Seattle won the second Derby game 2-0 and (un)officially won the 2026 Cascadia Derby on discipline. Beyond being cathartic and satisfying for Seattle, the game offered the Reign a taste of new abilities - and new responsibilities.
At some point, something has to break the Reign's way - but nothing went right for Seattle on Friday night. Unlike their early losses but like the previous week, it seemed to be a general malaise that sunk them.
The Reign still haven't scored a goal since late March, and after the loss to Washington, the team was torn in two directions between defensive optimism and attacking malaise.
The Reign seemingly took out their frustrations from their dreadful double-advantaged defeat in Portland last week, taking the Current to town in Spokane and showing what can happen when Seattle threads the needle between caution and aggression.
There are good games, bad games, dropped points, disappointments, unexpected victories, and missed opportunities in this beautiful game. For the Reign, however, playing up two and losing by two is a new one.
