While you might be forgiven for glancing at the box score and thinking this was a close one, one should make no mistake about the commanding performance the Reign put in against Chicago. Now, this demands the usual caveat: in a league that has, largely, throughout its history, not had genuinely bad teams, the Stars have put in some real heavy-duty effort to become a genuinely bad team.
Still, you can only play the match in front of you, and the Reign categorically demolished the Stars.
Sure, there was only Maddie Mercado's one goal to show for it, but the stats were a wild mismatch. A 24-5 shot advantage, including a 20-3 shot advantage inside the penalty area and a 15-0 shot advantage in the second half. A 44-9 advantage on touches in the opposition penalty area. A 3.33 - 0.32 advantage in expected goals. A 6-0 advantage in big chances created. These are the sorts of numbers you expect when a top-flight team plays an upstart from a lower division, not a match between two pro sides in the consensus hardest, most balanced league in the world.
(On the other hand, the Reign missed 5 big chances to the Stars' zero, so who really won the numbers battle?)
The finishing boots were largely not there, and Katie Atkinson came up big several times, but with a field tilt that tilty and Maddie Mercado determined to find a way through, the Reign got the one goal they needed and saw it out, extending their unbeaten streak and picking up three big points in the tightly contested standings.
Goalkeeper
Claudia Dickey – 7
Plus. While not asked to do much, Claudia Dickey did show up when she had to and got the shutout. To be clear, 'when she had to' was basically one time, as the Stars manufactured one, single moment of genuine threat, via Mallory Swanson on the break in the 7th minute. Clawds parried the well-placed shot, and Chicago was quiet for the rest of the match. She also completed 100% of her passes, but given Chicago's categorical inability to pressure the Reign, this amounted to just 31 passes, as she spent most of the match coaching from the top of her penalty area.
Minus. She didn't score a goalie goal.
Defenders
Sofia Huerta – 7
Plus. The focal point through which the Reign's buildout flowed, Sofia Huerta led the field with 83 touches and completed 87% of her passes, driving the ball forward whenever the Reign had it, which was basically always. The Stars tried to take the ball from her on occasion, almost uniformly failing, as she completed 2 of 2 dribbles and won 5 of 6 duels on the ground and racked up 10 recoveries. By my count, she had 6 secondary shot-creating actions, and was frequently the catalyst that ended up in a chance even if she had no key passes.
Minus. She didn't absolutely wrap her foot around that recycled 79th minute corner and kick the shit out of it for a goal.
Jordyn Bugg – 7
Plus. As usual, Bugg's passing (85%, including 6 of 10 long balls and 5 big switches of play) and defensive counting stats (6 of 10 duels won, 4 tackles, 6 recoveries, and a block) tell a lot of the story: Chicago created nothing, and failing to beat Bugg then losing to her passing the other way is one of the primary reasons. Bugg was particularly great at finding the open space up the wings, lofting textured balls to Huerta, Curry, Dahlien, and Mercado repeatedly.
Minus. The Reign took 24 shots, but she couldn't even call her own number once and make it 25? Shaking my head.
Phoebe McClernon – 7
Plus. Playing her usual role as final stopper in the final line of confrontation, Phoebe was always ready to pounce on the feeble forward passes Chicago attempted, putting together 6 clearances, 3 recoveries, and multiple well-timed body blocks to cut off running lanes and let Dickey or Bugg recover the ball uncontested. Her passing was clean and unbothered, completing 39 of 49 passes and 3 of 6 long passes, and she nearly opened the scoring off a corner in the 7th minute.
Minus. She didn't open the scoring off a corner in the 7th minute.
Madison Curry – 7 (off 83' for Ryanne Brown)
Plus. Though she completed just 12 of her 23 passes, this warrants the context that the majority of her missed passes were long clearances. Otherwise, Curry was trying shit at a high level, looking for killer balls to spring an absolutely rampant Maddie Mercado, and her success rate at killer balls was remarkably high. She finished with 5 progressive passes and 7 passes into the final third, 3 tackles won, 2 duels won, and a constant presence as a cross-field menace for the switch of play from the left.
Minus. Maybe she could've passed one of those 6 missed long balls directly into Katie Atkinson's goal, instead.
Midfielders
Angharad James-Turner – 6
Plus. With Sam Meza out with a minor use injury, Haz stepped in. While much less of a pure destroyer and more of a roving positional defender, she used her body well and provided solid coverage, adding 80% passing and 4 progressive passes to the mix. She's also one of the small number of Reign players who really, truly understands when and how to give up the foul for the greater good, a thing that comes with experience that most of the kids don't have yet.
Minus. Four progressive passes but zero progressions of the ball into the net. Like we weren't even trying to score.
Sally Menti – 8 (off 83' for Emeri Adames)
Plus. While it was, admittedly, against the one team in the league you can genuinely call "inferior competition", Menti was dealing and double-dealing in this one. Her 7 chances created were the most on the team, and she had 1.06 expected assists, a number which is, scientifically speaking, fucking ridiculous. Her corners were particularly good, leading to several genuine chances for the Reign, starting with McClernon's big 7th minute header that forced an even bigger save out of Katie Atkinson. When the Reign finally did break through, it was on Menti's sick one-touch pass to Mercado's diagonal run. That the little squibble through the defender's legs prevented it from being an assist in the scorekeeping is a ridiculous miscarriage of justice, as Menti absolutely created that goal.
Minus. The scorekeepers who won't award her an assist are liars and thieves of joy.
