Let's just start with the acknowledgment: this could've been a boat race.
Kansas City had five big chances, 4.16 expected goals per Opta's model and 2.89 per American Soccer Analysis, outshot the Reign 25-8, and had a significant advantage in possession, touches in the attacking third, ball progression, and touches in the attacking penalty area.
Visiting CPKC Stadium in the extreme late August heat, the Reign played like a road team on two days' rest visiting a home team on seven days' rest in hostile weather conditions. And despite that, the Reign found a way to take a lead, found a way to hang on by their fingernails after conceding a somewhat unlucky equalizer, and found a way to steal that point and carry it home with them.
As stop-start as the Current's season has been, they're a good team that's getting better, and they're extremely good at home.
You don't apologize for getting a result there. You especially don't apologize for getting a result on the shortest rest the league could possibly schedule you on by their own rules.
No, you take that point and rub it in North Carolina's face.
Goalkeeper
Claudia Dickey – 6
Plus. With Kansas City's attack coming in waves and controlling the majority of the match, Claw-dia had to be on her toes at all times. Despite only putting 3 shots on her goal, the Current put a ton of dangerous balls into Dickey's path, and she responded with one of her best sweeper performances all year. You can see some of that in the counting stats – the 10 recoveries, the duels won, the fact that she got into duels at all, the 26 long passes attempted, most of them de facto clearances with a plausible target on the break. More of it is just in her positioning and reactions, though. Dickey was assertive off her line and kept her back line organized, ensuring that Kansas City, no matter how many shots they took or chances they generated, was never favored to beat her.
Minus. While I never judge a keeper too harshly for letting a penalty past her, Claudia needed to actually commit to the direction she wanted to go. If you commit, sometimes you make the save. If you don't, you never will.
Defenders
Madison Curry – 7 (off 73' for Ryanne Brown)
Plus. Facing down the likes of Lo LaBonta, Michelle Cooper, and Elizabeth Ball, Madison Curry had her work cut out for her, and she responded by blowing them up repeatedly. I'm always saying that Madi Curry loves to tackle people, and she won a truly ridiculous 8 tackles in this one, and also added 5 clearances, 3 interceptions, 7 recoveries, won 10 of 14 duels, and won 2 free kicks in a spectacular show of frustrating the ever-loving fuck out of the Current's right side. A brilliant demonstration of one of football's most ancient and cherished truths: violence is never the answer unless the question is "give me that ball."
Minus. While she blew up the Current's attacks repeatedly, she also got burned a few times throwing down the hard challenge – twice to the tune of big chances. Her passing (completing just 11 of 25) left something to be desired, and while she showed a good willingness to hit it where it can't hurt you, a great decision when you're under siege, she also could've found the pass to preserve possession and relieve the pressure more often than she did.
Phoebe McClernon – 7
Plus. I hope y'all love tackles, because this game was full of them, and Phoebs won 7 of them in a rangy performance covering nearly the entire defensive end. Other defensive counting stats: 5 clearances, 4 interceptions, 5 recoveries, 8 of 12 duels won. Kansas City kept coming for the goal, and Phoebe McClernon kept not letting them. Debinha went up against McClernon and lost every single time, never finding anything better than a heavily contested shot with no margin for error.
Minus. Notwithstanding her excellent night of disruption and destruction, McClernon did allow opportunities on the break to slip away, holding the ball a moment too long until a chance to hit Dahlien or Mercado turned into nothing but a long clearance slash incomplete pass. And while her enormous range of defensive coverage paid off for the Reign most of the time, she was forced to give up a bad foul in recovery and was cut out by one of Debinha's few successful dribbles of the match for her aggression.
Jordyn Bugg – 8 (POTM)
Plus. In a match played on rough waters and a roaring current (ha), Bugg was the anchor that saw the Reign through. Like the rest of the back line, she showed up with the disruption – 5 tackles won, 6 clearances, 4 interceptions, 9 recoveries, 7 of 9 duels won, and, just for good measure, she actually won two free kicks with her footwork despite Koroleva's monomaniacal dedication to ignoring fouls against the Reign. She led the Reign in touches (77), pass completion (44 of 55), ball progression (9 passes into the final third, 6 progressive passes), and impeccable cool under incomprehensible pressure. A pretty, pretty, pretty fuckin' good performance. Hope Emma was watching.
