Reign and Summit Split Points in Spokane

Seven points in three games ain't half bad for a team projected to finish ninth. It was still one of those "solid process, meh result" performances against a mid-table team, but the goal-threatening ability of the 2026 Reign does appear much improved from the two years past.

With just five matches in the books, Reign head coach Laura Harvey said that much of the team's work in the coming rest weeks is cleaning things up around the margins.

"I felt we could have been a little bit better on the ball. We tried to shift that defending shape and get someone higher, that didn't really work," Harvey said. "So we just need to fine tune some things."

There was plenty of promising action on both ends of the pitch, but nobody sunk a finishing touch.

While the Reign had sunk five goals in their previous six contexts, Saturday's match saw nothing hit the back of the net - from either side. The expansion Denver Summit, despite making a fair amount of half-chances, scored zero for their second straight game.

A dynamic Nérilia Mondésir run and pass to Jess Fishlock in the seventh minute led to Emeri Adames left-booting a screamer towards the net that found an unlucky deflection off a Denver player. Denver keeper Abby Smith made the save after Maddie Mercado got a service from Fishlock in the 10th to keep it scoreless.

The Summit produced a prime chance of their own in the 19th and 20th minutes, as Angharad James-Turner was forced to concede a corner and Janine Sonis sent a perfect cross over to Carson Pickett, but the Denver defender's shot was a little high.

Adames had a 25th minute breakaway thanks to a heads-up long ball from Maddie Mercado, but her shot on net went right to Smith's foot and the Reign had to take things back. Seattle came back around through the right side once more a minute later, but this time Adames left the ball up for Huerta in the corner and Huerta crossed to Fishlock at the top of the box. Seattle was denied by a defensive deflection for the second time in the half.

Where the Reign were kept out of net thanks to some well-placed defenders, Denver right winger Melissa Kössler had a stealthy across-the-mouth curler sent away by the woodwork. Sonis had set her up with a long ball and Kössler outplayed Emily Mason in the box before firing off her shot, but the aforementioned crossbar kept it knotted at nothing.

The episode began a fairly extensive spell of Denver pressure in the Seattle third of the pitch, though final touches from left winger Yuna McCormack and striker Yazmeen Ryan both went wide of net and play returned to the middle of the pitch.

While the sides were about even in the amount of attacking spells they had, the Reign created these chances in a slower, more possession-oriented manner - utilizing strong early midfield performances from Fishlock and Sam Meza - while Denver didn't play much in the center of the pitch, instead using transitional moments to create longer attacking spells. That's not to say the Reign didn't have their transitional moments, but Seattle's shakiness on defense allowed the Summit to turn moments into extended possession perhaps a bit more quickly than the Reign could.

Denver had another of these attacking spells after the 40th minute, with the visitors knocking off three close shots, all of which were blocked.

The Summit had more of the attack in the second half, but the results in the box held firm.

The finishing touch still eluded Seattle as the second half began. Adames connected with a well-placed Mercado in the box in the 57th, but Mercado's touch was too strong and the ball flew over the woodwork. A missed chance went the other way two minutes later, as a long bouncing shot from Ryan was a little too slow to evade Dickey's diving grab.

Despite some intermittent clearances, Denver's attacking phases in the following minutes were far more threatening than the minor possessions the Reign had been able to put together. A couple off finishes from Ryan were one thing, but when Ryan found Sonis at the top of the box with no one in front of her but Claudia Dickey in the 72nd minute, the Summit came as close to scoring as ever - and Sonis' shot went right to Dickey.

Seattle's back line, which hadn't been especially noteworthy in the first half, shone brightly in the second. Phoebe McClernon, Maddy Curry, and Mason all had 11 or more defensive contributions and five or more clearances during the match, repelling Denver's attempts to break through.

On the other side of the ball, however, an attack that had been more methodical in the first half found itself jittery and predictable. Jess Fishlock had been subbed off in the 66th minute, and the team's attacking strategy in the ensuing 15 minutes seemed to consist of longshot long balls for Mercado or Adames.

What could have been a prime chance for Mercado in the 78th minute fell apart with a blocked cross from Mondésir, and Denver began another extended spell of possession in Seattle's third, but as had been true the whole game, the Summit couldn't climb the final mountain.

Nor could the Reign, whose final attacking spell was just gathering momentum when the final whistle sounded.

Claudia Dickey netted (pun intended) another record to her Reign keeping collection.

While the efforts of the backfield (and a fair few aforementioned shanked finishes from Denver) kept Dickey from having to make too many difficult saves, she still provided the last line of defense three times. With 190 saves in the books, Dickey passed Hope Solo (187) for most saves all-time in a Seattle Reign jersey.

Dickey also has club records in clean sheets (15), single-season saves (88), and caps with the team (55).

While it was a middling immediate result, Harvey praised the process.

The final scoresheet may have marked 197 scoreless minutes for the Summit, but Harvey didn't go into the game risking underestimation of their expansion opponents.

"I've said it all week, they've recruited well, they're well coached, they move the ball really well," Harvey said about her opponents.

Seattle has looked like a much more cohesive team over the first five games of 2026 than during 2025, generally more able to build through the middle. While Saturday's action saw less full chances and more half-chances, Harvey liked the process up until the final touch or two.

"Keep doing it," was Harvey's message to her players in games like these. "You keep doing it, it will come. Keep creating technical execution, sometimes it might be the final factor, whether it be the final pass, the cross, the finish, the movement, all of those things."

Of course, consistency will be a big aspect of things once the first break ends and action resumes on April 26 for the Reign's first Lumen Field home game of the season. Seattle let a golden opportunity slip by in Providence Park yet also bested Orlando and Kansas City, and the exhaustion that Harvey attributes the Portland mental lapses to has the definite potential to be a factor once the season resumes.

As to whether the Reign will continue their pace of two points per game (tied for fourth in NWSL) or whether they will fall down to their much more pedestrian expected goal differential, that will have to wait until the season resumes. The team is set to be much healthier by then.