Reign Tie Angel City at Home

SEATTLE - Two goals in rapid succession seem to be the Seattle Reign's M.O. these days. I'm certainly not complaining.

Sunday night's game was split around halftime between a disconnected, uninspired half and a coordinated, exciting one. But unlike most of the Reign's recent games, it was the second half that brought the energy and the goals.

The game ended with a 2-2 tie, however, and though the team evaded the loss that seemed probable when they went into the sheds, it was still a mixed back for Laura Harvey and her team.

The Reign ran mostly dry in the first half as they went down 1-0.

Seattle had an interesting look in the seventh as Meza brought it through some pressure in the middle of the field and gave it to Fishel about three-quarters of the way up the pitch, but Fishel got turned around as two Angel City defenders pressured her and Seattle had to retreat. The visitors were containing Maddie Dahlien whenever the Reign tried to break through the left side - where the Bold had been distributing much of their recent chances from - and the team found itself without the early momentum they had enjoyed in their previous matches.

But although Angel City mostly contained Seattle during the first half, there were still a smattering of opportunities for the hosts. Sally Menti sent Mercado a 12th minute cross in the box, but Mercado's header flew over the woodwork. The not-fully-suppressed Dahlien-Mercado connection nearly produced a goal in the 23rd, but although Mercado made a solid header at the top of the box, it took an immediate deflection and spun out like a top.

Angel City, meanwhile, produced some threats on net as the half wore on. Some 28th minute chaos near Seattle's goal nearly got them on the board as Claudia Dickey missed a high claim, but the Reign escaped the early goal by the skin of their teeth.

It was merely a four-minute delay. Angel City brought the ball upwards in the 32nd and the Reign settled into their defensive positions, but a brief window in the back line allowed Gisele Thompson to cork a left-footer past a surprised Dickey for a 1-0 visiting lead. It was the first time since May 30 that the Reign hadn't struck first.

The ensuing minutes of the first half were the worst the team looked all game. Dahlien got overtaken as she tried to go on a run in the 36th, but as the team didn't bring enough support to go along with her - foregoing the biggest cue that has revitalized the Reign offense - she was simply overtaken and the threat dissipated. A Jordyn Bugg fall (lots of players were inexplicably slipping on the Lumen turf) in the 42nd nearly became disastrous as the visitors had a line on net, but McClernon was able to prevent disaster. Although Fishel had an opportunity to pelt a loose ball into the net in the final minutes, she got turned around during the time she had available to her and the opportunity disappeared.

Seattle surged back in the second half, with two goals in three minutes to take a midgame lead.

Where the Reign's first two goals in their previous matches had all come in the first half, the seemingly obligatory two goals in quick succession came after the break on Sunday. Having needed more offensive firepower in the first half, the second saw Menti and Fishel trade spots at times and more connection between the two of them and McCammon and Meza behind them.

This paid off early in the second half, but the catalyst was a muffed clearance from the visitors that went right to Fishel, who was positioned centrally alongside Menti. The starting 10 went in front and found a space at the top of the box, and when Fishel sent her a pass, Menti quickly switched to her left foot before tapping it into the net for the 50th minute equalizer.

It was only the 52nd when that connection went in reverse, though it briefly seemed like a missed opportunity before a mistake from Angel City right back Emily Sams allowed Seattle to pounce. Following a Reign breakaway with Fishel and Dahlien on the left side, Sams took the ball away from Dahlien and attempted to pass to Taylor Suarez upfield, but the ball went right to Ryanne Brown with tons of space. She got it to Ainsley McCammon further towards the box, who sent it to the Fishel-Menti duo at the edge of the 18. Menti tapped it to Fishel, who launched a left-footed missile into the corner of the net.

Seven minutes into the half, the Reign had a lead and two goals. It wasn't the first half this time, but there was a sense of urgency that permeated the group as they came out of the sheds with a deficit.

"I said to the girls at halftime, if we play like we did in the first half, the result was gonna stay what it was," Harvey said. "We weren't gonna get a win out of it, we weren't gonna get anything out of it, we had to decide if we wanted to change that, and we did."

While it begs the question of whether the Reign can more consistently find that fire in every half at all times, the cues from Harvey and captain Sofia Huerta woke the team up for the final 45.

"Laura gave us a good speech at halftime," Menti said. "She knew that we had more to give, and I think that, something switched in my head, too, and I'm like, 'we gotta go for it, we're down 1-0, and we haven't come out hot in the second half,' so I think for me, and hearing Sof, our leader on the field, talk to us and hype us up for the second half, that helped me a lot, and we just went for it. And we were on the front foot most of the half."

But it wasn't a perfect resurgence, and as had happened in plenty of Seattle's post-break games, the excitement of the offense was dimmed by later scoring from the Reign's opponent.

Angel City tied it back up in the 72nd, and despite chances for both sides to get a game-winner, it ended in a draw.

