The Seattle Reign just wrapped up a brutal three-match week by grinding out a point on the road against the Kansas City Current, a team that hadn’t lost at CPKC Stadium in an unbelievable 26 matches. Yeah, you read that right, twenty-six! Our Reign not only scored first in that fortress but then held strong for basically the entire second half after the Current equalized, walking away with a hard-earned point.
The Emerald City Strikes First: Set-Piece Magic!
Our squad came out with pure fire, applying that strong early pressure we love to see. And man, did they get rewarded! In the 11th minute, the Reign earned their first corner of the game. Instead of just sending it in, they went short, popping the ball to Sofia Huerta near the edge of the box. What happened next? Pure class. Huerta sent a world-class cross to the far post, and Ainsley McCammon was right there to head it back across the goal. It took a fortunate bounce off defender Kayla Sharples, redirected right into the net, and just like that, Seattle was up 1-0! Coach Laura Harvey absolutely nailed it after the match, saying, “The ball from Sof was world-class, and it’s just going to cause people problems.” Can you believe that was the league-leading 11th set-piece goal Kansas City has given up this season? Our girls exposed that weakness perfectly.
The Current, though, were not going down easy. They started pushing hard for the last 20 minutes of the half. Croix Bethune launched a shot that clanked off the crossbar in the 35th minute and then had another go a minute later that went wide. Honestly, the ref missed a slight deflection from Jordyn Bugg on that one, giving our Reign a goal kick when it should’ve been a corner. Just minutes later, in the 39th, Debinha sent a free kick from about 25 yards just wide after Angharad James-Turner got whistled for a foul and picked up a yellow card. The half ended with Kansas City hitting the left post and then Lo’eau LaBonta smacking a rocket from distance off the crossbar. We were incredibly fortunate none of those snuck in, and somehow, we went into halftime with the 1-0 lead.
Momentum Swings and a Questionable Call
The Current came out of the locker room in the second half just absolutely buzzing, and their pressure finally paid off in the 51st minute. After a video review, referee Katja Koroleva awarded Kansas City a penalty for a handball in the box on Mia Fishel. Seriously? She was turning away from the play, but Koroleva still decided her arm was in an “unnatural position.” You gotta wonder about some of these calls sometimes, right? Regardless, Debinha stepped up and slipped her shot from the spot just under the diving hands of Claudia Dickey, into the lower right corner. Tie game, 1-1.
Kansas City kept pressing until about the 75th minute. That’s when the fresh legs of Nérilia Mondésir and Brittany Ratcliffe hit the pitch, finally helping to shift the momentum back in our favor. While our Reign couldn’t quite create any truly dangerous chances, they were finding our wing players with some sweet long balls behind Kansas City’s defense, earning a couple of corner kicks and a few shots.
Our Reign now sit in eighth place with 8-8-4 for 28 points, with other results still pending. But you know what? After a grueling three-match week and a road trip like that, our squad will be buzzing to get back to Lumen Field. Bring on the rest, those comfortable Emerald City temperatures, and the roar of our home fans! We’re ready for the next one!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Sounder at Heart.
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