Bold loss to Pride

Reign go toe to toe with defending champs, lose close match

On Saturday, April 12, 2025, the Seattle Reign fought the best team in the league – and, although perhaps outplaying the Pride, Seattle lost, 1-0. The defending champions continued their no-loss streak (with Orlando’s most recent loss remaining their October 20, 2024 match against Gotham) and went to 4-0-0 on the 2025 season. The Reign, meanwhile, dropped to one win, two losses, and one draw.

The match was a battle of keepers, with Anna Moorhouse keeping a clean sheet for the Pride and Dickey making several phenomenal saves for Seattle. The match saw breakaways moving the ball down each side in succession, with few spells of inconclusive midfield play and many opportunities on goal. Ultimately, however, Orlando stalwarts Marta and Banda combined for a goal late in the first half, and that was all the scoring the match saw.

The Reign swapped structures during the game, but in the broad strokes, the home side used a four-back structure with Maddie Dahlien as a movable player sometimes on the back line and sometimes in the front row.

Reign keep pace for 39 minutes but Banda strikes despite general Dickey masterclass

Seattle started out of the gate on strong footing – getting several early chances – before the Pride pushed the home crew into a more defensive posture in the second quarter. Dickey made one phenomenal save after another as the half wore on, denying Barbra Banda multiple times and preventing an Olimpico from Marta, but a perfect 40th minute cross from Marta found Banda’s left foot and then the net for the only points of the half.

The first 15 minutes saw a couple opportunities for the Bold. Eight minutes in, Sam Meza took a longshot but was blocked. In the 11th, Jordyn Huitema had a near-breakthrough, as she took a shot past her defender and entirely past Pride keeper Anna Moorhouse – but it was a slow dribbler that Orlando caught up to and knocked away from the net. Two minutes later, Ainsley McCammon tried her own shot from outside the box with pressure but booted it wide.

Orlando began to take it towards the Seattle net after this, but Claudia Dickey proved to be a brick wall that would take a while to chip away at. In the 14th, Marta delivered a pass to the left side for Summer Yates, who sent it up to Kerry Abello, charging into the box. Abello took a shot for the inside corner of the net, but Dickey dove forward and caught it.

A flurry of Pride attacks followed, each being deflected in turn by a Seattle defender or an errant Pride ball. In the 21st, Dickey notched another diving save, this time off a close distance shot by Banda that the Reign keeper knocked away before Sam Meza cleared it away.

Coco Mondésir immediately brought it back the other way, giving the Reign about a minute in the attacking half before Lu Barnes sent a high ball to Maddie Dahlien on the left side. Dahlien expertly blew past Orlando right back Cori Dyke and ran towards the goal before taking a shot, but Moorhouse blocked the only available tunnel and snared the ball.

Orlando came right back with a chance of their own, as Banda brought the ball over to the attacking zone and the Pride forced a corner. Marta’s ball flew in and nearly curled in for an Olimpico – but caromed off the crossbar, and Banda’s follow-up header flew over the goal.

Dickey continued her excellent work as the half wore on, ending a couple chances for the Pride in the 30th and 37th. As the 40-minute mark approached, the Reign began to put together an attack, but Curry’s attempted long ball for Huitema went a little too far and ended up in Moorhouse’s hands.

Orlando broke the other way, working up towards the box over the span of around 30 seconds. Yates broke past Curry on the left side of the 18 and sent a cross for Banda, who threw her foot past Phoebe McClernon and knocked the ball into the net. 1-0, Orlando.

The Pride nearly doubled their lead in the 45th, as Angelina broke forward around midfield and sent a 20-meter screamer toward the upper left corner of the net – but Dickey leapt up and knocked the ball over the crossbar. The following corner went nowhere, but the Reign went into the locker with a 1-0 deficit.

Moorhouse enters battle of keepers as second half goes on, match ends 1-0

Seattle had more possession as the second half wore on, but unlike the visitors in the first, the home side did not manage to capitalize. The addition of Emeri Adames in the 79th minute immediately recharged the offense and led to some of the stronger chances of the match for the Reign, while Orlando’s transitions in the half came mostly from Banda and her fellow Zambian, Prisca Chilufya, who entered for Marta in the 61st.

The Reign substituted Lynn Biyendolo in for Jordyn Huitema as the second half began, as both were on limited minutes according to Coach Harvey. Biyendolo immediately slotted into Jordyn’s role, but the shape remained similar for the time being.

