This was one of those games that genuinely could've gone either way: both teams traded big chances, shots, periods of strong possession, and excellent defending. The expected goals were nearly identical. The shots from good positions were nearly identical. The duels won were nearly identical.
The Denver Summit maintained a fair possession advantage, the Reign just missed on several long counters that likely would've been completed in the larger dimensions of Lumen Field, and neither team could find an advantage.
For the Reign, a big part of that was – as has been the expectation for some time now – the play of Claudia Dickey and Sam Meza. Both came up big during the Summit's best moments, and helped ensure the Reign came away with a point to wrap up an undefeated stretch on their Bonus Road Trip.
On to the next one. On the fancy, mandatory, precious World Cup grass at Lumen Field, this time.
And while we're on our way, let's talk some more about how cool it is that we get to watch Sam Meza do this so often.
Goalkeeper
Claudia Dickey – 7
Plus. While Denver had a lot of the ball and took 19 shots, they only managed a few high-quality chances along the way. Janine Sonis got a bite at the ball from a tough angle in first-half stoppage time but couldn't get it past the defense. Former Reigneer Carson Pickett had a great opportunity in the 67th minute, but sent it high and wide. Dickey was only asked to make one good save the whole evening – on a Yazmeen Ryan blast from distance in the 59th, that she safely corralled.
Much of Denver's failure to find danger despite getting so many touches in good positions comes back to Dickey, who is increasingly coming into her own as not just an elite shotstopper but an elite organizer. Denver never got a foot (or head) on the ball inside her six, and never had an uncontested look inside the penalty area. Instead, Claw-dia claimed the loose ball time after time, and used it to jumpstart the Reign in transition.
Minus. Trying to hit in transition, the team as a whole tried a lot of long, line-erasing passes to spring Nérilia Mondésir and Emeri Adames, and on the smaller field in Spokane, too many of those long passes were wasted, rolling just out of play or just out of their reach. At Lumen, or with "Danger Maddie" Dahlien running onto them, we should expect Claudia to complete a few of those missed connections.
Defenders
Madison Curry – 6
Plus. While I often say (and will say again) that Madison Curry loves to tackle people and we love her for it, she actually didn't get stuck in all that often in this one – she mostly didn't have to. Part of that was to the Reign's defensive shape and Denver's attacking intentions leaving her with less one-on-one defending than she usually does. Part of that was just how good a day she had off the ball and how often she simply beat the opponent to it by a step or more in defense. Her eight clearances and six recoveries speak to that. She was also solid shuttling the ball in possession, and created a decent chance along the way, finding Mondésir at the top of the penalty area in the 91st minute for some chaos that ultimately went nowhere.
Minus. You're going to hear this a lot about the defensive block in this match – the long passes were just not quite hitting. Curry had a bunch of opportunities to put Coco and Adames on the break, and mostly couldn't find the right weight to do so. On a more familiar, larger field, with more legs ready to come off the bench, on another night...
Phoebe McClernon – 7
Plus. Like I already talked about in Claw-dia's writeup, the back line for the Reign came up huge, limiting opportunities, dictating where and what shots the Summit could take, and exposing the goal to remarkably few good looks. McClernon was, as usual, a huge part of that. With 19 shots, Denver really managed only one good chance, late in the match. Phoebe was everywhere before and after that opportunity, pressuring shooters, breaking up passes, winning duels, and – along with her ten defensive contributions – seamlessly providing wide cover to allow Curry to get further up the pitch.
Minus. God, the wasted long passes. The Reign had a game plan, and that game plan clearly involved pulling Denver – a hard team to break down, so far – out of their comfortable block, giving them the ball, and hitting them when they were less organized, and but for the weight on those long passes...
Say lah vee.
Emily Mason – 7
Plus. I think this was a strong argument for Emily Mason's best appearance for the Reign. She had 55 touches, 11 defensive contributions, four recoveries and six clearances, but more than anything else, she looked confident and capable of matching her opponents step for step. She was strong in possession, distributing the ball well and seamlessly covering for Sofia Huerta to get forward, and hella strong out of it, a brick wall when Denver tried to isolate her, and worked smoothly with McClernon and Dickey to make the sweet spot a dead zone for Summit attackers.
While I want Jordyn Bugg playing as often as she can, Mason, who is still only 23 years old, is fast coming into her own as a central defender at this level, and that's great for the team.
Minus. I'm gonna snap bolt awake six years from now lamenting all the long passes that could have been from this backline. Mason's, in particular, were often agonizingly close to creating magic, and agonizingly close is the worst sort of miss: the sort that can't help but leave you wondering what if.