Minus. While Bugg's vision on the long pass is one of those truly world-beating attributes, it wasn't on in this one. Mercado and Dahlien were largely starved for service forward, and Bugg, normally one of the most reliable sources, could only occasionally provide it.
Sofia Huerta – 6
Plus. Though not as rangy, not as high-impact, and not as dedicated to violence in service of ball recovery as the rest of the defense, Huerta did put in some big moments against the likes of Croix Bethune and Vanessa DiBernardo, finishing with 3 clearances, 2 interceptions, and 5 recoveries. She lost 5 of her 6 duels, but did well to get her body in the way often enough to give Bugg and McClernon an extra step of recovery time. While she didn't make many forays forward, she did find two decent looks at stealing a goal, once in the 5th minute and again in the 76th, both from nearly identical spots in the Peak Huerta Zone, and the Reign's own goal started with Huerta receiving the short corner and lofting it across the area to Ainsley McCammon.
Minus. Pinned back but losing most of her duels and not really blowing up the opposition like the rest of her back line, Huerta unfortunately also wasn't able to regularly get forward, wasn't able to consistently jailbreak Maddie Dahlien in front of her, wasn't able to put in that one game-changing cross that might've turned a quality point into a pure smash and grab. The few times she did connect with Dahlien, the Reign looked poised to sock the Current right in the jaw, which makes the many mistimed overlaps and passes that left her stranded all the more disappointing.
Midfielders
Ainsley McCammon – 6
Plus. These were tough, tough, tough midfield minutes in the best of circumstances, and Ainsley McCammon had to deal with more than she could handle more or less constantly. And she kept showing up, touch after touch, duel after duel. She won 4 tackles and came up with 5 clearances, 3 interceptions, and 7 recoveries, won 5 of 10 duels, and ran in recovery until she looked like her lungs might spontaneously ascend to a higher plane of being – in the endless morass of second-half added time, exhausted beyond mortal limits, Ainsley ran down her mark anyway and, with the benefit of her significant tallness, just managed to get her foot to the ball to prevent a late opportunity. Chances were at a premium for the Reign, and Ainsley produced one of their better opportunities, forced the Kayla Sharples own goal with her header across, and shared the team lead with Bugg for progressive passes.
Minus. Under constant pressure and constantly outnumbered in the middle of the park, Ainsley turned over her passes repeatedly, taking an extra touch or putting a nervy ball into a lane Kansas City's midfield was quick to jump. The midfield as a whole suffered for the lack of Meza's range and stability, and though Ainsley put in some really quality moments, she also suffered for the lack of utterly dependable coverage behind her, and on short rest, wasn't able to keep up the intensity levels that Kansas City was demanding for a full 102(!!) minutes.
Sally Menti – 5 (off 99' for Ruby Hladek)
Plus. In a midfield lacking master duelist Sam Meza, Menti fought hard and did put in a number of strong challenges. She won 2 tackles and 6 of 11 duels, won 2 free kicks, and when she actually got her foot on the ball, was one of the only Reign players passing with tempo and confidence through the Current's pressure. The game state didn't favor her style at all or at any point, and she was asked to do a lot more dirty work and heavy lifting than usual, but she showed up and put in that work for 99-plus dang minutes.
Minus. Absent Meza's coverage, Menti reverted to some of her more enigmatic tendencies, sometimes putting in a brilliant challenge, sometimes failing to track her mark entirely. With the Reign struggling to maintain any real on-the-ball influence, Menti wasn't in a position to make the darting attacking runs and the deceptive overlaps, dummies, and quick little combinations that the Reign had been feasting on in prior matches, and her offensive contributions were consequently limited as well.
Angharad James-Turner – 5 (off 73' for Brittany Ratcliffe)
Plus. On the ball, Haz was quite comfortable and quite composed, actually completing 13 of 16 passes (and one of those misses was a tantalizing ball that flashed just too far for Mercado to take it into the attack, a ball I am totally okay with midfielders trying and missing) and holding possession better than most of the team could manage.
