel)
On every rewatch, I asked myself – how different is this game if Sally Menti finishes that big damn chance in the 8th minute? But she didn't. Unfortunately, neither the contact nor the placement were going to beat MacIver. Menti makes that run and finds that chance more consistently than any other midfielder on the Reign roster, but the team really could've used an authoritative strike to set the tone early. Aside from that, Menti had a very Sally Menti match: missed more passes than she connected, some of them positively maddening decisions; crashed the box often, sometimes to good effect; won and lost both duels and free kicks in roughly equal measure; and added a transcendental, touch-the-face-of-God touch and dribble before promptly losing it (albeit she was arguably fouled in the moment). There's something real there, but sometimes it's hard to see through the chaotic assemblage of Menti's game as a whole.
Angharad James-Turner – 5 (off 89' for Brittany Ratcliffe)
Through most of the match, Haz provided timely and consistent midfield support, completing 23 of 28 passes, winning 4 of 8 duels, winning a free kick, and coming up with 5 recoveries and two huge tackles. Unfortunately, she also had some foibles along the way, including in recovery on the Spirit's game-winning goal as Hershfelt raced to take the space vacated by the Reign's midfielders and proceeded to take the ball and score with it. The emotional transition from cheering for Haz absolutely demolishing Kouassi with a platonically perfect slide tackle to watching the Spirit score a minute later still pains me.
Forwards
Holly Ward – 5 (off 46' for Nérilia Mondésir)
Firstly: I am still annoyed about the yellow card shown to Holly. It was a spectacularly unearned bailout call given to a marketable player over negligible contact that she initiated herself, and Ward is innocent of all charges. (And doubly unfortunately, Leicy Santos scored the ensuing free kick.) Secondly: I enjoyed that Ward nonetheless continued to get into it and scrap for the ball anyway, getting into 8 duels (of which she won four) and just in general being a pest. Thirdly: we need forwards to take more than zero touches in the attacking penalty area and more than zero shots, which, unfortunately, Ward did not manage.
Maddie Mercado – 6 (off 87' for Emeri Adames)
The own goal might've been a bit of a lucky break, but it also happened because Maddie Mercado freaking willed it to happen, forcing the issue by winning position on Tara Rudd as the ball entered the penalty area, and forcing Lucia Di Guglielmo to make a dangerous last-ditch attempt to defend – which she finished cleanly into her own goal. Personally, I think own goals like this should be credited to the attacking player that made them happen. Mercado was an absolute menace on the press, and won 9 of 15 duels and two attacking free kicks in her 87 minute shift, fighting and scrapping with the Spirit centerbacks relentlessly. She also took just one shot, which was instantaneously blocked, and, like all of the Reign's forwards, just isn't going to thrive if we don't put the ball to her feet more frequently.
Maddie Dahlien – 5
For the most part, Danger Maddie lived up to the name. When she had the ball and she had space and she had teammates in support, she looked dynamic. She completed 12 of 14 passes, created the huge 8th minute chance for Sally Menti, had four marauding carries into the attacking penalty area, and won two free kicks up the left wing. The problem was one of frequency and quantity as, like Mercado, the Reign struggled to get her the ball when there were opportunities to run and counter. So many long passes just out of her reach, so many overlapping balls that clipped past the touch line, so many hard runs not rewarded with a delivery...
Substitutes
Sam Meza – 6 (on 46' for Ainsley McCammon)
Coming on for McCammon at halftime, Sam Meza changed the midfield math for the Reign, getting on the ball early and often and setting the tempo. She completed 25 of 28 passes, and racked up 3 tackles, 5 recoveries, 4 duels won, and 2 progressive passes in 45 minutes of play. For the first half of the second half, the Reign looked the more likely team to score, and the foundation Meza provided from the six was the catalyst for that.
...she also found herself too far forward to recover when the Spirit took the ball and scored in the 81st minute, ruthlessly taking advantage of the space she'd vacated, but enough went wrong on that play (and the Spirit got a lucky deflection to finish it off) that it'd be really unfair to pin it on her.
Nérilia Mondésir – 5 (on 46' for Holly Ward)
The halftime double sub also brought on Coco, who brought some flair of her own to the match, putting in 4 progressive passes, 2 recoveries, and a number of near-misses that needed a little more patience to break through. She had multiple passes that cut out at least three defenders, and showed a particular intent to get Menti and Dahlien opportunities to run onto the ball. It didn't play out, unfortunately, but for about 25 minutes, she had the Spirit really off balance, and, natch, a little more quality and...
Mia Fishel – 4 (on 65' for Sally Menti)
Mia Fishel came on as the Reign started making silly, preventable mistakes, and her presence did not change the shifting momentum and trajectory of the game as the Reign gave up more and more possession, and struggled to carry forward when they did have the ball. Fishel had few touches and spent most of her 30 minutes bodying with centerbacks without much payoff. In general, her pressing was also a downgrade from Maddie Mercado, who shifted back when Fishel came on. She did complete 5 of 5 passes, including good facilitating balls in Reign counters that put Menti and Meza into good positions, but... like all of the Reign's forwards, she just isn't going to thrive if she isn't getting the ball to her feet.
Emeri Adames – N/A (on 87' for Maddie Mercado)
Adames played for about six minutes, missed a speculative shot from downtown, and missed the one cross she attempted.
Brittany Ratcliffe – N/A (on 89' for Angharad James-Turner)
Ratcliffe played for about five minutes and did not touch the ball.
Spirit POTM
Leicy Santos
Leicy Santos basically created a goal out of nothing in a half where the Reign absolutely bottled Washington's attacking options. I would like the Reign to sign a Leicy Santos-type midfielder.
Referee
Alex Billeter – 5
On balance, I was fine with the match Alex Billeter called – I usually am. I have some nits to pick, though, and they annoyed me more and more each time I rewatched them. I have a hard time calling the 17th minute whistle against Holly Ward a foul, let alone a yellow card (Rodman lost her footing before any contact was made, and initiated the contact herself), and given Santos' goal on the ensuing free kick, that call was very impactful. I also have a hard time with the apparent lack of review on Sally Menti's late penalty shout. And – after giving Rodman that big-time bailout call in the 17th minute, I have a really hard time with the disinterested no-call when Rodman absolutely took out Curry early in the second half.
For the most part, Billeter kept the game flowing and didn't accept much nonsense, but I think she got it wrong on some moments that turned out to be fairly high leverage – and I don't love the glimpse into the future where High Impact Players get the sort of superstar treatment Allocated Players got in the ancien regime. It's probably an inevitability, but I still hate it.
And Another Thing!
The long midseason break is a great opportunity for the Reign to go find a creative midfielder who can stir the damn drink. Or, as one commentator suggested, a defensive midfielder as good as Sam Meza that can push Sam Meza forward to take the rei(g)ns herself. I'm less sold on that solution – Meza is becoming one of the best DMs in the league, and I'm uncertain we could replace that and uncertain her game higher up the pitch will translate at the same level – but if the right player is available, why not try it?
