Reign Season Ends on Unclear Note as Fishlock Retires

There were four more games this year. According to American Soccer Analysis, the Reign's expected goal (xG) differential went from -8.74 to 0.27, their goals added (g+) differential went from -9.07 to 5.32, they got massive years in development from Sam Meza and Ainsley McCammon, Jess Fishlock rose like a dragon-shaped Welsh phoenix from an early-season injury that initially appeared career-ending.

And yet at the highest level, 2026 ended the same way 2025 did for the Seattle Reign: knocked out in the first round on the road. This time, the team to do the honors was Shield-winning Gotham FC.

It was only four minutes in when the winning goal was scored, and it was an utterly preventable mistake for Seattle. The cross came in and Jordyn Bugg tried to clear it outwards with her left foot, but instead knocked the ball over the goal line and past a diving Claudia Dickey.

That was perhaps the most gut-wrenching way to lose for the young center back. Bugg has made plenty of progress in her age-20 season, but doubtless the one moment that lingers in her mind for all the offseason will be that fourth minute mistake.

Neither team had many true chances on net. The Reign kept Gotham off the board from then on and so did Gotham keep Seattle from scoring; both teams totaled 28 touches in the opposite box and 0.69 xG per FotMob. The Reign were the only team to get any shots on target, though they only got three.

One was a somewhat bizarrely early shot from Jess Fishlock after taking the ball away around midfield (Fishlock seemingly tried to catch Gotham keeper Ann Katrin-Berger off-guard). Another was a striker's shot from Mia Fishel in the 51st, a left-footed high arcing blow after getting the ball from Phoebe McClernon near to the right touchline. The third and final shot on net came in the 71st as Fishlock interrupted a pass near Gotham's 18 and sent the ball up for Maddie Mercado, who ripped a curler towards the lower right corner. That shot was Katrin-Berger's toughest save, but after that point, neither keeper had to make one.

The final whistle blew and Seattle was eliminated in the quarterfinal, just like last year against the Orlando Pride. Yet the message among the team about the year was clear: it was progress. Unlike against the Pride at the end of 2025, the Reign felt that they had outplayed Gotham aside from the one fourth minute mistake.

"The difference between those players in this match to the Orlando game is night and day, and if people like want to question that, then I would like like to sit down and have a healthy debate, because I think that that growth from those groups of players specifically was huge and enormous," Fishlock said. "We deserved to win, let's be clear here. We didn't, and that's part of the development, and part of learning and accepting, that sometimes you can play really well and still lose; this is what football is. But specifically, the growth from those players in 12 months, I think, is huge."

The advanced stats directionally agree with Fishlock here. Last year, the Reign drastically overperformed their xG and g+, going from a team that "should" have been bottom rung in the league to a fifth place finish. This year, they were right in line with (or perhaps a trifle underneath) their underlying numbers. And where 1.5 points per game was enough for fifth place in 2025, Seattle's 1.57 points per game in 2026 were barely enough for eighth place - and it was the ninth place Courage who finished with 1.5 points per game this go around.

In particular, the Reign gave up 33 goals, fifth least of any team in NWSL. After the game on Sunday, I asked Harvey whether 2027 was a make-or-break year for the team. She pondered the question for a few seconds before responding thus:

No, I don't think it's make or break. I think we need to show progress. We showed progress from last year to this year, we got more points on the board.

I think we need to, you know - Gotham are a good example - I've lived by this the whole time I've been a coach, if you can stop people scoring goals on you, and you can limit the amount you concede, you'll win. And everyone has always spoken to me about goal scoring. Everyone. Well, they've just won the shield, they know. I think they scored 12 to 14 goals less than the top scorers in the in the league, and the two teams that scored the most amount of goals didn't get in the playoffs.

So this league's about not conceding, and what have we done? We've got Jordyn Bugg tied up for multiple years to come, Phoebe McClernon tied up for multiple years to come. Claudia Dickey's got multiple years on a contract. We've extended Madison Curry. We've extended Ryanne Brown. We believe that not conceding is the root that you can build off the foundation to go on to bigger and better things, and I will live by that forever as long as I'm a coach.