McCammon became the latest player to slip on the pitch in the 55th minute, leading to a giveaway and some fairly deep Angel City possession, but the bigger threats came a few minutes later as the visitors began applying consistent pressure. Dickey was called upon to make a diving save in the 60th and a jumping one in the 61st, both of which kept Seattle's lead intact.

The counter-equalizer for Angel City, however, depended on reinforcements for the visiting side. Angel City head coach Leif Gunnar Smerud swapped in Prisca Chilufya and Evelyn Shores for Claire Emslie and Sophie Mattice in the 69th minute, and the duo had a rather immediate impact. Chilufya in particular became a big problem for the left half of Seattle's defense and rather immediately let the 7,102 fans in attendance know it - but so too was Shores vital in the goal, as she launched a ball about two-thirds of the way up the pitch in behind a surprised Reign back line for Chilufya to take into the net.

Seattle had numerous chances for a late game-winner, but one after another fell by the wayside as the 90th minute approached. Twice Haz attempted a long-distance screamer, but the first went wide right by about two yards while Anderson reacted just in time to take the second. Nothing came of the corner nor the free kick that followed those two chances, and as the 90th minute came and went, Angel City turned the momentum. Corners piled up for the visitors as Chilufya continued to push the Reign left to their breaking point, and Dickey had to make some late saves to keep Seattle from dropping the last point.

Whiplash set in at the very end of the game as one of these chances turned into a takeaway going the other way for the Reign, but although Sam Meza had a chance to take a long shot, she sent it in to the box for a contested ball.

There was a collision involving Mercado, but referee Brad Jensen called the foul on the Reign attacker and the final whistle blew just seconds after.

"I said I didn't know if it was a penalty, but I didn't think it was a foul on us," Harvey said.

Mia Fishel continued her summer surge, scoring her third goal in four games.

Seattle reportedly paid a hefty transfer fee for striker Mia Fishel, but over the first 13 games of the Reign season - four of which she missed with injury - she didn't get a single goal. This had also been true of her 11 matches with Seattle in 2025, giving her a 20-match scoreless streak to begin her Reign tenure.

A penalty goal against Gotham was Fishel's first in a Reign jersey, and though she didn't score against the Wave, she punched in her first open play goal early in Seattle's 3-2 win over Bay FC. Now playing at home for the first time since scoring, she had a certain personal momentum going into the game. Fishel describes it as a greater flow in her recent performance, not a massive vibe shift - but there has been study work going into her surge:

It's hard to find a better confidence booster than the kind of first-touch top-corner bullet. These sorts of moments, where she finally begins to contribute to the team (and see herself doing so), are things that Harvey has been keeping an eye on as inflection points for rapid growth from Fishel.

"You guys have asked me a lot about Mia in the last year, and I've said the same thing and I'll continue to say it: she will get rewarded when she plays the way she's been playing since the summer break. And she's getting that. She's getting that recognition externally, internally in our locker room, because that's what we believed we signed," Harvey said. "I knew it was gonna take time with her, with someone who's been out as long as she had, it's really hard to switch that back on. The sharpness needed, the willingness to keep doing all that hard work and not seeing the [results], it's hard. You start to see those little glimpses of a reward, it makes you run faster, it makes you run harder for longer. And I think you're starting to see that from her, which I'm really happy about."

It was more than just Fishel up top. Menti had been interchanging with Fishel as the striker would go back into a false nine throughout the game, and their connection in the final third was the difference between Seattle being shut out and the 2-2 draw that actually happened.

According to Menti, it's a case of strength begetting strength.

The Fishel surge must continue further, however, if the Reign striker is going to live up to her promise. Sunday's 52nd minute screamer was a promising sign, though.

It wasn't fully the standard Seattle set after beating Portland, but they got a point from an uneasy performance.

Harvey's side didn't play the way Harvey wanted them to for the totality of the game on Sunday, but the fact that it was a draw instead of a loss was encouraging.

"I thought it was definitely not our best performance. What I said to the players at the end is, what can make good teams good is that when they don't perform they don't lose," Harvey said. "I thought, first half, we really didn't get going. Again, we came out second half like we've been doing in the start in a lot of first halves and sort of changed the tempo of the game. Yeah, I think, disappointed on both [opposing] goals, really; I thought we could have done a little bit better on both, so that'll be something we look at. But overall, I said to the players at the end, when you don't put in your best performance and you can come away without losing, you've gotta be relatively okay with that - but hungry for more."

While it wasn't the loss it could have been, it also wasn't the win it could have been. Seattle and Angel City both have 24 points in the table, but due to goal differential, it's Angel City who occupies eighth place and a playoff spot while Seattle is currently on the outside looking in.

"For us to go where we wanna go, we've gotta perform better than we did tonight," Harvey said on Sunday.