Seattle Reign put last week's collapse against Gotham FC behind them, holding on to a 2-0 lead at halftime to beat San Diego Wave FC on the road. Ainsley McCammon set up both goals to become the youngest player in NWSL history to record multiple assists in a game, breaking the record Trinity Rodman set in 2021. Jordyn Bugg and Maddie Mercado each scored in their hometown, and Claudia Dickey made her first start back from injury memorable, making eight saves to preserve the clean sheet.
The win was also a milestone for head coach Laura Harvey, who picked up her 100th win with Seattle — making her the first coach in NWSL history to reach 100 wins with a single club.
June Ash Eden
The Reign improved to 6-7-2 and will wrap up their three-game road trip against Bay FC (5-7-3) next weekend. That game kicks off August 1 at 5:45 p.m. PT and will air on ION.
Highlights
Stats
SCORING SUMMARY
17' - Maddie Mercado (Assisted by Ainsley McCammon) - SEA
20' - Jordyn Bugg (Assisted by Ainsley McCammon) - SEA
LINEUPS
Our squad kicking things off in SD today ⚡️ Lineup Notes ➡️ rgnfc.com/4x1gKtz
— Seattle Reign FC (@reignfc.com) 1:07 PM · Jul 26, 2026
[image or embed]
72' - Madison Curry for Ryanne Brown; Emeri Adames for Mia Fishel
83' - Angharad James-Turner for Sally Menti
88' - Emily Mason for Sofia Huerta; Holly Ward for Maddie Mercado
THE SD XI VS SEATTLE 🌊
— San Diego Wave FC (@sandiegowavefc.com) 1:10 PM · Jul 26, 2026
[image or embed]
60' - Lia Godfrey for Laurina Fazer
68' - Adriana Leon for Trinity Byars
84' - Jordan Fusco for Gia Corley; Tatum Wynalda for Perle Morroni
POSSESSION
Wave: 60.8%
Reign: 39.2%
EXPECTED GOALS
Wave: 2.64
Reign: 0.38
TOTAL SHOTS
Wave: 22
Reign: 9
SHOTS ON TARGET
Wave: 8
Reign: 5
SHOTS OFF TARGET
Wave: 10
Reign: 1
SHOTS BLOCKED
Wave: 4
Reign: 3
SHOTS FROM INSIDE THE BOX
Wave: 16
Reign: 8
TOUCHES INSIDE THE OPP. BOX
Wave: 41
Reign: 18
PASSES
Wave: 498
Reign: 314
PASSING ACCURACY
Wave: 83.3%
Reign: 72.0%
PASSES IN FINAL THIRD
Wave: 172
Reign: 80
PASS ACCURACY IN FINAL THIRD
Wave: 79.1%
Reign: 47.5%
CROSSES (EXCLUDING CORNERS)
Wave: 7
Reign: 9
CORNERS TAKEN
Wave: 7
Reign: 3
OFFSIDES
Wave: 2
Reign: 0
FOULS
Wave: 10
Reign: 10
YELLOW CARDS
Wave: 1
Reign: 2
RED CARDS
Wave: 0
Reign: 0
San Diego Wave FC: 0 (2.64 xG) vs Seattle Reign FC: 2 (0.38 xG) #SDvSEA | #MakeWaves | #HerefortheCrown | #NWSL | 🤖⚽
— NWSL Analytics (@nwslstat.bsky.social) 4:46 PM · Jul 26, 2026
[image or embed]
g+ GameFlow: NWSL Regular Season San Diego Wave v Seattle Reign on July 26, 2026. #SDvRGN ⚽️🤖
— g+ GameFlow (@gameflow.bsky.social) 6:48 PM · Jul 26, 2026
[image or embed]
Quotes
Laura Harvey
On reaching 100 wins with the club:
"I didn't know that before the game. I had no idea, and I didn't know after the game either. Then Scott told the group in the huddle, hence why I'm changed because I got soaked. Just really proud of the club, the journey that we've been on to date, proud of the fact that I've got some longevity in me — probably means I'm old. As I always would say, none of this happens without players, staff, people believing in me, believing in the process that we're trying to put together. I've been lucky enough to come back to this amazing club, and I'm just really proud of that. Really proud of the group today."
On the overall performance and fixing the second-half issues that cost them against Gotham:
"This is the third game in a row now that we've been two-nil up at halftime, and at halftime today I was quite blunt with the group; we can't let what happened to us last week happen to us again. I do think we need to sort out what we do at the start of the second half; there's something about us at the minute where we don't come out in the same vein we came out in at the start or end of the first half. San Diego are a good team — they've made the most passes and had the most possession in the league — so it was to be expected they'd do those things, but I thought we reduced them to shots from distance. When they did get around the goal, we put our bodies on the line, and Claudia made some fantastic saves. This is a big mentality thing for us after last week. We were devastated after last week, and to come to another really difficult place and see the game out with a clean sheet — that's huge. We did have a really good chance in the second half to score with Maddie [Dahlien], but I do think the start of our second half is something we need to continue to work on."
