On the road against Louisville in a six-point match with everything to play for, the Reign extended their undefeated streak to six games and won their second in a row to continue rising like a salmon up the NWSL standings.
Trailing early, trailing at the half, and routinely looking to be out of ideas against a determined Louisville team playing for their lives and playing some sometimes truly excellent ball at home, the game changed when Ji So-yun subbed on in the 54th minute. Her sublime, Goal of the Week winning direct free kick strike tied things up. Her stunning header six minutes later (it was scored as an OG, but they can fight me about that) gave the Reign a lead they wouldn't give up.
And you know? It's not always pretty, it's not always vintage beautiful game, but it's also not the early-2024 era of pure struggleball. It's not flailing for a break that's never forthcoming.
The Reign are now a threat to score and take points every time they take the field. The Reign are fuckin' fun again. Let's see just how far we can ride this salmon.
And let's break down another win, this one a double-come-from-behind smash and grab on the road against a team we had literally never beaten to steal sole possession of 11th place. In your faces! We're #11!
Goalkeeper
Claudia Dickey – 6
The good. It's not great to concede twice on set pieces, but they were both well-taken goals from close range that Dickey had little chance on – and she made a solid save in the 54th minute and had two big stops on dangerous crosses to keep the game in reach for the Reign. She was 18-for-18 on short passes to help the Reign keep control, and outside of the disorganization on every single Louisville corner, led a defense that was stretched and tested but organized well enough to starkly limit opposition chances in open play despite that.
The bad. Ary Borges' opening goal isn't entirely on her, but the Claw failed her as she struggled to get a view of the ball, taking out one of her one players en route to helplessly pawing at the wicked shot. And all the disorganization and scrambling on every single other Louisville corner was not great.
Going forward. While this wasn't a particularly memorable performance, it was a serviceable one, good enough for the points on the night, and Dickey remains the best keeper the Reign have available.
Defense
Shae Holmes – 5
The good. Shae had a handful to deal with, with Lauren Milliett, Ary Borges, and Savannah DeMelo all attacking up her side. While they created chaos (and a goal) on set pieces, they couldn't get a thing going in open play, and Holmes, in a theme for the night, did enough to keep it in reach even when things got messy. Notably, throughout the entire night, Louisville created almost nothing that wasn't a set piece, and Shae was a part of that. And after the Reign took the improbable lead, Louisville created nothing, anywhere on the pitch, and she was part of that, too.
The bad. Shae had a pretty forgettable night on the whole, struggling to connect passes, struggling to contain Milliett and DeMelo defensively down the right side, failing to win most of her challenges, fouling in dangerous positions, and getting dispossessed in transition several times while offering little going forward herself. She wasn't The Problem, but she wasn't really the solution to any of the fires Louisville started, either.
Going forward. Holmes wasn't bad, but the defensive unit as a whole was a bit of a mess for 70ish minutes, and she seemed out of her depth guarding a dangerous right flank that was sometimes its own worst enemy. The Reign will definitely want to look hard in training at the way Louisville was able to create danger on every single set piece, and work to correct that.
Phoebe McClernon – 5 (off 71' for Lauren Barnes)
The good. In open play, McClernon was very good both in and out of possession, setting the tempo from the back with a tidy 43-of-45 record on short and medium passes, and clocking six clearances, two blocks, and an interception. In open play, Racing managed 0.44 xG on six low-value attempts while Phoebe was on the field. For all the pressure they managed, Louisville only ever threatened the Reign on corners and set pieces. While it was a bit of a nervy and unnecessary challenge given the game state and defensive positioning, the timing on her 25th minute poke on DeMelo was picture-perfect.
The bad. Unfortunately, Louisville was dangerous on basically every single set piece, and McClernon was a frequent victim. In the 6th minute, Borges was able to slip away from McClernon a little too much for the opening goal. In the 25th minute, a nervy challenge wound up rightly going for a corner, but it was an unnecessarily risky challenge to make and another ref might've pointed to the spot with no guarantee VAR would've overturned it. In the 45th minute, she and Jordyn Huitema were both beaten to the service by Abby Erceg, setting up the goal that immediately followed.
Going forward. Louisville was dangerous on basically every single set piece, and the Reign in general and Phoebe in particular should take a hard look in training at what went wrong on the corners.
