Seattle Reign came out of the month-long World Cup break looking sharp, grabbing an early lead against the North Carolina Courage behind a well-worked team goal from Sally Menti. But a mishit clearance let North Carolina level things up just three minutes later, and the Courage took over from there, adding a Riley Jackson penalty and a second Ashley Sanchez goal in the second half to beat the Reign 3-1 on Saturday afternoon in Cary, North Carolina.
Cassie Miller, making her first NWSL start since 2024 in place of the injured Claudia Dickey, made three saves in the loss.
The Reign (4-6-2) now head back home to host their rivals, the Portland Thorns (8-3-3), at Lumen Field on Sunday, July 12. That match — the last Reign game on the converted grass field for the Men's World Cup — kicks off at 1 p.m. PT and will air on ESPN.
Steve Voght
Highlights
Stats
Scoring Summary
19' — Sally Menti (assisted by Sofia Huerta) — SEA
22' — Ashley Sanchez (assisted by Evelyn Ijeh) — NC
64' — Riley Jackson (penalty) — NC
71' — Ashley Sanchez (assisted by Shinomi Koyama) — NC
Lineups
Tonight's starting XI as we face the Courage 💪 #NCvSEA Read More ➡️ rgnfc.com/4wrPmop
— Seattle Reign FC (@reignfc.com) 3:55 PM · Jul 4, 2026
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65' — Brittany Ratcliffe for Sally Menti
76' — Nerilia Mondesir for Maddie Mercado; Emeri Adames for Maddie Dahlien; Angharad James-Turner for Ainsley McCammon
87' — Holly Ward for Mia Fishel
Stars, Stripes & Starting XI.
— North Carolina Courage (@nccourage.com) 3:39 PM · Jul 4, 2026
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57' — Feli Rauch for Carly Wickenheiser
75' — Lauryn Thompson for Ally Schlegel; Natalia Staude for Dani Weatherholt
85' — Ivy Younce for Ashley Sanchez; Hannah Betfort for Evelyn Ijeh
POSSESSION
Courage: 46.6%
Reign: 53.4%
EXPECTED GOALS
Courage: 2.76
Reign: 1.28
TOTAL SHOTS
Courage: 16
Reign: 17
SHOTS ON TARGET
Courage: 6
Reign: 4
SHOTS OFF TARGET
Courage: 5
Reign: 6
SHOTS BLOCKED
Courage: 5
Reign: 7
SHOTS FROM INSIDE THE BOX
Courage: 11
Reign: 12
TOUCHES INSIDE THE OPP. BOX
Courage: 27
Reign: 25
PASSES
Courage: 440
Reign: 499
PASSING ACCURACY
Courage: 83.9%
Reign: 84.0%
PASSES IN FINAL THIRD
Courage: 105
Reign: 107
PASS ACCURACY IN FINAL THIRD
Courage: 74.3%
Reign: 59.8%
CROSSES (EXCLUDING CORNERS)
Courage: 13
Reign: 14
CORNERS TAKEN
Courage: 4
Reign: 4
OFFSIDES
Courage: 1
Reign: 0
FOULS
Courage: 9
Reign: 4
YELLOW CARDS
Courage: 0
Reign: 1
RED CARDS
Courage: 0
Reign: 0
Quotes
Laura Harvey
On Cassie Miller's performance and the first-half dominance:
"I thought Cassie did great. I don't think she could have done anything really with any of the goals. I said to the players at the end of the game, I thought in the first half we were by far the better team, created more chances than they did. Obviously disappointed with their goal, but more disappointed that in the moments we had momentum, when we were creating chances, we didn't take more than the chance that we did — because goals change games. The momentum obviously really shifted when they got their penalty."
