Reign depth chart looks familiar, but with key improvements for 2025

Laura Harvey's tactical approach asks a lot of her players, and the Reign had trouble effectively executing on it in many games last season. The roster has undergone a significant overhaul over the past 9 months to address those shortcomings. At least two new signings are expected to be in starting roles this year, and several other newer players are ready to make bigger contributions. After four preseason matches, here's our best guess at the team's depth chart heading into the 2025 NWSL season, although several positions are close calls between a few players and the preferred starter may shift week to week depending on fitness and opposition matchups.

For most of her coaching career, Harvey has leaned heavily on a 4-2-3-1 (or 4-3-3, depending on how you look at it) formation which keeps her midfielders clustered in the center of the pitch sharing a lot of duties, while using mobile fullbacks to provide width up and down the field. The central forward often drops back to collect passes and almost acts as a second attacking mid, while the wide forwards pinch in to look for crosses from the fullbacks or through balls from the midfield into the box. All indications are that the team intends to use this as their primary tactical formation again this season.

On defense, Harvey expects her team to defend from the front, with the forwards pressing high to cut off passing lanes, force errant passes and steer the opponent in one direction, while midfielders and fullbacks quickly close down and challenge any balls going through the middle of the pitch.

Here's roughly how it looks on paper:

Goalkeeper

For the moment, the starting spot appears to remain in the hands of Claudia Dickey, entering her fourth year as a pro and second full season as the club's starter after winning the job in the summer of 2023. But Laura Harvey has shown a willingness to switch things up in goal if she doesn’t like what she sees, and Cassie Miller is a capable veteran who should be well prepared to step into the starting role if the opportunity arises. Barring injuries, I don’t expect Maddie Prohaska to see the pitch this season, simply due to how rarely third goalkeepers make the game day roster.

Defense

It should be no surprise that the centerback pairing of Phoebe McClernon and Jordyn Bugg is once again expected to earn the lion’s share of minutes this season. The duo has had a full preseason to further improve their chemistry. Backing them up will be Julia Lester and Reign original Lu Barnes. The starting fullback spots appear to have been won by Shae Holmes on the left and new free agent signing Madison Curry on the right, with Hanna Glas behind Holmes and rookie Emily Mason behind Curry.

The club’s defensive depth is a bit thin at the moment, but Holmes, Barnes and Mason all have positional flexibility to play on the wing or centrally as the need arises. Additionally, the club should get Ryanne Brown back from injury by midseason to provide another option at left back, and Sofia Huerta will return from loan in July as another choice on the right. Lily Woodham is also scheduled to return from loan in the summer and would provide yet more fullback depth.

Midfield

The Reign tactical approach to midfield is somewhat difficult to show in a static image. It’s generally built around three midfielders who have distinct but somewhat overlapping roles – a defensive midfielder who is also asked to shuttle the ball, an attacking midfielder who sometimes serves as a second central forward or can drop as a deep-lying playmaker, and a third midfielder who fills gaps as the other two shift roles. It demands a lot of the players in those positions and the role each is taking on can evolve in the middle of a game.

Angharad James-Turner seems poised to start the year in the defensive mid role. Ji So-yun primarily played as an attacking mid last year but showed some real promise in a deeper role late in the season, and that shift has carried over in preseason this year, where her vision and passing ability can potentially shine on progressive balls to streaking forwards. Jess Fishlock, who will only stop playing soccer after her legs fall off and even then might still figure out a way to effectively slide tackle opponents with her torso, has been getting starting minutes as the other midfielder, generally playing a bit higher up the pitch than Ji. But as noted above, expect to see a lot of rotation between the three midfielders and even the central forward dropping into the midfield.

Backing up this trio and likely competing for spot starts are Olivia (“Olo”) van der Jagt in the defensive midfield role, Sam Meza as a playmaking mid, and Ainsley McCammon in a box-to-box role. The three roles in use can also shift depending on game state. For example, there could be situations when defending a lead where Harvey opts for two dedicated defensive midfielders, with both Olo and James-Turner on the field together. Nerilia “Coco” Mondésir might also see minutes at attacking mid, but Harvey has played her further up the field in preseason this year.

Forward

This area of the field has the most questions heading into the season. All six players on the depth chart can make a reasonable case for starter's minutes. Whenever she’s healthy and rested, it’s hard to argue against Lynn Biyendolo taking one of those three starting spots. Given the way Harvey likes to deploy her attacking band, Biyendolo seems most likely to start on the left but will be expected to cut inside, while the left fullback bombs forward to provide width. On the opposite side, Ana-Maria Crnogorčević should again be bringing her bulldog mentality. The central role is most up in the air – Mondésir appears to have a slight edge over Jordyn Huitema as the starter, but it’s very much a 1A / 1B situation where they will likely each receive a lot of starts, and potentially even play together at times. The entire front band of players also has the ability to swap roles in this setup – in Saturday’s game against UW, Huitema entered on the right at halftime for Crnogorčević, then moved into the middle when Emeri Adames came on for Mondésir in the 64th minute.

Maddie Dahlien is close to a like-for-like replacement for Biyendolo, bringing speed, a nose for goal, and a willingness to defend from the front that Laura Harvey loves from her forwards. She’ll be in line for plenty of minutes when Biyendolo needs rest. Adames has moved to the right side this preseason and should push AMC for minutes on that side, while also being available to play on the left if needed.

Utility

The one player not yet discussed above is Maddie Mercado, who has the flexibility to play numerous positions in midfield and attack. At times last season and in preseason this year, she has been used as a midfielder, on the flank, and at forward. In Saturday’s game against UW, she entered for Maddie Dahlien, but played much deeper on the field as the team shifted to a more defense-focused stance to see out their win. Mercado might not have a designated role, but that flexibility could be a benefit as she can provide support in several spots depending on the game state.