Julia Lester – 6
The good. While not as much a tempo-setter as McClernon (she played for ~26 additional minutes, yet had two fewer touches and three fewer pass attempts), Lester was similarly calm and composed on and off the ball in open play, completing 42 of her 44 passes under 15 yards and adding two tackles won, a blocked shot, a big interception, and four clearances. Louisville created nothing up the middle in open play, and Lester and McClernon looked damned good as a back line pairing together, controlling everything with aplomb while under big pressure.
The bad. A 20th minute turnover put the Reign on the back heel for a promising attack that, fortunately, fizzled out in the defensive area. While she wasn't particularly to blame on either of the goals – she was consistently guarding the short option, which never proved the dangerous one for Racing – she, like most of the Reign, seemed a step slow to react to every bubble of danger on every set piece.
Going forward. Louisville was dangerous on basically every single set piece, and the Reign should take a hard look in training at what went wrong on the corners. With that said, Lester was the best defensive player on the pitch.
Sofia Huerta – 6
The good. The quality wasn't really there, but the tenacity was, and she ended Racing attacks four times by simply outworking her attacker and forcing them to give up on the ball (twice) or foul her (twice). While she only had one shot, it was drilling home the penalty to give the Reign their first goal. And while she only had one shot-creating action, it was a killer – a well-driven near-post corner that found Ji's head, deflected, and gave the Reign the lead. NWSL and Opta both hate vibes and hate fun and credited it as an OG, so Ji doesn't get the goal and Huerta doesn't get the record-setting assist, but goals change games and she was a key architect of the goal.
The bad. On the opening goal, Huerta did more to screen Dickey than to make life hard on Taylor Flint, whom Dickey shoved out of the way herself. While she recognized the danger of the second ball in the 45th minute, her defensive header couldn't save the Reign, as she simply pushed the ball directly into the top of the net. Huerta struggled in possession, giving the ball up half a dozen times on completable passes, lost the ball on both her attempted dribbles, and managed only a single shot-creating action after several weeks of much better showings.
Going forward. A messy performance where she was forced to defend too much, often struggled in defense, scored a goal, and also created the game-winning goal. Sometimes you just have to shrug at it. It wasn't actually especially good, but it was Good Enough for the points in one or two moments, and sometimes that's what matters.
...and another thing!
I watched this match three times, and watched a lot more moment-to-moment stuff, and. Damn. This was a genuinely weird game to rate for the whole back line, who [1] playing against the ball for most of the match gave up basically nothing in open play, [2] got absolutely fucking worked on corners and set pieces, repeatedly, and then [3] once the Reign somewhat improbably took the lead while creating basically nothing of their own, locked it the fuck down and brought it home.
Two of those are mostly good takeaways! But, like, those two corners and the other two almost-goals on set pieces also happened, and it's really, really rough to give up that much offensive potential in dead ball situations to a side that had scored only one goal off a corner all season going into the match.
Midfield
Jaelin Howell – 6
The good. A common, and fair, criticism of the pre-break Reign was a lack of defensive bite in midfield leading to big chances that the team was slow to track back on and reluctant to break up. Howell IS the bite, and against her old side, she was more than happy to dish out the timely foul (4), throw the big tackle (4), break out the slapping glove and win the duel (2), boot it into the fucking stratosphere when it needed clearing (4), and generally explode complicated interplay and make Racing Louisville regret giving her up, at least for one game. She was also tidy in possession and scarcely put a pass wrong, and the Quinn-Howell partnership looks to have some real, real potential to make opposing coaches incredibly frustrated.
The bad. Jaelin picked up a yellow, apparently for dissent, after a sequence in which – though her frustration was understandable – she probably could've let it go and avoided the suspension for another week. She also shared in the Reign's team-wide Can't Defend A Damned Corner-itis, especially on the opening goal, where she joined Huerta in screening Dickey without actually helping to defend.
Going forward. Having served her suspension against Angel City, Howell should be back on the pitch soon, and she already looks like she might be the most immediately impactful addition of the transfer window, helping anchor the midfield and giving the more attacking-minded midfielders a ton more freedom to work without the risks.
Quinn – 6 (off 71' for Nérilia Mondésir)
The good. Playing beneath Howell, Quinn served ably as the last line of defense before the backline, and the central block of Howell, Quinn, Lester, and McClernon combined to make open-play creation absolutely a nonstarter for Racing. While they weren't the most impactful of the four, Quinn was there when they needed to be, adding two tackles, an interception, and three recoveries to a suffocating defensive presence that refused to be beaten easily.
