Seattle Reign returned to Lumen Field on Friday looking to build on their draw with Angel City the weekend before, and they got exactly the response they needed, earning a 1-0 win over Chicago Stars. Maddie Mercado's 53rd-minute strike proved to be the difference.
It wasn't a flawless performance, but the Reign dominated the run of play from start to finish, outshooting Chicago 24-5.
Here are three stats from the Reign's home victory.
June Ash Eden
9
Maddie Mercado took 9 shots, nearly double her previous season high of 5 (which she hit vs. Denver, Angel City, and Washington). All nine shots came from inside the box as well, the most attempts ever made by a Seattle Reign player.
Mercado finished with 1.84 expected goals (xG), obviously another season high. On any other day, Mercado would have earned a brace or even a hat trick. Instead, three of her shots were blocked, and another five were off target. Fortunately, Mercado's one shot on target was the goal that gave Seattle the win and gave Mercado a team-leading sixth goal this year.
Mercado's evening was emblematic of the Reign's offensive output. The team finished with 24 shots and 3.33 xG, both season highs, but put just six shots on target.
It was an offensive ambush. The only thing missing was the finishing touch.
0
Chicago had zero shots in the second half after getting five shots off in the first half. Mallory Swanson, who came off at halftime, had three of those first-half shots, so losing her in the final 45 was part of Chicago's woes.
Aside from Swanson's absence, the Reign did two things particularly well to limit Chicago's chances in the second half. First, they stopped giving the ball away cheaply. In the first half, virtually all of Chicago's chances came in transition after the Reign misplayed a pass or dribbled into danger.
Second, the Reign's press was relentless for the final 45 minutes, keeping Chicago pinned in their own half. The Stars attempted just 34 passes in their attacking half and had just four touches in the Reign box — compared to the Reign's 31 touches in the Stars box in the second half.
0.15
The Reign had 13 corner kicks this match. Six of those came in the second half, where the Reign managed to create just 0.15 xG on set plays. The delivery wasn't necessarily bad, but Seattle couldn't quite figure out how to get around the numbers that Chicago put in the box. And Chicago won 64% of all aerial duels in the second half.
One of the Reign's six corner kicks in the second half
Sally Menti generated seven chances and took 10 corner kicks. Sofia Huerta took one, and Emeri Adames took two late in the game — when the Reign were simply trying to hold onto the lead.
The Reign's set pieces were notably more dangerous in the first half, where they generated 0.80 xG on corner kicks. In fact, seven of their nine first-half shots came from corners. This was a sign of Menti's quality delivery as well as the Reign's struggle in open play in the first half.
One of the Reign's corner kicks in the first half
Four of Ainsley McCammon's six shots came from corner kicks, all coming in the first half.
The Reign have a quick turnaround from here, as they head on a two-game road trip this week. First up is a midweek match against Racing Louisville, kicking off Wednesday, August 19, at 3:30 p.m. PT and airing on NWSL+ and Fox 13+.