On the defense looking far more locked-in than it did against Gotham:
"Whatever we did, we did together. If we wanted to get up together, we got up together; if we couldn't get up and we were going to sit, we sat collectively together. I said last week — much to some of the older players' disgust, actually — that I take responsibility for last week, because I didn't think I set us up for success in terms of the real detail of what we needed to do in those moments. I wasn't willing to accept that again. I won't let that happen. I think you saw today that we looked a little bit more collective. Phoebe and JB [Jordyn Bugg] were excellent too — when you're under pressure, having two central defenders who will put their body on the line and win first and second balls for you in those moments is really important."
On Ainsley McCammon's record-breaking assist performance:
"Her ability with her range of pass is exceptional — it always has been. What she's really learning over time is the pass doesn't need to be perfect; you just need to put it in an area where people can get onto the end of it. Whether it's the ball in behind for Ryanne Brown against Portland — she didn't need to find Ryanne, she just needed to put it in the space — she did that again today a few times, and then the time she needed to put it in a really dangerous area and hope someone got on the end of it, she did that too, with the Maddie Mercado goal. Her growth has been great. I said to Ainsley in the summer break, the big challenge for her is lasting 90 minutes — she's played the last two 90s and been great. I'm really happy with her development."
On the attack scoring in three straight matches:
"First half, brilliant. I still think we need to sort out how we can be threatening in the second half — that's the big challenge for us now. If in those moments when we've got the lead we get that third goal, 99% of the time it tips you over the edge, and we've got to keep challenging ourselves on how we can come out in second halves as threatening with the ball as we were in the first half. But multiple-goal games in the last three is huge, and we believe we're not at our ceiling — we're going to challenge ourselves to give more."
On where the team stands with the playoff picture:
"We set our goals out at the start of the year. We know what points it'll take to get into the playoffs — it tends to be 1.4 points per game, which is 42 points. I think we've got 20 now out of 15 [games], which isn't bad — we're nearly on that 1.4, we need to change that slightly. But we just take every game as it comes. We're on that 19-games-in-18-weeks stint, so it's hard to look past tomorrow. We're flying back to Seattle tonight, everyone gets a day off tomorrow, and then we turn our attention to Bay real quick because everything's coming thick and fast."
Ainsley McCammon and Jordyn Bugg
On the assist to Maddie Mercado's goal:
McCammon: "That's actually a ball we've kind of been working on in training — clipping it into the back post. I got it, looked up, saw Maddie's hand up, and I was like, 'I've got to try to hit this.' It was a great header, so I was just super happy she could get on the end of it."
On keeping a clean sheet against a Wave team that put up big offensive numbers, and having Claudia Dickey back in goal:
Bugg: "It was really nice to have Claudia back. Cassie did super, super good in these past few games, so we really appreciate her stepping in. But based off last game, we knew we had to step up and have that defensive mindset — that we were going to have a clean sheet and go home with the win. All of us collectively having that same mindset really helped us in this game."
On the defense looking much more in lock step than it did against Gotham:
McCammon: "After coming off the Gotham game, this whole week we've talked about game management. There's always pieces we can work on and need to improve on, but collectively doing the little things — kicking it wide, kicking it in places where they can't hurt us, drawing fouls once we got in groups, and hydration breaks — the collective mindset was we've got to dig deep, we've got to do this together, do the dirty things. I think we did really well just defending the box and not letting them get shots off. Claudia had a few amazing saves too."
On facing a similar 2-0-at-halftime situation to the Gotham match:
McCammon: "It's definitely very similar. We knew coming out of halftime we couldn't do the same thing we did against Gotham. We looked at the tactics and made a couple changes, but ultimately it was kind of just a mindset thing — we knew we couldn't let them get back in the game, couldn't let them gain momentum. We knew we just had to stay in it together, play collectively, do all of the little things, game management, and I think we really dug deep. I'm super proud of the team to be able to keep the clean sheet."
On Claudia Dickey's saves in her first start back:
Bugg: "She played great every time — every shot, I looked back and she'd had an amazing save. We have such confidence in Claudia, and we know what she's capable of, and it's just really nice to have her back. I can't even think of one to point to — honestly, all of them are insane. Really, really good to have her back and healthy."
On Maddie Mercado scoring in three straight games and the team having multiple goals the last three games:
McCammon: "It's so much fun. At the start of the year I think we were creating a lot of chances, and the talk was always, 'We're creating good chances, we just have to put them away.' The last few games, having multiple scoring games has boosted the overall confidence, and it shows we know we can do it. Maddie scoring in three straight is crazy — she does that all the time in training, so it's no surprise, but it's nice to see her get her flowers and reap the rewards a little more. It's just been enjoyable celebrating goals, having different people scoring and getting assists — it's been super fun."
