After a month-long break for the men’s World Cup group stage, Seattle Reign resumed their season with a visit to Cary, North Carolina, to face the Courage for the first time this season. Although Seattle took an early lead, the Courage scored three unanswered goals to secure all three points.
With Claudia Dickey still dealing with an ankle injury she picked up during USWNT camp in Brazil last month, Cassie Miller got her first start for the Reign and first minutes in NWSL play since 2024. She made three saves in the losing effort.
The Reign got on the score sheet early thanks to some crisp passing and a well-placed shot by Sally Menti, but the Courage equalized less than three minutes later after Sam Meza turned over the ball near her own goal, and an ensuing series of unlucky deflections and touches led to Ashley Sanchez getting the equalizer.
The second half was all Courage, with Riley Jackson burying a penalty and Sanchez earning her brace midway through the half.
WHAT WORKED: Smart passing and possession
The Reign were clicking in the first half, holding possession and making crisp, smart passes to keep the Courage unsettled. Aside from one unfortunate sequence with several unlucky bounces, the Reign dominated play and were rewarded with a very nice team goal. Mia Fishel picked up the ball near the touch line and pulled defenders toward her before passing to Sofia Huerta, who was making an unmarked inside run. Huerta quickly found a wide-open Sally Menti at the top of the box, who took one touch and calmly smashed the ball into the side netting to open the scoring.
SALLY MENTI SMASHES IT 💥
— NWSL (@nwslsoccer.com) 5:01 PM · Jul 4, 2026
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WHAT DIDN’T WORK: Turning possession into more goals
The Reign peppered the Courage with 17 shots, but Courage goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan came up with two massive saves at the very end of the first half to deny Seattle, and several Reign chances were scuffed or otherwise lacking a bit of quality.
Suuuuuuper Sheridan ✈️
— NWSL (@nwslsoccer.com) 5:32 PM · Jul 4, 2026
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After the halftime break the chances became fewer and farther between as the heat and fatigue set in, with just five of those shots coming in the second half and one weak effort on target. Meanwhile, the Courage grew into the game more and more, with only four shots in the opening period but a dozen in the second half.
WHAT DIDN’T WORK: Tracking Courage runs behind the defense
Beyond losing steam, Seattle was undone in the second half by several well-placed passes that split the Reign defense. North Carolina’s second goal came after Ally Schlegel got in behind Madison Curry, whose last-ditch tackle in the box initially looked to be clean, but VAR sent Christan Campo to check again, at which time he confirmed Curry had indeed mostly gotten Schlegel’s foot rather than the ball. Riley Jackson slammed the ensuing penalty kick home to double the Courage lead in the 64th minute.
Seven minutes later and in the exact same area of the field, Shinomi Koyama threaded a beautiful ball to a wide open Ashley Sanchez, who beat Cassie Miller far side to put the game to bed.
GOAL NO. 2 OF THE NIGHT FOR ASHLEY SANCHEZ 😱
— NWSL (@nwslsoccer.com) 6:14 PM · Jul 4, 2026
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Quotables
“The game kind of got stretched”
Forward Maddie Mercado felt like the team did a lot right in the first half, but struggled to regain momentum after the tide shifted toward the Courage.
“I think we had a lot of momentum in the first half. The goals we gave up were self-inflicted a little bit, which is very fixable and that's something that happens in games. And I think as a team, how we have to evolve is to learn how to switch the momentum back in our favor if something like that does happen. But, I think we had a lot of momentum in the first half and the game kind of got stretched in the second half and I think we need to figure out going forward how we can manage that better and switch the momentum in our favor more as well as the game starts to go on.”
“They were ruthless, and that’s something we’ve got to keep pushing ourselves to be”
Head coach Laura Harvey didn’t mince words when talking about what separated the two sides tonight, with the Courage seizing every opportunity presented to them while the Reign struggled after their quality opening goal.
“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,” she remarked. “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 like I said, they were ruthless in those moments and clinical in those moments and that's something that 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.”
Next up, it’s derby day for the Reign as they welcome the Portland Thorns to Lumen Field for one more game on its temporary natural grass surface next Sunday, July 12 at 1 PM PT. The team is offering several ticket deals for that game, including free tickets for children 12 and under, as well as a buy one/get one promo. For those unable to attend in person, the match will air on ESPN, along with local radio coverage on KJR 950 AM.