So no, I don't think it's make or break. But do I think we need to continue to move forward and progress? Yeah, absolutely. And and if we don't, I think there'll be players who'll look at other options. But I think if we're progressing and we're moving forward, which I have no doubt that we will, then people want to be part of this club because it's special.

-Laura Harvey, Nov. 8, 2026

It's clear that the defense is the identity that the Reign are built upon, but that doesn't mean they can afford to let the offense languish. This is a team that went 11 halves straight without scoring and, during that streak, Harvey talked about the need to expand upon their defensive identity to be able to put the attacking pressure on teams.

Of course, the distinction between "make-or-break" and "needing improvements" is finer than it might seem. Jess Fishlock is retiring and leaving the 10 position unclear; while Sally Menti has progressed, they'll likely have to acquire someone to at least shore her up at the position. It's probably make-or-break for Mia Fishel, who still hasn't clicked at the striker position.

But as for the team as a whole, where is that line? Where is that line in the standings? Where is it in terms of goal differential? Where is it in terms of playoffs?

They'll have to do better than eighth. Of course, they should aim as high as possible, but the line of acceptable improvement is, in terms of performance, somewhere in the top five or so of NWSL teams. It will mean continued defensive solidity and a better and more connected offense. Even with a defense-first approach, they have to score appreciably more goals than they did this year. They have to connect more accurately and consistently on their passes and have to execute better crosses. They have to be able to better adjust their initial plan in the face of adversity. Players with one outstanding skill have to shore up their other skills in order to become more well-rounded.

As for the last fixture of 2026, the Reign knew they were facing the top team in the league, and they performed with a take-down-the-titan mentality. They didn't win, but they believe they proved something to the league with how close they fought the game.

"Laura pulled us together and told us how proud she was of us, and I think that message would be the same for everyone around. We went into this game knowing that no one thought we were going to win, I mean, literally no one but ourselves," said Sofia Huerta. "And that was the message throughout the week of like we know what we can do on the field, we know how close we are off the field, we know what it takes to win, and we weren't scared to come into the game today."

That same fire must continue into 2027, but if there isn't the kind of meaningful improvement that can bring this team out of the mid-table and into the upper echelons of competition, they will have to take a long look at themselves and what can do to improve more completely. They have to take that look this year, too.

Fishlock's last game

With the Reign's last loss of the season, the career of Jess Fishlock comes to a close.

According to the outgoing Welsh midfielder, she had to grow into the role of leading players a decade and a half her junior.

"Being with the kids at the beginning, like two years ago, I was like, 'I can't work with these kids, I'm too old for it,' but they have just given me so much joy. And then obviously, the older ones, we've had to really rely on each other these last couple years, and it's really also created and deepened relationships within what we've already been doing," Fishlock said. "And because of that, I have seen so much growth on and off the field from this team."

She leaves her career with the Reign as a titan of the NWSL and the Welsh game. According to FBRef, Fishlock logged 18,319 minutes in 232 games with the Reign, scoring 52 goals and assisting on 32 others. She was an original of the Reign's inaugural 2013 team.

The rest of Seattle's players knew they were sending off a legend. Huerta attributed some of their late-season push to a desire to keep playing with the legend and bring her as far as they could.

"There was so much more than just winning the game and continuing our playoff push. It was really so we could keep playing with Jess, and we were so happy last weekend when we won because it meant we had another week with Jess," Huerta said. "And I think just per the conversation of the young players, it's so hard to explain how quickly it goes. And when this week was coming, all I could think was like, "Gosh, these last seven years with Jess just flew by," and I just didn't want it to end, and no one wanted it to end. And that was something that, when you get older, you just know these moments are fleeting, and there's not a lot of them."

But with the end of their playoff push, that opportunity has vanished. Fishlock may well be around the team in some capacity, but she has now officially hung up the spurs - and she leaves the 2026 team, whatever its eventual meaning will be, for good.

"Even today, I'm not upset that my I'll never play football again. I'm like okay with that, I've played enough," Fishlock noted. "But I am devastated that I do not get to spend more time with this group."