The Reign fought back from an early deficit but couldn't hold a late lead and settled for splitting the points against visitors Angel City in a scrappy, back-and-forth match on a sunny Sunday evening at Lumen Field.
In the opening half hour, both sides traded stretches of possession and stretches of quality play. In the 12th minute, Maddie Mercado got a great look at goal from six yards out, but her header went high over the crossbar. Ten minutes later, Taylor Suarez had a go for Angel City, cracking a shot from a hard angle that Claudia Dickey had easily covered. Mere seconds after that, it was Mercado again, with a nearly identical header from a nearly identical position, this time on frame but kept at bay with a strong save by Angelina Anderson.
Ultimately, it was Angel City drawing first blood, somewhat against the run of play – Gisele Thompson got hold of the ball, dribbled to the top of the area, and laced one near-post past Dickey for the one-goal lead. That was the story of the half, and the teams went into the break with Angel City up by one goal.
The Reign came out on fire to start the second half, controlling play and ultimately finding their reward: first, in the 50th minute, Mia Fishel collected the ball in attacking midfield, took a touch, and saw Sally Menti's darting run. The delivery found Menti near the penalty spot, where she controlled the ball and drove it home to level things up for the home side.
The Reign weren't done yet, though. Just two minutes later, Ainsley McCammon laced a lethal through ball into the area, Sally Menti one-touch laid it off to a crashing Fishel, and she absolutely demolished the net for her third goal of the season. After a tough start, the Reign had the lead and the energy.
Unfortunately, Angel City also wasn't done yet, and a series of substitutions put helped them to change the narrative. While the Reign still found chances and spells of possession, Angel City was able to create chaos and capitalize on the Reign's miscommunications and missed rotations over the next 15 minutes, culminating in a beautiful touch and finish by late substitute Prisca Chilufya in the 72nd minute.
With the game level at 2-2 going into stoppage time, both teams had shots for a winner: Ally Sentnor got a puncher's chance at the ball off a corner kick in the 92nd, and Maddie Mercado got two quick bites at the apple in the 93rd and 94th. The match ended with a bit of controversy: with Mercado squaring up for a second-chance ball in the area, Emily Sams went through her blindside, and both players went down in the Reign's attacking penalty area. Replays showed Sams simply taking out Mercado, and a penalty could certainly have been warranted, but instead Mercado was inexplicably whistled for a foul she had nothing to do with, and seconds later, Brad Jensen whistled again for full time.
The Reign settled for a thrilling and sometimes dizzying 2-2 draw at home, a lesser result than they could have had, but good enough to stretch their unbeaten run to 3 matches and good enough to improve their form to 10 points in their last 5 games.
WHAT WORKED: Big moments with Mia and Menti
In the second half, the Reign needed a shot of confidence and a shot to find the net, and Sally Menti and Mia Fishel provided both, combining twice in quick succession to turn a one-goal deficit into a one-goal lead. First, it was Mia Fishel getting the ball in the midfield, shaking Emily Sams, seeing Menti's run, and setting it up for Sally to finish:
The Mia Fishel to Sally Menti connection was a work of art 🖼️
— NWSL (@nwslsoccer.com) 7:27 PM · Aug 9, 2026
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Then, just two minutes later, Sally Menti returned the favor, first-timing Ainsley McCammon's entry pass square for Mia Fishel to have a hit. And my, oh, my, did Mia Fishel have a hit:
SOMEBODY GET THE NET 🎣 MIA FISHEL JUST CAUGHT A BANGER!
— NWSL (@nwslsoccer.com) 7:29 PM · Aug 9, 2026
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WHAT WORKED: Making the adjustments
While the Reign weren't the worse team in the first half by any significant margin, Angel City were able to find them vulnerable in key moments, none more key than Gisele Thompson breaking down Sofia Huerta and scoring from the top of the area. Despite the run of play, the Reign found themselves chasing the game and struggling to break through Angel City's defensive lines.
