After a 65-minute lightning delay, Seattle Reign kicked off their third match in seven days against expansion side Denver Summit. Just like their midweek match against Angel City, the Reign struggled to find early offensive consistency. They were punished for it twice and, despite mounting a comeback, fell 2-1 on the road.
Denver had most of the momentum for the first 25 minutes, and Claudia Dickey had to make two big saves on Tash Flint's shots — the first opportunity coming as several Summit players were left open in the box.
TWO massive saves from Claudia to keep things level!
— Seattle Reign FC (@reignfc.com) 7:12 PM · Sep 19, 2026
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Around the 30th minute, the Reign seemed close to settling in for the rest of the half but still struggled to connect their final pass to unlock dangerous chances, and the more ruthless side got on the scoresheet first. In the 44th minute, Delanie Sheehan, with too much time on the ball as the Reign defense dropped off, attempted a cross from the right corner of the box that pinged off the far post and bounced kindly into the net.
Off the post and in 🤩 Delanie Sheehan curls her shot and gets Denver the lead right before half!
— NWSL (@nwslsoccer.com) 7:42 PM · Sep 19, 2026
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The Reign finished the first half with just one shot compared to six for Denver, and the second half started much the same way. The Reign had a promising transitional moment in the 50th minute, but Nérilia Mondésir too easily had the ball poked away as she dribbled over the halfway line. Janine Sonis carried the recovered ball forward and laid it off to Flint, who powered her shot into the upper left corner. Dickey couldn't do much to stop a strike that well taken.
The Summit keeps climbing ⛰️ Natasha Flint finds the back of the net for the Denver Summit!
— NWSL (@nwslsoccer.com) 8:10 PM · Sep 19, 2026
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It's never great when the second goal you concede wakes you up, but the Reign — in part carried by some early subs — came alive after Flint's goal and got one back just five minutes later. Dahlien received the ball on the left wing and cut it to her right foot as she entered the box, unleashing a hard shot that goalkeeper Abby Smith bobbled. Substitute Brittany Ratcliffe got to the rebound first and scored her fourth goal this season.
We have ourselves a game in Denver 🍿 Brittany Ratcliffe and her orange bow cut the game to one for Seattle!
— NWSL (@nwslsoccer.com) 8:11 PM · Sep 19, 2026
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The Reign created the more dangerous chances in the second half, but it still wasn't enough. Dickey made a few late saves to keep her team in the match, but the Reign couldn't find that final moment of quality to level the score.
"I think the most disappointing thing tonight, and Wednesday a little bit, is that we didn't show enough grit and determination and competitiveness tonight in the first half," Reign head coach Laura Harvey said after the match. "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."
The Summit (9-8-8, 35 points) are now just two points behind the Reign (11-10-4, 37 points), and Seattle has to wait for Angel City's match on Sunday to learn whether they remain above the playoff line with five matches remaining.
WHAT DIDN'T WORK: Not enough quality
Seattle created next to nothing on offense in the first half. Constantly forced to play on their right wing, the Reign couldn't switch the point of attack and try to find Maddie Dahlien on the left wing. Dahlien had just eight touches in the first half, the fewest of any player on the field. Mondésir, for comparison, had 22 at halftime.
The Reign corrected that for the final 40 minutes of the match, and Dahlien ultimately finished with 20 touches, one chance created, and two shots. But a team that was starting to really click offensively has looked out of sync the last two games — with passes going behind instead of in front of teammates or runs starting a half second too late — and they've been punished for it.
WHAT DIDN'T WORK: Where's the pressure?
Both Denver goals came from the Reign dropping off defensively instead of stepping up to pressure a Summit player in the box. On the first goal, Sheehan had far too much time to dribble into the box — as Jordyn Bugg retreated anticipating a slipped pass into the box — and should never have been allowed to attempt a shot/cross. Flint's goal came in a similar manner. Sonis was allowed to carry the ball from half all the way into the box and get it to Flint. Perhaps it was the altitude or the result of the knock she took two games ago, but Phoebe McClernon uncharacteristically let Flint cut inside to her preferred right and — despite throwing her body in front of back-to-back shots later in the half — couldn't slide to her left and block Flint's shot in the 50th minute.
"Both their goals for me [were] not good enough defensively," Harvey said. "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."
WHAT WORKED: Fear the bow
Ratcliffe has been a super sub for the Reign all season, and that trend continued again on Saturday. Just one minute after entering the match, she scored her fourth goal of the season by crashing the box and beating her defender to the rebound. Ratcliffe now has three goals off the bench this year and seven goals across her career as a sub — the second most in the league.
Fear The Brittany Ratcliffe Bow 🎀 🎀 3rd goal off the bench this season 🎀 7th career sub goal (moves ahead of Rapinoe for 2nd most all-time) 🎀 21st sub appearance this season (new league record, passing the mark she set in 2024) 🎀 Consider this our petition for an orange bow emoji
— NWSL (@nwslsoccer.com) 8:38 PM · Sep 19, 2026
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And thanks to Ratcliffe and our wonderful Etsy Witch, the Reign's goal-scoring streak continues. The club has now scored in 16 straight games.
"Obviously, we didn't win, but I'm a firm believer in that you don't grow when things are easy," Ratcliffe said after the match. "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. And I think we have a great team. I think we have a great mentality. We just have to turn it on."
The Reign return to Lumen Field next week to host the Boston Legacy on Friday, September 25. That match kicks off at 5:30 p.m. PT and will stream on NWSL+.