The bad. Every time I watch every Louisville set piece, I cringe at the raw chaos they created and how much the Reign struggled to contain it. Seattle mostly did an able job of handling Bethany Balcer, but were frequently slow to react to the second ball, and on the second Louisville goal, they were marking nothing but space as multiple Reign players lost their marks and their challenges. In possession, they missed a number of relatively easy passes, when the Reign could've used a longer break from Louisville's waves of pressure.
Going forward. The Quinn-Howell agenda looks promising, and Quinn has looked much stronger and more confident since the break. If the pieces are going to come together, the Reign will need them to deal like they did last season. They look closer to that than they have in a long time.
Jess Fishlock – 8 (POTM)
The good. Look, you can pick at how few touches she managed, how much less she added in possession than one expects, how she missed passes she should've connected. Bottom line: on a night the Reign couldn't get shit going, Fish got shit going herself. In the 15th minute, she won a no-question penalty kick off a devastating run on the ball, which Huerta hammered home for the Reign's first goal. In the 75th minute, she won a foul right on the edge of the area. It should've been a second penalty, given her feet were on the line and the point of contact came from within the area, but it didn't matter – Ji So-yun delivered magic the ensuing free kick to draw the Reign level. Goals change games, and two goals happened because Jess Fishlock willed them to.
The bad. Yeah, okay, she touched the ball 31 times in 100+ minutes and only made something out of it a few times. Don't care, didn't ask. See above.
Going forward. She shares POTM with Ji So-yun for this one. RIP to Louisville, but she's different.
Forward
Ana-Maria Crnogorčević – 6 (off 90' for Veronica Latsko)
The good. like most of the front line, she was starved for service and starved for time on the ball, managing just 20 touches – but it was her connection with Fishlock that put the Dragon into space to win the penalty in the 15th minute, and her cutback to Fishlock in the 75th minute for the foul that Ji would turn into the second goal. Seeing little of the ball, Crnogorčević nonetheless made the most of it in the moments of greatest leverage.
This could've been a seven, but... honestly there was enough that didn't work that it was hard to justify.
The bad. Twenty touches in 90 minutes was not ideal, and acquired in large part for her tenacity as a pressing forward, AMC did not actually have much impact as a pressing forward this match, with Louisville able to consistently play out of the pressure and into downfield danger. And yet...
Going forward. Did you have Ana-Maria Crnogorčević, most impactful forward on the roster on your 2024 Reign bingo card?
Jordyn Huitema – 5
The good. Not afraid to get stuck in on the night, it was actually Huitema, not Crnogorčević or King, who was the most effective disruptor on the front line, and who played 90 hard minutes on the road. She won the corner the Reign would go on to score the winning goal on. It was fine.
The bad. Huitema continues to lose headers she's wholly capable of winning, including getting worked by Erceg on Louisville's second goal, and continues to be a bit soft in challenges. Her 25 touches, mostly not in particularly dangerous places, were comparable to the rest of the Reign attack, and not in a great way.
Going forward. She's tall, strong, fast, has big hops, but despite some tantalizing flashes of a devastating forward in there, Jordyn hasn't yet put it together into consistent really bullying opposing defenders performances. When she can get all that and the tricky scoring boots going together. . .
Tziarra King – 3 (off 54' for Ji So-yun)
The good. There was unfortunately not a lot to write about here. Tziarra did win one tackle to spring a rare Reign foray into the attack.
The bad. A week ago, I wrote of Zee, "...but at forward, more than at any other position, you have to sink that chance, especially if you're not contributing much elsewhere." This was another week where she struggled to get involved in the play, was effectively stranded on an island by Racing defenders, didn't contribute much defensively or in possession, was present but not impactful on Louisville's dangerous set pieces, and didn't even have a huge chance to show for her 11 touches – three of which ended in preventable dispossessions, and another four in incomplete passes.
Going forward. King has shown flashes of brilliance but more frequently been less than she's capable of and much less than the Reign need from her. While she's probably shown enough to keep getting the chance, perhaps for another season, she's still maddeningly inconsistent from game to game.
(As a spoiler, after one of her worst outings of the year... she was fucking phenomenal against Angel City.)