The Reign adjusted at the break, and came out of the locker rooms absolutely on fire, finding the spaces they were missing in the first half, and combining incisively right up the middle for two quick goals and three big chances. Throughout the 2026 season, the Reign have often come into the second half a step slower and more tentative. This time, needing a response, they delivered an emphatic one.
WHAT DIDN'T WORK: Tracking Gisele Thompson
Sometimes, Gisele Thompson is going to dribble on you, and sometimes, Gisele Thompson is going to score a big damn goal against the run of play, but the Reign didn't need to make it this easy on her:
Gisele Thompson gets the party started for LA 🎉
— NWSL (@nwslsoccer.com) 6:47 PM · Aug 9, 2026
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With Sofia Huerta guarding her and Sam Meza in support, somebody could've stepped to Gisele and made her life difficult, but nobody did, so she did what she does best: cutting inside to find an angle and threading the ball inside the post.
WHAT DIDN'T WORK: Locking it down
After the huge effort to fight back and take the lead, the Reign once again gave up a second-half equalizer. It's the second time in their last five games they've dropped points from a winning position, and the third time they've given up a tying goal.
Angel City started applying the pressure after Fishel's big hit, but they were really able to ramp it up when Fishel substituted off in the 66th minute. With the Reign getting less fight and threat in holdup, Angel City manufactured waves of pressure, eventually finding their tying goal in the 72nd minute when fresh substitute Prisca Chifulya outrun the Reign backline to a lofted long ball and, with a stunning first touch, lifted it in a high arc over Dickey's head and into the net.
Angel City's subs getting it done 👏 Evelyn Shores finds Prisca Chilufya to get the equalizer!
— NWSL (@nwslsoccer.com) 7:46 PM · Aug 9, 2026
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While the delivery, the run, and the finish were all extremely well-worked, the Reign were too easily beaten by one pass and one touch in a gamestate where they needed to be guarding exactly that sort of run. It unfortunately proved the difference between 1 point and 3.
"She knew that we had more to give"
Asked about the two quick second-half goals in context of the Reign's previous futility in the second half of games, Mia Fishel took a positive tone:
"I think it was huge, because we've been talking about our second-half performances, and how fast we start in the first half. I think this was another growing moment, like hey, now we know in the second half we have another gear in us. We're trying to find ways at halftime to continue that – our legs, our momentum – through film and talking. So I think that was a big win, knowing we can come out the gate second half and get those goals."
Sally Menti added:
"Laura gave a good speech at halftime, too. She knew that we had more to give. I think something switched in my head, too, like yeah, I mean, we got to go for it. We're down 1-0 and we normally haven't come out hot in the second half. [...] We just went for it, and we were on the front foot for most of the half."
"We had to decide if we wanted to change that"
Laura Harvey also referenced the halftime talk and adjustments the team made to get back into the game:
"I said to the girls at halftime, if we play like we did in the first half, the result was going to stay what it was. We weren't going to get a win out of it. We weren't going to get anything out of it. We had to decide if we wanted to change that – and we did. So I'm really happy for that. And, yeah, just hungry for more, really, I would say."
And on Mia Fishel's run of form, she was laudatory, reminding about Fishel's long recovery from injury and the difficult nature of rehabilitation:
"I think you guys have asked me a lot about Mia in the last year, and I've said the same thing. And I'll continue to say it. She will get rewarded when she plays the way she's been playing since the summer break. And she's getting that. She's getting that recognition externally, internally, in the locker room. That's what we believed we signed, and I knew it was going to take time with her, with someone who's been out for as long as she had. It's really hard to switch that back on – the sharpness needed, the willingness to keep doing all the hard work and not seeing the reward. And then you start to see those little glimpses of reward, it makes you run faster, it makes you run harder, for longer. I think you're starting to see that from her, which I'm really happy about."
The Reign don't have long to reflect on this one, as they're right back in action against Chicago Stars on Friday, August 14th at Lumen Field at 7:00 PM PT. The match will stream on NWSL+.
