On Friday night, Seattle Reign hosted the Kansas City Current, who entered the weekend in first place. The Reign joined two other clubs in defeating the top three teams in the league this weekend, with Portland beating Orlando and Angel City taking down the Spirit. Lynn Biyendolo scored the lone goal in the Reign's 1-0 home win, with Jordyn Huitema earning the assist.
June Ash Eden
Here are three stats from the match.
0.7
The Reign started a five-back against Kansas City, with Ana-Maria Crnogorčević and Maddie Dahlien in the wingback spots. The team stayed organized throughout the match and defended well in the box. As a result, the Current produced a season-low 0.7 expected goals total. This also marked Kansas City's first shutout loss since September 1, 2023.
First time Kansas City has been shutout since a September 13, 2024 draw with Orlando. First shutout defeat for Kansas City since September 1, 2023 against Angel City.
— Chris Henderson (@chris-awk.bsky.social) 2025-05-03T04:32:26.457Z
In particular, the Reign frustrated the Current in the first half. The Current only took one shot from inside the box in the first 45 minutes, a Debinha chance that deflected but which Claudia Dickey easily saved.
Matches between Laura Harvey and Vlatko Andonovski are always a tactical chess match, and that was true again on Friday. Kansas City tried to mix things up against the Reign and started forward Lacho Marta at left back, presumably to push the Reign back further. This pushed Lo LaBonta deeper onto the backline when the Current tried to advance the ball up the field, allowing Lacho to try to stretch the field on the left. It was an interesting idea with Temwa Chawinga not starting and Michelle Cooper unavailable, but the Reign's formation and defensive organization nullified this approach.
The Reign set up in a 5-2-3 defensively when the Current were trying to build. As the clip below shows, the three forwards – Ji So-yun, Jordyn Huitema, and Lynn Biyendolo – defended really close to one another toward the middle of the pitch, inviting the Current to try to send the ball wide instead of building through the midfield. Huitema did a ton of work to prevent balls to Claire Hutton in the midfield, while the backline and midfield all worked incredibly hard to close down quickly on an opponent when they were able to receive the ball.
Well done from the entire Reign squad to limit Kansas City's chances.
+5.3
We need to talk about Claudia Dickey. While she only had to make three saves on Friday night against the Current, she has been consistently confident and solid in her box this entire season. Dickey now leads the league with a +5.3 post-shot expected goals against vs. actual goals conceded.
Let's unpack that stat a little more. While Dickey has conceded six goals this season, the expected goals against total based on her opponents' shot placement is 11.3, according to Opta/FBref. That means opponents were expected to score more than 11 goals against Dickey based on their shot quality, but have only scored six. Dickey has prevented more than five goals from reaching the back of the net.
As Van Crisp points out in this week's Cooler Guild episode, this first-half save against Debinha looks easy because of Dickey's footwork and positioning.
According to FBref, the Current had a post-shot expected goals total of 1.3, with this Debinha chance coming in at 0.77 based on the deflection and placement. After Friday's match, Dickey gave her team all the credit for the shutout, and they deserve it, but she's been instrumental for the team as the last line of defense.
7
The Reign have scored seven goals in seven matches this season, and they have seven different goal scorers so far. The Reign managed to score on one of their few chances against the Current, with Lynn Biyendolo getting her first goal for the Reign with that opportunity. As Harvey said after the match, that's the kind of goal the Reign haven't put in consistently – a quick reaction, opportunistic chance.
"When I heard that there was a chance we could get Lynn, it was goals like tonight that I was like, 'This is why she could be huge for us.' Where it's scrappy in the box. She just turns something that's like a half chance into a chance so quickly. And it's why she's who she is."
While it's positive to see so many different players impacting matches, the Reign still have a lot more to show on the offensive end. Defense keeps you in games, but they could put games away even earlier if they created and finished more chances. Plus, it isn't a bad time to have a player or two build up some confidence with a goal-scoring streak. Maybe this can be a catalyst for more Biyendolo goals.
The club's next match against the Houston Dash could be a good opportunity to show growth on the offensive end while also maintaining the same defensive discipline they've demonstrated in these last few matches. That game kicks off Sunday, May 11, at 5 PM PT. The Mother's Day home match will air on Fox 13+ locally and stream on NWSL+ and Paramount+.
