Reign Spin Electric Comeback, Zoom into Fourth Place

SEATTLE — She may be 21, but on a Sunday night in September, Maddie Dahlien was known as the hero. Her game-winner that seemed to defy physics and move through opposing players on its way to the goal, and it came after 80 minutes of tough play where the team struggled to find an edge.

Seattle entered Sunday's match right in the packed middle of the NWSL table: seventh overall, but just three points away from both fourth and ninth. It was the North Carolina Courage, another of the packed middle teams just two points beneath Seattle, that came to Lumen Field to take on the Reign.

The heart-stopping moments began early. It feels like every game the Reign play, Claudia Dickey comes up with a ridiculous save, bailing the Reign out of a seemingly inescapable situation. Sunday's match had scarcely started by the time she put up yet another one of these.

Picture this: Manaka Matsukobo gets incredibly open during a fifth minute turnaround for the visitors. Payton Linnehan crosses it over and Matsukobo heads it towards the net at point-blank range. Most times, this would be an open-and-shut goal.

Evidently not when Claudia Dickey is in front of the net. She expertly tracked the ball off Matsukobo's head and put up her hands just quick enough to deflect the ball off the crossbar. Sally Menti cleared it away to bring the Reign a little bit of breathing room, and although the Courage had possession for a whole lot of the first half, Seattle kept them away from anything equally threatening.

Unfortunately, the pickings were equally unbountiful for the Reign on the other side of the ball. They didn't have a whole lot of opportunities, especially as the half wore on, and the best pre-halftime chance for the team may have even been an opportunistic Jess Fishlock midfield chip over Courage keeper Marisa Jordan's head—though the ball rolled wide of the goal in the end.

It briefly appeared like Seattle took charge to begin the second half, but Maddie Dahlien was ruled offsides as she received a ball from Sally Menti during her 49th minute would-be goal. North Carolina quickly regained the upper hand and the possession advantage.

And it was the Courage who drew first blood less than ten minutes later, as Ryan Williams sent a cross into a crowd of many Courage and too few Reign. Hannah Betfort was the one who heeded the call and knocked the ball through for a demoralizing North Carolina goal.

As so often happens in this sport, it was the substitutions that turned the momentum. In the 66th minute, Reign coach Laura Harvey brought in Ainsley McCammon and Emeri Adames for Jess Fishlock and Coco Mondésir. The more impactful of the two was McCammon, that was a decision made as a result of Mia Fishel's injury against the Current.

"Mia, obviously, got a knock last week in Kansas, and she's trained this week, but she's not been completely right," Harvey said. "I took a minute and thought we could maybe get Sally higher and get Ainsley in. I thought the game suited Ainsley."

The two of them immediately defined the term "impact player," putting the Courage defense in a pressure cooker as they got the ball Jordyn Huitema's direction, right in the middle of the box. Huitema got a touch on the ball and so did Courage defender Ryan Williams, but the important part was that it rolled into the back of the net for an equalizer.

Seattle finally had momentum for real. Touches on the ball were made all over the field as the Courage were placed on the back foot for an extended period of time, and as regulation wound to a close, the Reign put the go-ahead ball through the net. It was a screamer off Dahlien's boot that passed through two Courage including Jordan on its way over the line, a massive moment for a team desperately in need of three points. She seemed to tweak something on the celebration, however, had to leave the game in favor of Ana-Maria Crnogorčević.

"Damn, the cellies really got me, huh? Not gonna lie," Dahlien joked postgame, seemingly in good spirits despite having to leave early.

The Reign, for their part, held on for the last 15 minutes or so of the game, outlasting North Carolina's extended attack during stoppage time to close out the win. It wasn't an easy win by any stretch of the imagination, but three points is three points, and in the big moments on Sunday, the Reign powered through.

"What we've shown is we can press teams, but we can also defend deep, and hold leads," Harvey said. "It's those transition moments that you can actually really hurt a team."

