Second-half rally comes up short as Reign fall to Tijuana

The Seattle Reign hosted Club Tijuana on Sunday afternoon for their second group stage match of the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup. Though Seattle dominated the stat sheet throughout, Los Xolos were able to make the most of their chances and pull together a 3-2 win. 

The Reign went down in the 2nd minute when Natividad Martínez lobbed a ball to Aisha Solórzano, who caught Laurel Ivory well off her line and chipped it home with ease.

Much to the frustration of the Reign back line, history repeated itself in the 40th minute as Solórzano again broke through and scored, this time from a through ball by Ammanda Marroquin.

Seattle regrouped heading into the second half and began to capitalize on their offensive momentum right out of the gate. Assisted by fellow rookie Maddie Mercado, Emeri Adames scored her second professional goal in signature Emeri Adames fashion: a left-footed golazo from just outside the box. 

Mercado opened her professional scoring account in the 63rd minute, putting away a rebound for the equalizer. Is this…what hope feels like?

The game seemed like it could go any direction for the remainder of the second half, but another defensive lapse allowed Solórzano to complete her hat trick, this time assisted by Marta Cox.

WHAT WORKED: THE KIDS CAN PLAY!!

Head coach Laura Harvey has delivered on her promise of rotation during the Summer Cup, and so far it’s been a net positive. In addition to Adames and Mercado’s clutch goal contributions, other young players made a difference today. Harvey had high praise for 17-year-old Jordyn Bugg, a versatile defender who made her NWSL debut for the Reign, playing fullback in the first half before moving to centerback in the second half.

 “I thought she was exceptional, i think her best set position is centerback, but you saw she’s very comfortable on the ball and can play [outside back].”

Rookie Sam Meza also saw solid minutes in her first start for the club.

WHAT WORKED: OFFENSIVE PRESSURE

The Reign looked most comfortable and in control when they were on the offensive push. They completed 488 passes with 82% accuracy, taking 17 shots and earning 11 corners. It seemed at times as if their offensive efforts were thwarting the counterattack better than their defense.

WHAT DIDN’T WORK: FINISHING 

The bad news: games aren’t won based on how many shots you take.

The good news: the finishing should improve over time as these young players develop further.

WHAT DIDN’T WORK: DEFENSE (ADAPT OR DIE)

Giving up a hat trick is bad enough. Giving up a hat trick on three near-identical goals is worse. Unable to sort out their defense, the Reign found themselves chasing whenever they got off their offensive rhythm. Harvey mentioned postgame that she noticed this lack of structure in her club, attributing it to Tijuana playing a different style than NWSL teams. Seattle had no answer for the craft and speed of the Xolos’ quick touch attack. 

“They’re not beating us, we’re beating ourselves. When that’s the case, the game’s easy to turn around.”

Head coach Laura Harvey asserted this to her players at halftime after they went down by two goals. If you’ve been following the Reign this season, this might sound familiar. Coaches and players alike have emphasized throughout the turmoil that many of the team’s woes are self-inflicted. They did manage to turn this game around, which feels like an improvement from what we’ve seen the past few months, but there was yet another disappointing result at the final whistle. 

What’s next

All four teams in Group A are sitting on three points after two games. Seattle are in third place based on goal differential. Winning the group is still very possible, though it wouldn’t necessarily guarantee a spot in the Summer Cup semifinals. Only the four highest scoring group winners advance, and no other group has split points as evenly as Group A. With every point counting that much more, Seattle will quickly turn around and head to Providence Park to take on the Portland Thorns at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, July 31st. The rivalry match will air on Paramount+, CBS Sports Golazo Network (English), and NWSL+ (Spanish).