Everything continues to be bad as Reign lose 3-2 at Spirit

Seattle Reign FC need wins, but they continue to elude the club. What was once a good defense gives out goals like Costco samplers. The bugaboo of being unable to create and finish chances is still there, needs an exorcism. The Reign ended their May schedule with a trip to Audi Field to face the Washington Spirit. A season in which nothing has gone right for Seattle continued with three goals conceded in the first half, and the Reign remain second to last in the standings after another 3-2 loss. Seattle's record is now 2 wins, 1 draw, and 8 losses going into the June FIFA international break.

Veronica Latsko scored in the 5th minute of stoppage time in the first half for Seattle. Emeri Adames opened her professional account in stoppage time of the second half to claim Seattle's second.

Washington's goals were scored by Croix Bethune in the 21st minute, Andi Sullivan converting a penalty in the 39th minute, and Ouleymata Sarr in the 45th.

WHAT WORKED: VERONICA LATSKO GETS ONE

Seattle was down three goals going into the halftime break yet they kept on trying to get at least one on the scoreboard, eventually being rewarded late in stoppage time with this Veronica Latsko goal.

WHAT WORKED: WELCOME BACK JORDYN HUITEMA

After missing the last eight matches with a back injury, Jordyn Huitema made her return to the field in the 60th minute, replacing Angharad James-Turner. She made a quick impact in her return, getting her head on a Sofia Huerta cross and putting the ball goal-bound, but alas it hit the post.

WHAT WORKED: EMERI ADAMES OPENS HER GOAL ACCOUNT

Emeri Adames entered the match in the 72nd minute, and in the stoppage time of the second half, the 18-year-old claimed Seattle's second goal on the night and her first as a pro. Even if it came too little too late, it's still a milestone in her barely started professional career, and that can never be taken away from her, so congratulations on your first professional goal, Emeri!

WHAT DIDN'T WORK: BAD BREAKS, BAD CALLS, BAD DEFENSE, EVERYTHING IS BAD

When nothing seems to be working for the Reign this season, Washington getting the first goal from a blocked clearance attempt by Lauren Barnes like this... yeah, sure, why not. All credit goes to absolute star rookie Croix Bethune for staying relentless and being in the right spot to block the clearance and have it remain at her feet to fire.

Andi Sullivan got Washington's second goal after she converted from the penalty spot. Now it's debatable as to if Washington should have been awarded the penalty in which Laurel Ivory first made a diving stop on a run by Trinity Rodman. As Rodman tried to continue on to recover the loose ball, she got tangled up with Ivory, went down and the referee judged that Ivory impeded Rodman. There was no stoppage by the VAR official to ask the ref to give it a second look and the rest is history.

And in the Everything Is Bad file, Washington's third goal came about because everyone on Seattle's backline was just... there.

"Don't count us out."

With a FIFA international break coming up, some Reign players will be on national team duty. The majority of team, however, will disperse for a few days and likely do anything but think about soccer and the abysmal season so far. During the players' segment of the post-match press conference, Jordyn Huitema took the question of how the team moves forward after tonight's loss to turn things around possibly salvage the season. Forward Veronica Latsko sat next to Huitema, nodding in agreement as Huitema spoke.

"I think we're inches away, I don't think we're far off. I think we prove time and time again what we're capable of, it's just being able to do that for 90+ minutes and I think we're right there. We just all need to believe that we're right there. I don't think anybody's questioning where we can still take this season. We want our fans to still believe, they're definitely a huge support for us. The season is long and people and teams have proved time and time again that it's long. So don't count us out, I think we're right there. Once we figure it, you're not going to be able to stop us."

"Something has to change."

During her comments, Laura Harvey spoke a different tone to the idea that the team is just "inches away" from everything coming together and being able to turn the season around.

"I've said that every week, so I think it's hard to keep saying that and it not changing. You can't be inches away and it not change. If we weren't scoring goals, if we weren't creating chances, I would be more concerned, but I said to the group at the end – we cannot keep shooting ourselves in the foot. And we keep doing that. And that has to change. Whether that's personnel changes to stop that from happening, whether that's we change the way we play... something has to change. And that may mean something completely different [in what] we look like on the field, who knows, but that is the point for me: we can't keep saying every week that we're inches away and we're conceding. We've conceded 10 goals in three games, that's just not acceptable."

As stated at the start of the recap, the loss keeps Seattle second to last in the NWSL standings with a paltry 7 points, going into the FIFA international break. Seattle resume league play on Sunday, June 9 making their first visit to CPKC Stadium in Kansas City to face the Current. Seattle hosted Kansas City back on May 8, with the two sides playing to a scoreless draw.