Key Performances:

Claudia Dickey: The other 10 players ahead of her kept her from having to make any more highlight reels, but the importance of Claudia Dickey's early save cannot be overstated. A fifth minute goal from the Courage would have completely changed the tone of the game, and with Seattle's first moment secured, the team could readjust to North Carolina's style of play.

Maddie Dahlien: It may have been her second half performance that made her the Player of the Match, but she had been having an excellent game all 80 minutes before then. She created the Reign's first real chance by darting up the left side in the 16th minute, using the threat of a cut back to create a ton of space between her and Courage right wing back Ryan Williams before firing a cross to Huitema. It was kept out of the net by a well-positioned Kaleigh Kurtz, however, and Seattle would have to go back to the drawing board.

The second half not-goal was an excellent shot, despite the offsides she had committed earlier in the play, as it curled into the opposite end of the goal well outside of Jordan's reach. Remarkably, Dahlien didn't let the disappointment of the offsides call get to her, and again and again she shoveled strong threats forward all the way up to her game-winner.

"After my first goal got called back, I tried to stay pretty level-headed," Dahlien said. "Luckily, I got another opportunity and put it away. But I'm really proud of how the team responded in the second half. I thought we gritted it out."

Ainsley McCammon: Coming on in the 66th minute for Jess to try and jumpstart a late comeback for Seattle, McCammon held calm under pressure and did exactly what the Reign were looking for. She immediately mixed elite touches and creative ideas, with two through-enemy-wickets passes in about as many minutes, one of which led to Seattle's equalizing goal. Her lights-out performance was about as big of a moment she has had for the Reign, something that Harvey says portends a great future for the 18-year-old midfielder.

"Her career is going to be full of loads of highs. She's an exceptional talent, but she can't judge it on minutes right now," Harvey noted. "When called upon, she shows everybody what her quality is."

Jordyn Bugg: With a good performance that probably flew under the radar, Bugg was a pretty big part of a back line that, although its clearances weren't great, had strong enough play to keep the Courage from converting their ample possession into any early goals. Bugg in particular put in a lot of work, coming up with nine clearances, most of anyone on either side.

Maddy Curry: The highlight reels will remember Claudia's seventh minute save, but it was due to the efforts of Maddy Curry that she didn't have to make a similarly brilliant effort just a minute later, as she wrapped around a threatening attacker and prevented anything from coming towards the goal. She didn't match such a stop afterwards, but she for the most part didn't have to.

Sam Meza: The Reign's true number six came out of the gate strong, darting around the field to direct the action early on as she formed the nucleus of several potential transition moments that went awry further upfield. Although her work rate tapered off towards the end of the first half, she picked right back up in the second half, and a late clearance was one of many moments that held the Courage at bay in the final rush.

Nérilia Mondésir: It was lost in the second-half fireworks, but in many ways, Coco was the most skilled player Seattle had in the first half. She had an incredible work rate, flying all around the field despite her main role as the right winger, and her biggest moment was a close clearance to end the first half. After the ball blazed down the field, midfield breaking in front of a Courage breakaway, the Reign caught a brief break as the ball caromed over to the far side. Mondésir charged over to the ball and neutralized the threat a few seconds before the halftime whistle blew. However, with exhaustion clearly piling up as the second half wore on, Harvey made the move to bring in Emeri Adames in the 66th minute.

Three Crucial Points

The NWSL is packed with teams vying for ... probably about six of the eight playoff spots. Kansas City and Washington will make it for sure, but it's a crapshoot from Gotham in third down to the Dash in 10th.

Seattle's win brought them to 33 points on the season and fourth place as the NWSL currently stands, as each team has four games remaining with 12 more possible points for any individual side. According to Harvey, they are just one point away from being in relatively good shape.

"Traditionally, if you get 1.33 points per game, you will get in the top eight in this league. And to get 1.33 points per game, over 26 games, you get 34 points," Harvey said. "I think 34 is the key number, but we're not going to settle for that."

It's very possible the Reign need more if they want to end up making the dance, and they will definitely need more if they are going to host any playoff games. Their current spot would indeed afford them a home match, but the top of the table will not stay at their own standings for long.