Substitutes
Ji So-yun – 8 (POTM) (on 54' for Tziarra King)
The good. Ji came on in the 54th minute for an extremely ineffective King and flipped the game on its head, bringing buzzing gimme the ball and watch this energy in a match that demanded it, completing 16 of her 17 passes, and scoring two a goals and forcing an own goal to seal the win. Her sublime 75th minute free kick drew the score level at two goals apiece. Six minutes later, her glancing header on a dangerous Huerta corner deflected off Arin Wright for an (alleged) own goal, giving the Reign a lead they would not relinquish. Goals change games, and two goals happened because Ji So-yun willed them to.
The bad. It's hard to pick out much to nitpick in a 40ish minute runout that saw a goal of the week winner, forced a game-winning own-goal, and barely put a foot wrong.
Going forward. She shares POTM with Jess Fishlock for this one. RIP to Louisville, but she's different.
Nérilia Mondésir – 5 (on 71' for Quinn)
The good. Given another short runout late in the game, Mondésir brought guile and energy to a game where the Reign needed a little of both. She once again didn't light up the score sheet, but she understood the assignment and, as Louisville fell behind for the first time, she helped the Reign discomfort them enough that they never seriously threatened the Reign goal again. Also, she showcased those sick dribbling skills.
The bad. She once again didn't light up the score sheet, and on a couple occasions, Coco chose the bad pass over the easy pass, giving up the ball when the Reign would have rather burned the clock.
Going forward. My god, the ball skills she brings. Without prior experience in the league, Mondésir may take a little longer than AMC or Howell to get up to pace and get in sync with her teammates, but what she has to offer is delicious and should be worth the wait.
Lauren Barnes – 5 (on 71' for Pheobe McClernon)
The good. Spelling a stalwart but besieged McClernon, Lu came on late and helped to put up a wall that Louisville would never seriously threaten as the Reign took the lead and saw out the game. She wasn't asked to do much. What she did was enough.
The bad. No specific bad moments stuck out on rewatch. Barnes wasn't very involved in play, and as the game flipped upside down shortly after she took the field, she also didn't need to be.
Going forward. Barnes continues to work her way back to full fitness, and it's clear that she brings a ton of experience to the back line that just isn't replaceable. While she still shouldn't be our ideal starter, she's a luxury to have available and she still has real value for the team.
Veronica Latsko – N/A (on 90' for Ana-Maria Crnogorčević)
The good. With just five touches and a few minutes of stoppage time, Latsko had two clearances, a blocked shot, drew a foul, went up into two aerial challenges, gummed things up, and ran at Louisville with the manic glee that makes her such a menace off the bench.
The bad. Latsko failed to connect on two of her three passes, and also lost both of those aerial duels. The spark plug energy is not always matched by the best decision-making in the moment.
Going forward. "Just what this game needed, a sack of caffeinated ferrets in a Reign kit." – Steve Voght
And it will virtually always be what the game needs when the Reign are chasing or seeing out a result. She might struggle as a starter in this league, but Roni just adds so much energy, violence, and chaos for a tiring opposition defense to deal with. She's a wild catalyst off the bench. It's amazing.
Referee
Laura Rodriguez – 4
The good. Mostly, Laura Rodriguez made the right call. The cards she showed generally made sense, even the annoying one on Howell.
The bad. It didn't wind up mattering, but as the announcers noted – the place she spotted the foul, and placed the ball, should've been a penalty in the 75th minute. A 60th minute whistle erased a goal apparently by preemptively assuming Howell would foul – which, on the replay, she didn't seem to. The moment-to-moment calls were often correct, but – as the announcers again routinely noted – were frequently a second, two seconds, three seconds late, leading to choppy restarts and understandable frustration for players going in both directions.
Going forward. Mostly getting the right call but missing two very big ones is a long way from ideal. (And to spoil again... Angel City fans who are still deeply aggrieved at the goal chalked off for Sydney Leroux's foul should stop and take a look at some of the phantom contact the Reign have had goals waved off for.)
Stray Thoughts
You know what?
After all those games where we played well enough for a result and couldn't get one, it's pretty nice to be the measurably worse side by most metrics and smash and grab all three points anyway.
We've been overdue for a low-percentage make magic happen outing.
Come back soon as we rate a third consecutive win. The Reign once again came from behind to keep up their long habit of dashing Angel City's dreams, and it is substantially more fun to rate wins than to rate losses.