On the fast, front-footed start:
"Honestly, not particularly just long balls, but we want to move the opponent and expose the space they gave us. Early in the game they were giving us the opportunity to get down the side of them and go a little bit longer with Mia [Fishel] or Sally [Menti] or Maddie Mercado or Sof [Huerta] or [Maddie] Dahlien, whoever it was — and then they changed to stop that because it was hurting them, and we got a little bit more space centrally. I thought in the first half we did a really good job of adapting to what was happening and kept being on the front foot, which is a lot of the things we've worked on during the summer. But in those moments you've got to be clinical if you want to take over the game, and I think they were clinical in the moments that they had."
On Mia Fishel's role in the buildup to the opening goal:
"We see that every day from Mia, and I've said this a ton now about her. That's the stuff we want to see from her. She doesn't get a direct assist or a direct notch on the stat board, but without her ability to maneuver herself down that channel, the goal doesn't happen — credit to her for that. Overall I thought her work rate was really good. She held the ball up for us really well in the first half; it was a challenge in the second half to do that. But overall I thought it was a good performance by Mia."
On what went wrong defensively in the second half, and the penalty call:
"I just think we got a little bit tired and got stretched, and we ended up chasing the game — whereas in the first half I thought we did a really good job of staying in our shape and forcing them to break us down. It wasn't like they had loads and loads of chances and Cassie was having to stand on her head; it was just those slight little moments. The penalty, I didn't have a great view of it live — I watched it back on TV, and I think if it was against us I would want the referee to overturn it, but I'm not sure there's enough in it when he doesn't give it originally. It is what it is, and if it was a penalty on us, I would be disappointed if that wasn't given."
On creating more numbers in the box and the preventable nature of the goals conceded:
"We just know we want to have a front five that can get themselves in the box, and I thought we did a better job of that tonight. I think we have to be able to create opportunities in different ways. I thought tonight we created enough opportunities in the first half to honestly put the game to bed, and we were disappointed on their goals — all three of them. I thought all three we could have solved better: how the penalty comes about, we could have solved better; I think we got a little split on the third goal defensively; and obviously we gave the ball away close to our goal on the first goal. So I think they're all preventable goals. But they were ruthless in those moments and clinical in those moments, and that's something we've got to keep pushing ourselves to be, because we got in those moments tonight. We've just got to be more clinical in those moments."
Maddie Mercado & Sally Menti
On the overall performance in the loss:
Menti: I thought we had a lot of momentum in the first half. We should have capitalized on a couple more chances, and then I think it would've been a completely different game in the second half. But I'm proud of the team — in the conditions that we had, in 100-plus degree weather, starters put in a shift, subs came on and brought a lot of energy too.
Mercado: I think we had a lot of momentum in the first half. I think the goals we gave up were self-inflicted a little bit, which is very fixable, and that's something that happens in games. As a team, how we have to evolve is learn how to switch the momentum back in our favor if something like that does happen. The game kind of got stretched in the second half, and we need to figure out going forward how we can manage that better.
On the fast start and transition play:
Mercado: As a team we're pretty fluid — people can play in multiple positions, move, interchange. I think that can throw teams off a little bit. You saw that with North Carolina in the first half; they had to adjust to us as the half went on. That's obviously always our game plan going forward, to transition on teams quickly, especially when we win the ball back, and I thought we did a pretty good job of that tonight.
Menti: We also want to evolve into a team that can hurt an opponent in transition, in a long ball and build. I think we showcased our transition really well tonight, and we just need to build on other aspects of the game.
On Mia Fishel's play in the buildup to the opening goal:
Menti: When Mia does cool stuff like that, it gives me confidence and gives the team confidence, knowing we have people on the field who can produce individual brilliance — like Maddie [Mercado] on the wing, too. She's in a new position and she killed it today. Mia's been killing it in training, finding her stride, and it's really great to see. We have a lot of depth in the front line — anyone can fill anyone's shoes, as you saw today with people coming off the bench.
On accountability and bouncing back:
Menti: Our team is really good at being vulnerable and taking feedback. I think we'll have conversations about this game for sure — there's a lot of good and a lot of things we can improve on, but I know our team is going to bounce back from this and learn everything we can. We've got to move forward.
