Seattle Reign's road struggles continued on Saturday evening, as the club fell 2-1 to the Denver Summit. Delanie Sheehan scored just before halftime, and Tash Flint doubled Denver's lead in the 50th minute. In the 55th minute, Brittany Ratcliffe pounced on a rebound just a minute after subbing into the match, but that's where the Reign's comeback effort ended — and the match finished 2-1 in Denver's favor.
The result tightens an already tight playoff race, with just five matches remaining in the NWSL season.
The Reign (11-10-4) return to Lumen Field next week to host the Boston Legacy (7-12-5) on Friday, September 25. That strangely early Friday night match kicks off at 5:30 p.m. PT and will stream on NWSL+.
Highlights
Stats
Scoring Summary
44' - Delanie Sheehan (Assisted by Lindsey Heaps) - DEN
50' - Tash Flint (Assisted by Janine Sonis) - DEN
55' - Brittany Ratcliffe - SEA
Lineups
Our starting XI in Colorado ⚔ Lineup Notes 📝 rgnfc.com/4cQg6Yu
— Seattle Reign FC (@reignfc.com) 4:46 PM · Sep 19, 2026
[image or embed]
54' - Maddie Mercado for Mia Fishel; Brittany Ratcliffe for Nérilia Mondésir
79' - Jess Fishlock for Sally Menti; Madison Curry for Ryanne Brown
89' - Holly Ward for Angharad James-Turner
61' - Ayo Oke for Natalie Means
84' - Devin Lynch for Emma Regan; Yuna McCormick for Yuzuki Yamamoto
POSSESSION
Summit: 53.5%
Reign: 46.5%
EXPECTED GOALS
Summit: 0.90
Reign: 0.73
TOTAL SHOTS
Summit: 16
Reign: 8
SHOTS ON TARGET
Summit: 10
Reign: 4
SHOTS OFF TARGET
Summit: 3
Reign: 2
SHOTS BLOCKED
Summit: 3
Reign: 2
SHOTS FROM INSIDE THE BOX
Summit: 12
Reign: 6
TOUCHES INSIDE THE OPP. BOX
Summit: 31
Reign: 10
PASSES
Summit: 348
Reign: 304
PASSING ACCURACY
Summit: 80.5%
Reign: 81.9%
PASSES IN FINAL THIRD
Summit: 121
Reign: 62
PASS ACCURACY IN FINAL THIRD
Summit: 65.3%
Reign: 54.8%
CROSSES (EXCLUDING CORNERS)
Summit: 9
Reign: 8
CORNERS TAKEN
Summit: 5
Reign: 1
OFFSIDES
Summit: 0
Reign: 4
FOULS
Summit: 7
Reign: 7
YELLOW CARDS
Summit: 1
Reign: 3
RED CARDS
Summit: 0
Reign: 0
Quotes
Laura Harvey
On how the two road losses affect the outlook for the rest of the season:
"Got to win games. I've said this for weeks — points are a premium. I think the most disappointing thing tonight, and Wednesday a little bit, is that we didn't show enough grit and determination and competitiveness in the first half. Honestly, until they scored their second goal, we didn't turn up, and then suddenly the moment they scored their second goal, we turned up, and you can't do that in this league. It's too unforgiving. So yeah, I very rarely will speak out against the group, but that wasn't good enough for the first 50 minutes of the game. And you can't do that in the position that we're in — you can't do that in any game — but if you want to actually win things and go on and compete at the highest level, you've got to turn up. And we didn't do that for long enough tonight."
On what was going on mentally to cause that:
"I don't know, because nothing was different. Nothing was different in preparation. The mentality and the attitude and the vibe around the group was no different. But they wanted it more than us for the first 50 minutes, and then the moment we started to turn up, suddenly the game became a little bit different."
On her halftime message:
"That we can't do what we did for the first 50 minutes. Simple. We're too nice. We let things go too easily. Both their goals, for me, not good enough defensively. People shouldn't be allowed to get space and time in our box and be able to do what they did. And that's something that normally we're really, really good at, and tonight we weren't. Obviously Wednesday was different — set pieces and stuff. But for me, the tone of the game changed when Sofia [Huerta] got into a little tussle with Yazmeen Ryan. That just showed that we weren't ready to really compete, because if anyone did that to a player on our team, we should have dealt with it a bit differently than we did."
