“It’s not the size of the dog in the fight…”

Friday, May 3, 2024, had quintessential Seattle weather: an indistinct mass of gray cloud blanketed the sky above Lumen Field, where 7,030 faces gazed upon the seventh game of the Seattle Reign’s 2024 campaign.

Although the Reign had begun the season with a 1-0 win against the Washington Spirit, they dropped the next five matches, plummeting to the bottom of the table.

But on Friday, the Seattle faithful were treated to an exhilarating comeback win. Seattle went down 1-0 with only ten players on the pitch in the first eleven minutes, but then roared back to tie before the half was over with a beautiful pressing goal by Balcer. The match remained knotted until the 89^th, when Latsko headed in a cross from Ji to put the Reign on top.

Both teams came into the game missing some big pieces due to injury. San Diego was down striker Alex Morgan and defender Naomi Girma, while Seattle was missing Dickey, Huitema, and Quinn. Laurel Ivory got the start in net for the Reign. The full starting lineup looked like this:

King – Balcer – Adames

Fishlock – James-Turner – Athens

McClernon – Barnes – Cook – Huerta

Ivory

Seattle gets an early bruise, claws back

The match started quite poorly for Seattle. In the sixth minute, King drove the ball up the right side and crossed it in for Adames on the outside of the box. However, during the play, King inadvertently struck Wave right back Hanna Lundkvist in the face – red card.

The ensuing free kick sailed in, past most of the crowd and right to Wave striker Kyra Carusa, who was scarcely five yards from the goal line. Her first shot struck the crossbar and bounced back out, but she got the rebound and easily sent it into the net. 1-0 Wave.

After that, it seemed the dreary clouds sunk their way into the lungs of the fans. Even the chants of the Royal Guard seemed to dim, though they never disappeared. The Reign fought on regardless, going into an aggressive formation to find a way to at least salvage a point from the game, with Athens moving further up top.

And twenty minutes later, they showed the results of that fight. In the 34^th minute, as Wave keeper Kailen Sheridan prepared to clear the ball away, Balcer pressed forward and stole it from her. She took a couple more steps past the disoriented Sheridan and poked the ball into the net for the equalizer. 1-1.

Though the sky above remained dreary, the clouds in the fan’s hearts evaporated in that instant. The spectators waved their scarves and roared as the Reign City Riot’s horns blew in jubilation – the Reign were back in the game.

Laurel Ivory shines in big first win while Latsko lands winning goal

Seattle showed an ability to hold the line against San Diego, and nowhere was this more evident than right in front of the net. Laurel Ivory picked up a well-earned first NWSL win on Friday, racking up five saves over the match. Four of these came in the second half, as the Wave again and again crashed against the Bold. Perhaps her most impressive save was in the 66^th, as she went leaping up to deflect a well-placed curler from San Diego left back Kaitlyn Torpey.

As the second half wore on, Harvey made some substitutions. First, she put in Veronica in to replace Adames on the right wing in the 52^nd. Then, in the 67^th, she took out Athens and Balcer and put Ji and Van der Jagt, with Ji going to Balcer’s adopted spot on the upper left side while Van der Jagt moved to Athens’ position.

Deep into the game, Seattle found a way to pull ahead. In the 89^th, Ji had a free kick near the left corner. She crossed in to Veronica, who tilted her head backwards to punch the ball towards the net – directly to an empty space between post and goalie. The ball rippled against the inside of the net, and Seattle had the lead, 2-1. The crowd thundered even louder than after the equalizer.

As stoppage rolled on, the Wave came again and again towards the goal, led by forward Maria Sánchez, who had come on for Carusa in the 63^rd. In the 94^th, Sánchez sent in a free kick. A minute later, it was a corner. Both were rebuffed by Seattle’s defense. The Reign went forward for a couple minutes, before the Wave brought it back.

Laurel Ivory wasn’t done with the glovework. In the 99^th, Sánchez again sent the corner in as a cross to forward Jaedyn Shaw, who chopped a header towards the goal. Laurel lunged out for the ball and snared it for her final save. Two minutes later, Sánchez again sent in a corner, but Ivory caught it on the fly.

During the last play, Wave defender Kristen McNabb struck Fishlock in the face. VAR came on, reviewed the play, and McNabb was handed the red. The final whistle blew immediately after. Seattle 2, San Diego 1.

Record-setting card count

The game on Friday set an NWSL record for the amount of cards handed out – ten in total: two red, eight yellow. The previous record had been eight total cards, reached twice, once in 2015 and once in 2018. Harvey did not indicate postgame whether she would contest Zee’s red card.

“…It’s the size of the fight in the dog”

In all respects, the Seattle Reign earned their victory on Friday. For almost the entire game, they had just ten players on the field. The Wave had possession for 67% of the match, had more shots than the Reign (12 to 8), had double the shots on target (6 to 3), and seven corners to Seattle’s none.

But Seattle made the most of the chances they did create. Of the team’s three shots on target, two found the back of the net.

Latsko’s game-winner was the clear highlight of the night, the culmination of Seattle’s efforts. In the moment, however, it was a snap decision that saved the day.

“Honestly, Ji just put it up on a platter, and I was like ‘I’m going to flick it, see where it goes’,” Latsko said about her goal.

On the other side of the field, Laurel Ivory showed dramatic improvement in her performance on Friday. She stressed that even her performance today was not perfect.

Each game I’ve grown, each game I can mark every single mistake that I’ve made and promise myself ‘okay, I’m never doing that again.’ There was a couple tonight … and thank gosh they didn’t cost us,” Ivory noted.

But it was strong enough to net Seattle the three points. The win was a big moment of catharsis for Seattle. It gave the team some much-needed hope after the 1-5-0 start where it seemed the team was a victim of Murphy’s Law.

“You’re down to ten players nine minutes into the game, and you’re on a five game losing streak, it felt like it was just one thing after another,” Ivory said.

Still, once the team got the comeback started, there was something in the air that Laurel could sense.

“You could just feel it. We were going to pull something out today,” Ivory recalled.

Despite this, Laura Harvey indicated she wasn’t quite sure until the last whistle finally blew. Of course, she did share the team’s cathartic release after the much-needed win.

“Every emotion you could think of was probably what I had. Relief, losing my head, wanting to go nuts. All of it,” Harvey said. “One thing I’ve learnt in this league is you can’t take winning for granted. They’re really hard to come by, so celebrate it like it’s your last one, because you don’t ever know when it will come again.”

Moving forward

Seattle’s win on Friday catapulted them out of last place in the table and into fourth-to-last, tied with Bay FC and the Houston Dash in points but with a better goal difference than either of those teams. They have a long way to go to get back in the playoff picture.

Their next match is on Wednesday, May 8, at 7:00 PM against the Kansas City Current. The Current currently sit in second place in the table and have the highest goal difference in the league.

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