Seattle Reign Struggles Continue with 2-0 Loss to NJ/NY Gotham FC
By Becca Weinberg
Seattle, WA - The Seattle Reign have extended their winless streak to five matches after falling to Gotham FC 2-0 under the lights of Lumen Field. Another unsatisfying performance in the attacking third kept the Reign to just a few shots on goal, with their defense unable to stop Gotham on the other side.
Images from the Seattle Reign FC loss against the NJ/NY Gotham FC at Lumen Field on May 15th, 2026 (Photos by Eric Hiller for Circling Seattle Sports).
“We have standards, and we’re not meeting them right now,” said defender Angharad James-Turner post-game. “We will do everything we can as a group to regroup, to watch that game back and learn, and hopefully be better for our next game.”
Gotham’s first goal came in the 24th minute when forward Jaedyn Shaw received the ball in the penalty area and caught the Reign’s back line sleeping. She split three defenders through a gap in the defense and landed her shot right past a frozen Claudia Dickey.
NJ/NY’s second-half goal was scored in the 57th minute by defender Tierna Davidson as she connected with a pass from midfielder Sofia Cook and hit a one-timer into the goal. Davidson’s first NWSL goal since August 2019, after battling back from two different ACL tears, secured the away win for Gotham.
“Especially second half, we didn’t have much control over the game,” said James-Turner. “I thought first half we broke them down and got it into areas that we’ve worked on in the week, but then struggled to progress from there. I feel like that’s been a common theme for us the last few games.”
James-Turner and head coach Laura Harvey both identified one of the major problems of the last few matches as a difficulty with sticking to the game plan for the entire 90 minutes. While matches can’t be won without goals being scored, there are many other tactical changes the team will focus on as they prepare for the rest of the season as well.
“When you’ve experienced winning, and you know how to win, these games show,” said Harvey post-game on the talent on Gotham’s roster across multiple different levels of women’s soccer. “And that's what we need. We need to get in a place where we can understand how to win.
Seattle will embark on a road trip beginning this weekend with their first-ever matchup against Boston Legacy FC. The 5:00 PM PDT match will be streamed on Prime Video and available on the radio on 950 KJR AM.
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Check out our previous Seattle Reign FC articles here.
Check out our previous articles written for CSS by Becca Weinberg here, and her work with Lookout Landing here.
Check out our previous articles with photos by Eric Hiller here, and his portfolio here.
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