Ainsley McCammon – 7
Plus. Against a largely hapless Stars midfield, Ainsley was flying, crashing the penalty area, and choosing violence (figuratively) at every opportunity. She took six shots, second-most on the team, five of them from inside the penalty area, and went ham dueling (winning 8 of 10), dribbling, and whirling through the opposition's final third. She had 8 recoveries, six of them in the Reign's attacking half, and covered more ground than literally anybody. Ainsley is Becoming, and it's beautiful to see.
Minus. Five of those shots were off-target, and in the future she should simply drill one of them into the top corner.
Forwards
Maddie Dahlien – 6 (off 70' for Nérilia Mondésir)
Plus. With an average field position a solid 15 yards into Chicago's half, Danger Maddie camped out high and forced the Stars to adjust to her, which they largely could not. While she completed just 10 of 19 passes and just 1 of 5 dribbles, the constant pressure she applied threw Chicago's back line into chaos, as they could not defend both Dahlien and Mercado at once, allowing Maddie D to find a number of open looks from the top of the area and put in several dangerous crosses in the second half.
Minus. It would've been a great day for a Danger Goal.
Mia Fishel – 6 (off 70' for Holly Ward)
Plus. Nobody does the forward dirty work as unselfishly and dedicatedly as Mia Fishel, and that's honestly that on that. Her counting stats don't look great in this one. And yet, her effect on the game was profound. Mercado is all alone with just Leila Ouahabi to get through on the winning goal because Fishel's complementary run on the near post pulls Sam Staab, Maitane Lopez, and Taylor Malham out of position. Fishel made that complementary run dozens of times, yanked Chicago's back line back and forth mercilessly, and – perpetually double covered – opened up the space that Mercado, McCammon, and Dahlien exploited.
Minus. She took just one shot, and it would've been nice if she'd scored it rather than sending it wide.
Maddie Mercado – 8 (POTM) (off 92' for Brittany Ratcliffe)
Plus. Fishel may have worked hard to open up that space, but Maddie Goddamn Mercado exploited it ruthlessly, leading the field with 9 shots and 11 touches in the attacking penalty area. She got on the end of good chances in the 47th, 49th, 51st, 58th, and 60th minutes. And, of course, she scored the game's only goal in the 53rd minute, missing her initial control on Menti's flicked pass but following up as the ball squeaked past Ouahabi to kick it home. Both running the touchline and cutting in for the attack, Mercado found danger, and with Chicago's central defense trying and failing to track Fishel, Menti, and McCammon, Mercado feasted on the open space time after time.
Minus. Sure, she scored one goal, but what about second goal?
Substitutes
Nérilia Mondésir – 5 (on 70' for Maddie Dahlien)
With a narrow lead and the game in control, Coco came on and parlayed 20 minutes into a tidy 16 touches with 100% pass completion, 2 tackles won, and a recovery, along with one really good opportunity to double the Reign's lead off her head. She was dispossessed three times, and miscontrolled her only dribble attempt, but none of that went for a Chicago chance, and you can try shit when you're pinning the opponent in their defensive third like that.
Holly Ward – 6 (on 70' for Mia Fishel)
Despite the short window of play, Holly Ward came so, so close to doing something really special, creating a huge chance off the dribble and another big chance off a timely long pass. While she didn't come away with an assist for her work, she looked genuinely electric in the short shift, and as she continues to work her way into regular minutes, the Reign may indeed have another somewhat overlooked but extremely tantalizing young talent on their hands.
Ryanne Brown – N/A (on 83' for Madison Curry)
In a very short substitute appearance, Brown touched the ball 7 times and retained possession cleanly to see the game out for the Reign, and sometimes that's all you actually need.
Emeri Adames – N/A (on 83' for Sally Menti)
In a very short substitute appearance, Baby Pinoe touched the ball 9 times and retained possession cleanly, and also nearly scored on the break in the 87th minute, forcing a big-time save out of Atkinson to keep the Reign's lead to just one.
Brittany Ratcliffe – N/A (on 92' for Maddie Mercado)
Coming on to kill the last moments of stoppage time, Ratcliffe touched the ball once, and sadly for my low-effort bet on a Brittany Ratcliffe Golden Boot, did not score her third goal of the season. Next time!
Stars POTM
Katie Atkinson
Even with the Reign's profligate shooting, they would've buried the Stars without Atkinson coming up enormous several times. Amongst her five saves, a 12th minute stop on a McClernon header off the corner and an 87th minute stop on an Adames fast break were particularly impressive, keeping the Reign off the scoresheet in the first half and keeping the game within reach for One Magical Moment (that the Stars were never able to summon) late in the second. Approaching the final third of the NWSL season, Katie appears to have fully assumed Alyssa Naeher's ignoble mantle of elite goalkeeper who deserves better than her team can give.
Referee
Marie Durr – 6
I was not familiar with Marie Durr's game, but I also wasn't mad at it. She didn't call much – just 4 fouls on the Reign and 5 on the Stars, with no cards shown – but then, neither team asked her to call much, either, in a game that was not especially physical and featured few bad decisions. Late in the first half, Maddie Mercado had a marginal call for a penalty, which VAR took a long look at before deciding to stick with Durr’s original non-call, and having watched the play more times than I care to admit to, I think a penalty would've been pretty harsh. Olivia Moultrie might get that call, but most nights, it's a play on that everyone's happy with.
And Another Thing!
The games don't get easier from here, mostly because they literally can't get easier than a home match against Chicago this season, but the Reign have shown fight, grit, and some emergent quality on the ball as the young roster starts taking big steps.
Are we actually good yet? I really don't have an answer to that. But I can see the steps they've taken, and I can see where they want to be, and for now, that's enough to believe in.
