Seattle Reign (almost certainly) not making playoffs
Reign hopes not looking good after 23 games
As the 2024 season winds down, it is about as certain as the theory of gravity that the Seattle Reign will miss the 2024 NWSL Playoffs. Though the team made it all the way to the NWSL Championship Finals in 2023, the loss of several key players both in the offseason and during the 2024 campaign have, in addition to a multitude of bad breaks suffered during the season, kept Seattle near the bottom of the table.
Last Week’s Game
On Friday, October 4, 2024, the Seattle Reign hosted Angel City FC in the fourth-to-last match of the 2024 regular season for both squads. M.A. Vignola scored the only goal of the match, a 1-0 Angel City victory. Seattle, meanwhile, was unable to counter with strong threats, and was shut out for the fourth straight game and the tenth time this season.
Angel City controlled the game in the first half. They found a weak spot in the Reign defense – the right side, where Veronica Latsko was playing right back, out of her usual position. Angel City left winger Alyssa Thompson blew past Latsko several times, in addition to a couple similar runs by Madison Hammond and Messiah Bright.
Seattle danced through the raindrops (pun definitely intended) for much of the half, with center back Phoebe McClernon clearing crosses in the box multiple times. But in the 33rd, Angel City punched one through – a short ball from Thompson to Mary Vignola in the box, followed by Vignola breezing past Latsko and having a direct shot on goal. There was nothing that Claudia Dickey could do – Angel City up 1-0.
The Reign weren’t done with their luck quite yet however – Angel City forward Claire Emslie took a 43rd minute corner short to Thompson, who crossed it into the crowd. Midfielder Katie Zelem leapt up and headed the ball – into the crossbar. The Reign recovered and cleared.
Coming out of the second half, Seattle not only plugged this gap but had greater control over the game. They had several long spells of possession in Angel City territory. However, they were unable to create meaningful threats.
Angel City’s best chance to double their lead was in the 50th minute. Alyssa Thompson again charged up the left side and outplayed Latsko, before sending a curler to the left side of the goal. Dickey dove and smothered the ball.
There were a few moments where a good break could have given the Reign an equalizer. The best of these was in the 54th minute, Crnogorčević received a ball from Huitema and had a moment to take a shot, which she did. But the ball arced toward the hands of Angel City keeper Dijana Haračić, who deflected it away.
But Seattle’s big issue was in quality. They weren’t able to convert possession in opposing territory into strong threats – a cross or corner would go in, but the Reign set piece would fail to win the aerial, and Angel City would get the clearance – rinse and repeat.
“We probably put thirty balls in the box and connected on – two, maybe?” Laura Harvey stated postgame. “You’re not going to win football games like that.”
(Basically) all she wrote for Reign playoff chances
With the loss on Friday and the completion of the league’s matches over the weekend, the NWSL table looks like this:
Seattle has to win all three remaining matches and hope that one of either Portland or Bay FC loses all three of their remaining matches. In addition, if Racing Louisville picks up 4 or more points or if San Diego or Angel City picks up 7 or more points, then both Portland and Bay FC would have to lose out to give Seattle a chance. Again, this chance can only be taken if the Reign win every remaining game.
The Reign’s schedule is: October 13 on the road against Utah, October 18 at home against Houston, and November 2 on the road against Orlando. Now, it would be awesome to see the Reign clinch a playoff spot by defeating the undefeated Pride on Decision Day – but that is dreaming, not reality.
“I feel like we had high expectations for this year, a lot of hope, and we lost our way somewhere along the way this year,” Phoebe McClernon said. “I think we have … a group of girls who want to win championship, and I think we’ll find our way back to that, one way or another. But this one hurt.”
What went wrong?
The Reign’s woes have been building ever since the season started.
Seattle lost several pieces over the offseason. Megan Rapinoe retired. Rose Lavelle and Emily Sonnett left in free agency, both going to Gotham FC. Elyse Bennett was selected by the Utah Royals in the 2024 Expansion Draft before she was traded to the San Diego Wave. To replace them, Seattle brought in Ji So-yun as a starting piece as well as Angharad James-Turner, McKenzie Weinert, and Lily Woodham as depth pieces, and Emeri Adames as a U-18 signing. Though the team wasn’t expected to be quite as good as in 2023, they planned on going out and competing – a retool, not a rebuild.
Seattle began the 2024 year with a 1-0 win over the Washington Spirit. But then, the team went on a five-game losing streak from which they never recovered. Everything began to go wrong: Jordyn Huitema missed several games with a spinal fracture and fell uncharacteristically silent upon returning, only netting 2 goals and 1 assist despite spending over 1,200 minutes on the field. Goals in general became rare to come by, and it always seemed that the few times the Reign did score, the defense broke down just enough for the opponent to score more. Ji has had games where she’s been excellent, but she hasn’t shown the consistency that the Reign have needed.
So, the retool became a rebuild. In August, Seattle traded Bethany Balcer – Seattle’s leading goal scorer – to Racing Louisville in exchange for Jaelin Howell. Despite a couple wins on August 31st and September 6, the shakeups continued with Sofia Huerta being loaned to Olympique Lyonnais through mid-2025.
Although Seattle has seen a bright spot in Emeri Adames showing serious potential, all of these other things have combined to sink the Reign’s 2024 season.