Seattle’s first and perhaps best chance of the half came in the 49th minute, as they put together a drive in Orlando territory. Dahlien took a ball from Mercado and fired a shot towards the net, blocked my Moorhouse. The ball caromed off the visiting keep, and Coco saw a chance. She charged forward, then threw her boot at the ball, aiming for the unobstructed goal – but sent it high over the crossbar.

After eight minutes of mostly play in the Reign half and around midfield – with Orlando approaching a couple times but being denied by Seattle’s defense – the Bold again brought the ball towards the visiting net. Coco went up the right side and sent Biyendolo a ball, which the striker immediately whipped back to Coco as she rolled up the field. The Haitian ran up from the right and took a shot, but Moorhouse blocked it and the ball took a lucky turn to reach an Orlando defender before going over the line for a corner.

Four minutes later, Chilufya entered the game and immediately had an impact. In the 63rd, she and Banda drove down the field and nearly threatened the goal, but the Reign back line wrested the ball from their grasp and sent it back downfield. Biyendolo soon gathered the ball in Orlando’s half and sent it to Mercado, who took a couple steps past Pride defenders and then sent off a left-footer right to Moorhouse’s arms. A few minutes later, Dahlien worked her way up the left side of the box past Orlando defender Oihane Hernandez and tried to cross to the crowd, but Moorhouse intercepted once more.

By this point in the half, Seattle had shifted forward in the attack, bringing Dahlien consistently into the attacking formation, at times as high on the pitch as Biyendolo. Harvey then made some personnel changes in the 67th, switching out Maddie Mercado and Ainsley McCammon for Shae Holmes and Angharad James-Turner.

Both teams then traded runs on the goal for around ten minutes, although the Reign spent more time with the ball while the defense repelled Orlando’s attempts at rapid turnarounds. Adames came in for Curry in the 79th and breathed new life into a home side that would go on to spend most of the remainder of the match on the attack.

Seattle’s best chance in this new phase of play was in the 81st minute, as the team brought the ball into the attacking zone on a turnaround. Coco sent a ball to Biyendolo, who sent a through ball to a Dahlien that broke for the box. Moorhouse, with her own body as the only obstacle between the ball and an equalizer, slid into the path of Dahlien’s right-footed shot.

Chances kept coming for Seattle, as in the 85th, Adames and Biyendolo brought forth an attack on the box, with Adames kicking for goal and forcing a corner. Barnes’ initial cross in was deflected back and her second attempt found Moorhouse’s glove.

Still, Orlando had direct transitions that could have seen results. In the 87th, Chilufya once more ran up the pitch and sent a pass for Banda, but the Zambian captain’s shot went wide.

Seattle immediately brought it right back and got a corner kick, which Adames took into the crowd in the 88th. McClernon sent a header towards the net, but it wafted a foot over the crossbar.

Although both teams made it deep into opposing territory a few more times for the remaining minutes, nothing came of it on either side – Orlando held on, 1-0.

Close but no cigar

Seattle showed plenty of potential during the match, outplaying Orlando for large stretches of the game. For the visitors, the phrase “bailed out by the high end talent” comes to mind – as Banda and Chilufya were the entire Orlando offense for the back half, and Anna Moorhouse more than made up for a somewhat lackluster Orlando back line – but this isn’t entirely fair, given that the Pride were able to put together full-team drives in the first 45 and weaved past Seattle several times. Were it not for Claudia Dickey’s stellar performance in net, Seattle could have been out of the count before the halftime whistle blew.

Coach Harvey was openly impressed by her team’s performance, despite the negative result. Unlike many games in the past for this team, the Reign were kept off the board in the second half not by the lack of quality on the ball but by the excellent play of the opposing keeper.

“Today, I’m very pleased. Super pleased. I didn’t think that very often last year, there wasn’t many times I came in her and went, ‘yeah, we didn’t deserve [the loss].’ I didn’t use those words very often,” Laura said.

However, there were moments in the match – especially in the first half – when Orlando truly bested Seattle on the pitch, with Banda, Marta, Angelina, and Chilufya outrunning and outmaneuvering the Reign back line on multiple occasions. Then again, there is a reason the Pride are the defending champions.

Moving forward

Seattle’s next match is on Friday, April 18, 2025, against the Portland Thorns. The Reign’s rivals in the Rose City are currently at one win, one loss, and two draws, a point ahead of Seattle in the table.