Minus. Off the ball, which was much more of her night, Haz was there to fill Sam Meza's boots, and those are big boots to fill. While she worked hard and her positioning tends to be quite good, she doesn't have the pure destructive energy that Meza can bring to bear, and the Reign really missed it. A minus of 'not being Sam Meza' feels harsh, but it's a good reminder of how irreplaceable Meza is to the Reign's quality of play.
What. On one sequence, Haz James-Turner was fouled no less than three times in a ten second window and never got the benefit of a whistle. She was victimized by Kansas City simply being allowed to foul with impunity in the middle of the pitch more than any other Reign player, and I don't really know how to rate that.
Forwards
Maddie Mercado – 6
Plus. Arguably the best open-play chance of the match belonged to Maddie Mercado, who got a clean look at goal from about 7 yards out in the 42nd minute. (Lorena was up to the challenge, but it was still a good look.) More often tracking back defensively than given opportunities to attack, Mercado put in a hard-nosed shift on the press, won 6 of 9 duels, won 5 recoveries, won 3 free kicks in the defensive half, and showed some real quality on the dribble beside on those moments Curry, McCammon, or Fishel got her the ball. Mercado and Fishel, ghosting behind the centerbacks, forced Sharples to make a decision, and given where everybody else was, she made the wrong one, to the Reign's benefit.
Minus. Under siege for most of the match, Mercado was barely able to find her way forward. Kansas City played a strong match from back to front, and Maddie could've found more opportunities to break their defensive pressure.
Mia Fishel – 4 (off 65' for Nérilia Mondésir)
Plus. In the rare moments she could actually get a touch to the ball, Fishel had some of the most dynamic moments the Reign conjured. A recovery, turn, and instant long pass to Mercado was beautiful, and a nearly identical quick touch and launch to Dahlien almost as good. Fishel and Mercado, ghosting behind the centerbacks, forced Sharples to make a decision, and given where everybody else was, she made the wrong one, to the Reign's benefit.
Minus. For the overwhelming majority of her shift when she wasn't taking one magical touch and delivering an instant follow-up, this was a rough one, one of Big Fish's toughest matches in a Reign kit. Fishel mostly didn't get a touch to the ball, and she had a rough day both in holdup and in the press. She tried to get into it with Sharples and Gabrielle Robinson, but lost those duels repeatedly, either conceding the foul or just being a step slow on a day when her fatigue showed more than the rest of the team.
Meh. Kansas City's lone goal came off a penalty, conceded by Mia Fishel for handling. I don't think the call was 'wrong' (though it does rankle some given how many similar handling offenses by Reign opponents have gotten a fuck you, play on rather than an extended VAR intervention this season), but it wasn't really the result of either Kansas City creating something special or Fishel doing anything particularly wrong. Handling is a bad rule that produces bad outcomes, and it's just something we have to live with.
Maddie Dahlien – 6 (off 99' for Emily Mason)
Plus. A mirror to Mercado, Danger Maddie occasionally looked like a possibility for a killer move from the Reign, but spent most of the match penned in and forced to play defense against a Kansas City team running riot. And she did that job fairly well – won 6 of 11 duels, won 4 tackles, notched 6 recoveries, tirelessly ran from endline to endline in support of the defense and searching for the ball that would break her free. She got two: one from Fishel late in the first half, and one from Mondésir midway through the second. One on one with Lorena, she ran out of real estate, and though she was first to the ball, Lorena comfortably made the save and Dahlien somehow got a yellow card for having the audacity to touch the ball.
Minus. She had a moment that could've won it in the 70th minute, and she couldn't convert. Notwithstanding Katja's terrible decision to card her, Dahlien had the opportunity to come up big there and it would've been so nice to see her hit it first time with enough elevation to beat the keeper. Though she was probably the Reign's most unselfish runner throughout the match, she was continuously drawn too deep in defensive support, leaving no outlets when the Reign could've countered.