Sofia Huerta – 5
Plus. Even on a bit of an off night, Huerta always finds ways and moments to contribute. Struggling to connect on her crosses and entry passes, she nonetheless finds the moment to win a header, win a dangerous free kick, or just touch it past her defender and carry it into the attacking penalty area herself. Huerta created one of the Reign's three best chances, had eight defensive contributions, and came up with a big block on Janine Sonis at a big moment. There's a savvy to her game that comes with playing at a high level for years, an ability to find the right place to have a positive influence even when nothing's coming easily.
Minus. But it's still important to note that nothing was coming easily for Sof on the night. She was caught in possession twice, she couldn't complete (broken record moment incoming) her long passes, she couldn't connect on her crosses, she missed simple passes we're all very used to her making. It could be it was the field, the fatigue, or just one of those days at the office. With a resume like Huerta's, it's not really one to worry about – everyone has off-games, but Sofia doesn't have many in a typical year.
Midfielders
Sam Meza – 8 (POTM)
Plus. Sam Meza, the first of her name, destroyer of hopes, dreams, and opposing midfield structure. Nobody on the team, not even Curry, throws tackles like Meza. Eight in the match, incidentally, two of them big damn tackles, ending probing and dangerous offensive sequences for Denver, a third a spectacular recovery run and revenge tackle to take the ball back after her own mistake. Nobody on the team gets into duels, let alone wins duels, like Meza. Fifteen duels and 12 of them won, if you're keeping track, which of course I am. Throughout the match, Denver had so much of the ball, and so few opportunities to do something with it. Meza was always there, always lurking, always ready to steal it back from them, always ready to spring the ambush when Denver activated her trap card.
The numbers are ridiculous. My notebook is full of exclamation points. Eight tackles, 12 duels won, nine recoveries, three fouls won, a heat map that dares you to even think you can beat her, anywhere on the field. What can you do, trying to play against that, other than sit down and rethink the life decisions that brought you to this point?
Minus. This might have even been a 9 but for a couple bad moments – like coughing up the ball as the team was breaking into the counter. (She won it back, but the moment was lost and it was almost real, real dangerous.) On the smaller field, with Denver quick and compact in their defensive shape, Meza also sometimes forced the pass, turning it over when it might've been better to recycle.
Jess Fishlock – 6 (off 66' for Sally Menti)
Plus. Through the first 45 minutes, Jess Fishlock was the most dynamic attacking player on the pitch, finding three good shots (all of them blocked – Denver is hard to break down right now), two from inside the penalty area, one from her office just off the top of the arc, and adding two key passes and three shot-creating actions to the mix. She scarcely put a pass wrong, was good on the dribble when she chose to challenge her defender, and made a few hard runs in defense to get the recovery rather than let the Summit counter. A pretty tidy performance.
Minus. The range isn't what it was, and the burst speed isn't what it was, and there were moments where Fishlock's limitations were obvious, and the difference between a half chance and a good chance, a good chance and a great one. That got more and more true as the game carried on into the second half. It's not a big critique, but it's one that matters. She still has real value on the pitch, but how the Reign deploy her to maximize that is going to be an essential conversation.
Always. Jess Fishlock announced that she'll be retiring at the end of the season. No Reign player has ever given more to her team than she has. Arguably no player has ever given an NWSL team as much as she has. Fishlock is a Reign original, an NWSL original, the league's first bona fide international star, a multitool player who reinvented her game time and time again to stay at the top. She's won Shields. She's been the MVP. She's scored huge goals and come up with huge stops.
All that's missing is the cup. Let's send her off with one.
Angharad James-Turner – 6 (off 66' for Ainsley McCammon)
Plus. In a relatively unexciting offseason two seasons past, Haz was a fairly unheralded signing, but to my eye she's been an unexpectedly big contributor for the Reign, consistently eating tough minutes and reliably holding serve in a midfield in generational transition and tactical flux. That consistency and stability provides an essential platform and an additional veteran presence while the Reign's very young midfield stable develops. Against Denver, it was again an important, easily under-appreciated outing: she wasn't flashy, she didn't tear open the Summit's lines or turn the game on its head, but she was exactly where she needed to be, comfortable on the ball, good at disrupting the play, and showing up to support everyone else's efforts across the defensive third. She had four clearances and three recoveries of her own, but more importantly, she was frequently on hand to negate a developing overload and deny the Summit easy progression when they thought they'd found a soft place.
Minus. When the Summit managed to attack her in space, Angharad struggled with it, losing several impactful duels and allowing Yazmeen Ryan to skate right by her twice. The moments weren't many, but any one of them could've ended for the worse if the Reign's defensive organization were a little less connected.
Forwards
Nérilia Mondésir – 5
Plus. In the 7th minute, Mondésir received the ball and drove towards the goal, culminating in a shot from a decent position that was, ultimately, blocked and recovered by Denver. Not even a minute later, Coco took a 50/50 ball, absolutely rinsed her defender, and dropped a quick switch to Emeri Adames for another half-chance. Between taking her own shot and looking for others, there were another five almost looks that Nérilia saw the option for but couldn't quite complete – she was close enough to danger enough times to demand, and command, the attention of Denver's best defenders. Unafraid as ever to get into the mixer, she went into eight duels (albeit only winning three) and won two free kicks in the attacking half.
