Reign swept away by Current on the road

Buckle up! There’s a lot to cover, and most of it is bad. The Seattle Reign traveled to Kansas City’s new CPKC Stadium to face the Current on a sunny Sunday afternoon. They last saw this KC side a month ago at Lumen Field, where they battled to a scoreless draw. This match began similarly, with both teams trading chances. The calm waters didn’t last very long as four goals were scored in the first half. The Reign notably broke through first as Veronica Latsko served up a perfect ball for Jordyn Huitema to tap in.

The Current responded quickly and in a similar fashion, with Temwa Chawinga finishing a dish by Michelle Cooper.

Huitema scored again in the 41st minute, diving for a loose ball that began with a Sofia Huerta free kick and a Jess Fishlock dime. But soon after, KC equalized again from close range as Lauren beat both Huerta and Laurel Ivory to a loose ball off a corner kick.

The wheels fell off for the Reign defense very early in the second half when they allowed two goals in 90 seconds, both following restarts. Things went from bad to worse when Current forward Michelle Cooper forced a penalty that Lo’eau LaBonta capitalized on. While she and her teammates celebrated with a Dirty Dancing lift, it was clear that the Reign were not having the time of their lives, and the match ended 5-2. The dominant win lifts the Current to the top of the table, while the Reign stay in 13th with seven points.

WHAT WORKED: JORDYN PAMELA HUITEMA

She’s back! Huitema wasted no time in her first start since recovering from a back injury that had her out for an extended period. She was the heart of the Reign’s attack throughout the first half, creating good early looks for Fishlock and Latsko before finishing two herself and earning her first NWSL brace.

Huitema is the youngest Reign player to score multiple goals in a match. Though she made less of an impact in the second half, head coach Laura Harvey noted postgame that Jordyn playing the whole game was not originally planned but ended up happening due to some other players picking up knocks and how the game unfolded.

WHAT WORKED: AN EARLY LEAD? IN THIS ECONOMY?

The Reign didn’t just discontinue their habit of going down early; they scored first! And then scored again! It helps to ignore that they only led for a total of 10 minutes, but breaking the first-half pattern is a good sign for a team that hasn’t scored more than one goal in the first half since April 22, 2023. Unfortunately, a solid 45-minute showing doesn't matter if you concede three goals in the other 45.

WHAT DIDN'T WORK: BOLD BUT NOT BOLD ENOUGH

Good football teams punish their opponents for hesitating even a little bit, and the Kansas City Current is a very good team with an organized, unforgiving press. They capitalized every time the Reign defense faltered and scored five goals from five shots on goal. The moment you find yourself 1v1 with Michelle Cooper or in a footrace with Temwa Chawinga, it’s probably already too late.

WHAT DIDN'T WORK: NO ANSWER FOR CHAWINGA

The Current have a lot of good players. They’ve had 16 different goal-scorers already this season. Temwa Chawinga sets the tone with her decision-making, technical skill, and speed. She has seven goals on the season and leads the league in shots on target with 27. Though Phoebe McClernon kept her scoreless last time Seattle and KC met, she broke through and scored two goals and added an assist in this match.

“We’re creating our own problems.”

Jess Fishlock shared her frustration with the result, particularly with concessions that seemed preventable. “It’s really nice that scoring goals is not our problem…we’re just really the masters of our own downfall right now.”

Harvey echoed similar sentiments. “I think again we shot ourselves in the foot. To concede so close to halftime was tough. Ninety seconds of madness at the start of the second half changed the trajectory of the game immediately.” She feels that the 90-second lapse rocked the team’s confidence throughout the second half.

“You can’t concede the amount of goals we’re conceding and expect to get results.”

Harvey drew similarities between tonight’s loss and other concessions by the team over their past few matches. “We worked for two weeks on the things we conceded goals off again today. I think the corner was a start to it. The first goal too – very similar to the Orlando, Washington goals.”

Fishlock agreed. “I feel like we conceded really sloppy goals. This isn’t the first game that has been happening…We have a week to fix this. We either need to stand up and take accountability as individuals and collectively, or this is just not going to change.”

The late spring stretch of the schedule has had no mercy for Seattle as they play six consecutive matches against the four teams that sit at the top of the table. The Reign will return home to regroup and host fourth-place Portland on Sunday, June 16th at 1 PM PT. This will be the second Cascadia rivalry game of the season as the Reign hope to avenge the brutal 4-0 loss at Providence Park last month.