Road woes continue at home: losing streak extends to four for Reign

It was a chilly spring day in Seattle: the sun was out, shining around a few northern clouds, and the wind lightly blew through the air. 9,626 fans streamed into Lumen Field to watch the Seattle Reign take on the Chicago Red Stars – but the Windy City brought a strong gust in the first half that knocked the Bold down. Although the Reign tried to get back up late in the second half, the Red Stars shone through in the end, beating Seattle 2-1.

With Huitema out with injury, Harvey started Emeri Adames on left wing and moved Balcer to striker. Meanwhile, Claudia Dickey, also injured, got the day off as Laurel Ivory took up her spot in net. Here are the full starting positions for the Reign on Sunday:

Adames – Balcer – Latsko

Ji – Fishlock – VDJ

Woodham – Barnes – Cook – Huerta

Ivory

Chicago dominates first half

The match started poorly for Seattle. In the fourth minute, the Reign had the ball upfield near the box, but it fell into the feet of Red Stars forwards Mallory Swanson and Ally Schlegel, who charged forward all the way across the field to Seattle’s box. Schlegel took a kick from the middle of the box that soared into the goal. 1-0 Chicago. This was emblematic of a nagging problem for the Reign, as their back line foundations eroded under strain of a weak press, allowing Chicago’s forwards to carve good paths through and get strong shots on goal.

The offense, meanwhile, wasn’t clinical enough to make up for Chicago’s breakthroughs. Though the Reign passed more accurately in the first half than the Red Stars, they hesitated up front, producing zero shots on target. The best chance the team had in the half was probably an 8^th-minute free kick from near the right corner, which Ji sent short to Huerta, who fired a shot over the crowd but also over the crossbar.

In the 31^st, the Reign’s deficit doubled. Red Stars right winger Jenna Bike got the ball just past midfield, charged up the right side, delivered the ball to Swanson in the middle of the box, who swerved between Cook and Huerta and sent a left-footed shot into the upper corner of the goal. 2-0 Chicago.

A couple of lucky breaks prevented two more first half goals for the Red Stars. In the 14^th minute, Swanson sent in a left-footed curler from the edge of the box that bounced off the underside of the crossbar, then the goal line, before careening back out to Ivory. In the 40^th minute, Chicago had a breakaway around midfield as forward Penelope Hocking took the ball to the net. She launched a shot to the goal, unobstructed by the Reign’s back line, but Ivory got just enough of a paw on the ball to deflect it to the inside of the post. Swanson charged forward and sent it into the net, but she had been offside when Hocking’s shot went off, keeping the deficit at two goals.

Second half comeback attempt falls short

Harvey sent in some substitutions to start the second half, replacing Van der Jagt and Woodham with Quinn and McClernon. The defense largely prevented Chicago from achieving the breakaways that had decided the winds of the first half. Meanwhile, the Reign played more aggressively on the attack.

Emeri Adames in particular was noticeably more active in the new half, and in the 59^th minute, she nearly put the Reign on the board. Seattle had gotten a corner, which Lu Barnes sent in towards the right side of the crowd, where Adames shot it to the left edge of the goal. However, her shot didn’t have enough juice on it to edge past Red Stars right back Tatum Milazzo, who deflected it into the hands of Chicago keeper Alyssa Naeher.

The rookie had another chance in the 62^nd, as she intercepted Naeher’s kick to Milazzo high on the left side, charged up the side, and attempted to cross to Balcer, who was charging up the middle, but Naeher reached out her arm and deflected the cross.

Harvey swapped out both wings in the 77^th, sending in Tziarra King for Adames and McKenzie Weinert for Latsko. Two minutes later, King changed the winds of the game. The Reign were on an attack, as Jess Fishlock drove the ball up the left side before passing the ball to King about twenty feet outside of the box. King took a few short steps before driving a shot to the upper right corner of the net. 2-1 Chicago.

After that strike, the stadium roared. The crowd got back into the flow of the game, each fan seeming to count for two when volume was concerned. The Reign now had the momentum. But with less than fifteen minutes left of scheduled time, they needed to capitalize quickly to salvage a point. In the 85^th minute, McClernon had a chance to knock in Huerta’s corner, but her header fell wide of the goal. Four minutes later, it was Balcer’s turn to send in a header toward the net, but hers was deflected by Naeher.

As time ran out, Seattle began losing their desperately needed momentum. The Red Stars put together a breakaway in the 94^th minute, but Swanson was unable to cash in the cross, sending it to the left of the goal. Regardless, the Reign were unable to put together an equalizer in the last couple minutes, and the game ended. Chicago 2, Seattle 1.

Early-season skid extends to four games

For the second game in four, the Reign have lost to the Red Stars 2-1 despite having a goal that won NWSL Goal of the Week. Seattle had more possession and more passing accuracy in both games, as well as more total shots, but sagged behind Chicago in big chances and shots on target. The two games tell a similar story: lack of quality up front combined with bad mistakes in the back snatches the match away.

Harvey, unsurprisingly, was not pleased with the outcome of Sunday’s match. She was especially displeased with the breakaways.

“If someone picks the ball up on the edge of their own box and runs the length of the field, you’re not talking about them, you’re talking about us,” Harvey stated. “For me, that’s just something that’s unacceptable from a defensive perspective.”

The player the Reign had the toughest time containing was Mallory Swanson, who drove through Seattle’s back line all throughout the first half. In the second half, the Reign kept her mostly in check, which Harvey said was due to a more aggressive style of defense.

“If you defend on the back foot against Mal Swanson, she’s gonna tear you to shreds. If you defend on your front foot, if you don’t let her get momentum, you get tight, you don’t let her get speed on the ball, you’ve got a chance,” Harvey said.

But the damage was done, and since the Reign’s attempt at a comeback fell short, it was zero points for Seattle and three for Chicago.

Moving forward

With Sunday’s loss, Seattle falls to 1-4-0 on the season. It is their worst start to a season since their inaugural 2013 run, when the team began the year with a tie before losing nine in a row. The current four-game losing streak is tied for the second longest in Reign history. The Reign are currently tied for last place in the NWSL with the recently restarted Utah Royals.

Harvey trusts the team’s veterans, especially Barnes and Fishlock, to be instrumental in bringing the Reign out of their current funk.

“They show up,” Harvey said. “You always know, with those two [Lu and Jess], that they’re going to be there for the team in whatever way they need to be. And they’ve been through tough times with this club and come out the other side, so they know what it takes.”

The Reign go on the road for next week, playing the North Carolina Courage on Saturday, April 27. After that, they return home for two games. The first is against the San Diego Wave on Friday, May 3, and the second is on Wednesday, May 8 against the Kansas City Current.

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