Minus. The short field and the Reign's occasionally shaky wide passing gave her less room to play than she wanted, and too many touches went wide, long, or just out of her reach for her to have the sort of impact she can. Denver effectively denied her space, and Nérilia disappeared for long stretches of the match as she searched for it.
Maddie Mercado – 6
Plus. Mercado is really good as a hold-up forward, which is a role that is very hard to play well, and that people tend to get very angry about even when you do play it well. Mercado was an absolute menace at the tip of the spear, winning four of seven duels, winning three fouls, and creating two chances, including a big-time chance for Jess Fishlock, with her presence up top. She also had two solid chances of her own, both taken from the corner of the six yard box, one in the 64th minute and one in the 91st. Neither, ultimately, challenged Summit goalkeeper Abby Smith, a very good goalkeeper that you simply won't beat if you don't make her work, but Maddie often looked like the best chance for the Reign to steal a goal in a heavyweight matchup of defenses playing lights-out footie.
Minus. She gave up three fouls, at least two of which she didn't need to give up, and was probably a bit lucky not to see yellow after the last of them.
Emeri Adames – 6 (off 77' for Brittany Ratcliffe)
Plus. On my initial watch, I underestimated how involved Adames was in the Reign's buildup and transition. On rewatch, I came to appreciate her contributions more. She led the team with three chances created, and had an excellent opportunity to give the Reign the lead with a fast attack in transition in the 24th minute – Abby Smith made the save on a shot that probably needed to be better, but Adames' reaction to get in for the chance in the first place was both good and, importantly, repeatable. Emeri was also one of the only Reign players who seemed able to complete a cross on the night, and she completed four, two of them ending in decent opportunities.
Minus. Adames spent most of the first half riding the offside line, and she got on the wrong side of it often enough to be a problem, drifting ahead of the play and killing it off before it had a chance to develop.
Substitutes
Ainsley McCammon – 5 (on 66' for Angharad James-Turner)
Replacing James-Turner in the 66th minute, Ainsley McCammon spent much of the match pinned back and playing almost as a bonus defender, and she did so with remarkable grit and maturity. She had six defensive contributions and completed all seven of her short and medium range passes (but joined the rest of the team in their can't-complete-a-long-ball-itis, going 0 for 2) while still finding a couple moments to drive the ball forward, engineering a final third entry in the late stages of the match that, though it ultimately developed into nothing much, reminded that incisive vision is an attribute playing back a line, too.
Sally Menti – 5 (on 66' for Jess Fishlock)
In a double substitution, Sally Menti replaced Jess Fishlock in the 66th minute, and attempted to revive some of Fishlock's first-half attacking dynamism. She managed just 10 touches and three completed passes, but one of those passes led to a fast break, and she won a dangerous free kick on another transition. Importantly, she also showed more understanding of her defensive responsibility than has always been the case, tracking back hard and ensuring that the Reign didn't cough up the one point while they chased all three.
Brittany Ratcliffe – 4 (on 77' for Emeri Adames)
Brittany Ratcliffe came on in the 77th minute and she didn't even score, which is bad news for sickos like me with unhinged Golden Boot predictions. She didn't get on the ball much, but she did keep the Reign's defensive shape, take over for Adames in teasing at Denver's offside line, and win the loose ball twice in the dying minutes of the match, ensuring it would be the Reign and not the Summit with the last chance to make a statement.
Referee
Atahan Yaya – 5
This was an occasionally confusing but mostly fine outing by referee Atahan Yaya in a game that was occasionally physical but mostly not over the line. There were some weird moments: corners awarded as goal kicks. Goal kicks awarded as corners. The inexplicable decision to simply blow the whistle for full time right in the middle of a promising attack. Several really good advantage calls that fizzled out on weird nothingburger calls the other way moments later. There were no egregious errors, but there were a lot of small moments that added up to a less fluid game than Yaya could've presided over, and a lot of small moments that, while probably not advantaging one team over the other, nonetheless served as a drag on the momentum and vibes of the match.
Refereeing is hard, I'm not inclined to be too hard on this sort of performance, but it was occasionally frustrating.
Summit POTM
Megan Reid
Frustratingly for the Reign, Megan Reid was a defensive wrecking ball, putting together 9 clearances, 2 interceptions, and 3 blocks, as well as snuffing out a chance with a brilliant last gasp tackle. And then she had the audacity to create one of Denver's best chances on the other end, too. A very solid night that she should save for a different opponent next time.
And Another Thing!
How much of Lumen can we fill for Fish's last stand?
How loud can we get the FISH - LOCK and TINY DRAGON chants?
These are the questions I hope to see an earthshaking response to.
