The Chicago Stars are dead last in the league standings, but anyone thinking Friday night’s match at Lumen Field is an easy three points for our Seattle Reign needs to listen up. Our squad picked up a crucial point last week against Angel City with a hard-fought 2-2 draw thanks to goals from Mia Fishel and Sally Menti, and now they are back home to host their annual Pride match at 7 PM PT. But do not let Chicago’s 16th-place standing fool you. This team is in transition, having just parted ways with their head and assistant coaches, and that means they are playing with absolutely nothing to lose.
Last Place? Nah, These Stars Are Dangerous
Reign head coach Laura Harvey knows exactly what kind of beast Chicago can be. She straight up called them “a blue-collar team” with a “never-say-die mentality.” We all remember it, right? Last year, right here at Lumen Field, we were up 3-0 against them on August 18, 2025, and they clawed their way back to a ridiculous 3-3 draw. Harvey’s not wrong: “That’s the core value of who Chicago is, and that makes them really hard to break down. And it means they never go away.” The Stars might be sitting at 4-13-1 with just 13 points, but they just played Bay FC to a scoreless draw. They could also be without Mallory Swanson, who left last week’s game with an apparent knee injury after coming on as a sub. But even with that, the Reign cannot take them lightly. This isn’t just another game.
The Set Piece Showdown You Didn’t See Coming
Here is where it gets spicy. Our Reign has scored 22 goals and conceded 23 this season, sitting at 7-7-3 with 24 points in 9th place. We are 3-3-2 at home, which is solid, but Chicago’s road record of 1-8-0 looks like an easy win, right? Wrong. Chicago has only scored nine goals all year, but here is the kicker: six of those nine goals came from set pieces. And guess what? Our Reign have conceded seven goals from set pieces, making us second-most in the entire league in that unfortunate stat. Do you see the problem here? This is a matchup of Chicago’s sneaky strength against one of our biggest weaknesses. The overall head-to-head record is 11-12-10 against Chicago, with an 8-3-6 home record. We have scored 49 goals to their 48 in the series. It’s always a tight one, and this specific set piece stat could decide the game.
Our own Jess Fishlock is back training, which is awesome news, but Friday might still be too early for her to make an impact on the pitch. With a three-match week ahead, the team is going to need a lot of rotation. Make sure you get to Lumen Field early, because the first 4,000 fans get a wearable Pride flag from Trupanion to help fill the stadium with Pride, and the iconic Seattle drag collective TUSH is headlining the festivities. This is our house, Emerald City. Let’s make sure our Reign defend it, grab those three points, and start looking up the table. You can catch all the action streaming on NWSL+.
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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