Substitutes
Nérilia Mondésir – 5 (on 65' for Mia Fishel)
While she couldn't really change the direction of the match, Coco came on and brought some really incredible energy. She completed 5 of 7 passes on 14 touches, two of them really peachy balls that could've developed into much better chances on a better day. While she fought hard in the middle, much like Fishel before her, she lost basically every time she went into a challenge with Sharples or Robinson.
Ryanne Brown – 4 (on 73' for Madison Curry)
Giving Madison Curry a much-needed rest, Ryanne Brown came on and fought hard, and in a hang-on-by-the-fingernails situation, it was what the Reign needed from her. While a bit profligate with the ball at her feet and of limited utility in the air, Brown put in a huge tackle, a huge block, and won a huge duel with Debinha shortly before the latter subbed off. For a defensive sub in a game state like this, two or three moments can be enough.
Brittany Ratcliffe – 5 (on 73' for Angharad James-Turner)
By the time Ratcliffe came on, the Reign weren't taking big swings to try to win all three points so much as throwing everything they could to gum up the works and escape with one point intact. Despite that, Ratcliffe got a good look on goal in the 86th minute, won the ball back twice in the attacking half, and did some really thankless work defending from the front against a Current back line that had absolutely feasted on the Reign's attempts at possession to that point.
Ruby Hladek – N/A (on 99' for Sally Menti)
Ruby touched the ball three times, completed a pass, and helped the Reign kill off the last couple minutes of unreasonably and inexplicably extended second half stoppage time.
Emily Mason – N/A (on 99' for Maddie Dahlien)
Emily touched the ball three times, completed two passes, and helped the Reign kill off the last couple minutes of unreasonably and inexplicably extended second half stoppage time.
Current POTM
Croix Bethune
If the Current could've hit water falling out of a boat into the Missouri River, they might've taken advantage of the masterclass Croix Bethune put on and really buried the Reign. Croix was a chance-creating machine, a menace on the dribble, brilliant in open space, won three free kicks, and was involved in literally 35% of all of Kansas City's duels. She was fucking everywhere, causing problems for the Reign at absolutely every juncture, a veritable Angel of Bad Soccer Things Are About to Happen. Fortunately, though she got four chances of her own to go with the four she created, Bethune shared Kansas City's inability to locate the net, and fortunately, she took an extra touch a few times that gave the Reign a chance to recover, but she was really on one. A two-goal, two-assist type performance that fortunately yielded zeroes across the board.
Referee
Katja Koroleva – 3
In the match thread on Discord, I noted that Koroleva always seems to either call one of the best or one of the worst games I have ever seen, every time we get her, and there is NO middle ground. Friends, this was the latter.
I don't want to write a thousand-word essay about my problems with the match Koroleva called, but I do want to call attention to a couple things. Like the utterly bizarre yellow card shown to Maddie Dahlien for the grave offense of winning the ball when Lorena also wanted the ball. Like repeatedly asking Kansas City to move back when they had throw-ins, getting ignored, and just... letting them ignore her. Like allowing Debinha an extra hack, kick, or cleat left in repeatedly. Like constantly delaying her whistle for so long that nobody ever seemed to know what she was actually calling when she got around to calling it.
On paper, she whistled 13 fouls for each side. In practice, the fouls she chose to whistle and the fouls she chose to ignore had some major and outsized impacts on the progression of the match. Astonishing to watch (and rewatch), and not in a good way.
And Another Thing!
While I'm here, I'm still feeling petty about Ion's coverage. In the future, I would like the broadcaster with rights to the game to feel inclined to actually talk about the teams playing in it.
And don't get me wrong, Caiya Hanks' comeback is a great story! It should be told! However, and I'm just spitballing here, perhaps in the leadup and intermission of the game featuring the Kansas City Current and the Seattle Reign, the media teams involved could spend some actual time talking about the Kansas City Current and the Seattle Reign?
Perhaps we could pay attention to the vast breadth of amazing stories the league has to share, and not just the highlight reels of the same three league darlings every week?
I'm not going to start rating the productions, but if I were to...