On how Claudia has been adjusting back into the lineup:
"Well, I'm sure she's disappointed to concede five goals in two games, but post-injury, nothing is [surprising]."
On whether the message going into training this week will echo the "show up for the full 90" theme:
"Yeah. And [we've got] two massive home games now where we've got to put on performances for 90 minutes that we're proud of. The disappointing thing is, up until these last two games, I feel like we've been doing that. So I know that it's in there, I know that we can do it. I think we have to have some really honest, vulnerable conversations, which we do a lot, but we will do when we get back into training on Tuesday. It's a quick turnaround — we play Friday, so we've got to be prepared to turn it around real quick, because Boston is no different. They compete, they make it difficult, they're physical, they show quality, they stay in games. And everyone knows the quality of North Carolina. So, massive two games coming up now where we will be better and we will compete more than we did for the first 50 minutes today, because I won't accept [less]."
Brittany Ratcliffe and Claudia Dickey
On what was going on mentally that caused the slow start:
Ratcliffe: "I think we're just trying to — no one really knows what it was, we're still trying to process it. I think for us — well, I don't know what the reason is, because there's 11 of us out there and we have to work together. But I think the thing we can be positive about is our response in the second half. We came into the locker room and we were like, 'Okay, first half isn't good enough, whatever the reason is.' Forget about it, it's done, we have 45 minutes, we still have a long half ahead of us. And I think we came out for the first five minutes of the second half and we're kind of on the front foot. And I think that's more important than the reason as to why we started the first half so slow. I think what's more important is how you respond, because it's all about your response, and yeah, we'll get to the reason, but as far as I'm concerned, our response is most important, and going into the next game and fixing it and making sure it doesn't happen again."
On how the two road losses affect the outlook going into the last five games:
Dickey: "I mean, every team is difficult to play, obviously — like we knew coming into this week it was going to be difficult to play away at LA, away at Denver, for different reasons, different opponents. But I think we knew coming into this how difficult it was going to be, and we knew that they weren't must-win for us. And I think obviously we want to win, and we want to go out and show ourselves and prove ourselves every night. But I think us dwelling on this right now is just going to do more harm than good. I think obviously there's so many things we can take from both these games, and obviously it sucks to lose — it sucks to lose six points, to be on the road for a week and not get anything out of it. But I think being able to be at home for two weeks, where we've been doing well against two good teams — again, I think it's just like, yes, we're obviously upset that we lost points, but I think moving forward is all that we can do now."
On balancing what went wrong with looking ahead:
Ratcliffe: "Yeah, I think obviously there are a lot of things that we can control. It's not like we're not good enough, it's not like we don't have the talent, it's not like we don't have the mentality. All of the things that went wrong in the first half were in our control — it was on us. We were giving the ball away, we weren't doing what we were supposed to be doing. So that's on us, and that's fixable. That's something we can fix, because it's not, like I said, it's not like we don't have the talent, it's not like we don't have the technical, the tactical ability — that's all there. It's just we need to turn our brains on. And look, going off of what Claudia said, look forward to the next game, because that's all we can do. It's in the past. We'll watch the film, we'll go back and work on things. And I think there were also good moments to take out of both of these games. Obviously we didn't win, but I'm a firm believer that you don't grow when things are easy — I think you grow when things are hard. And I think this will be a true testament to us and how we face adversity and how we bounce back from this. And I think this team is more than capable of bouncing back, and all we can do is focus on this next week of training. I think we have a great team, I think we have a great mentality — we just have to turn it on."
On getting back into the swing of things post-injury:
Dickey: "I mean the results haven't been great, obviously, but I think the team's shown so much progress this year. Obviously, as a group, I think defensively — like I'm not getting shots, Cassie's not getting shots all the time. I think tonight was a little bit different, but like, our defenders are sliding all around, blocking every shot, no one's getting an easy shot off. Obviously the finishes they had tonight were unbelievable, but I think it's obviously difficult to come and concede five goals in two games after being away — it's tough, I think. And obviously we go over that as a goalkeeper group, go over that defensively, but I think there's so many good individuals in the league that are so good at scoring that you're not going to be able to keep it out every time. And I think being able to get back into playing and be with the girls is obviously my favorite part about it. And obviously I wish I could help more, but I think moving forward is again kind of all we could do. Like obviously I'm upset to concede five goals, but I think I can learn from it and hopefully grow going forward."
