Seattle Reign Fall To Portland Thorns, 4-2, In 43rd Cascadia Clash
By Becca Weinberg, edited by Charles Hamaker
Portland, OR - In the 43rd edition of the NWSL’s Cascadia Clash, our Seattle Reign FC fell to the Portland Thorns by a final score of 4-2 in an exciting but frustrating back-and-forth battle. While the Reign got on the board first, they were unable to handle a run of three unanswered goals scored by the Thorns after Seattle’s opening score, including allowing two goals in the second half.
The beginning of the match was promising, as forward Emeri Adames netted a perfectly-timed feed into the box from midfielder, team captain, and club original Jess Fishlock. Splitting the defense, Adames poked the ball into the far post with her left foot to put the Reign up 1-0 in just the third minute of the match.
In the 16th minute, a penalty awarded to the Thorns was scored by midfielder Sam Coffey after Seattle defender Jordyn Bugg pushed forward Reilyn Turner down in the box during a potential attack on goal. Coffey slotted her shot past Reign goalkeeper Claudia Dickey and into the left corner to even the score at 1-1 and turn the momentum in favor of Portland.
The Thorns were able to continue building on their momentum in the 26th minute, when a corner kick bouncing around in the box found Turner’s feet. She collected the ball and took one touch before zipping it past Dickey into the back of the net. The Reign back line attempted to clear the corner kick but weren’t able to retain possession before midfielder Jessie Fleming found Turner to take a 2-1 lead.
Portland once again utilized their aggressive attack in addition to their set piece prowess in the 55th minute and got lucky with another bouncing ball in the box. Midfielder Olivia Moultrie’s shot deflected off the back of Reign defender Madison Curry and landed right in front of Thorns defender Reyna Reyes. She quickly headed the ball into the box and put the Thorns up 3-1 after halftime, putting the home side swiftly in control of the match under the August heat in Portland.
The Reign were able to get one back in the 64th minute after bringing in two fresh, veteran subs in forward Lynn Biyendolo and defender Lu Barnes. Through a refreshed attack, Curry received a ball out wide and blew past the Portland defense to cross the ball into Fishlock. No one from the Thorns’ back line picked up Fishlock’s run, and she headed Curry’s cross into the goal to get Seattle on the board in the second half. The hope was that the goal was going to instill some fire in Seattle to push ahead and start a ferocious comeback, but the Thorns had other plans.
“We’re very fortunate with some of the people we have in wide areas. Especially, you know, obviously MC here, Soph when she’s out there, Emeri when she’s out there, you kind of know that the delivery’s gonna be on point. And so I just kind of made a late run into the box and thankfully MC saw me. ”
Any comeback hopes were shot down just one minute later, as rookie forward Pietra Tordin received a through-ball from midfielder Hina Sugita into the box and hit a laser past Dickey for the final goal of the match right off the kickoff that came immediately after the Fishlock goal.
A frustrated head coach Laura Harvey spoke postgame about the Reign’s inability to stop the Thorns’ set piece goals during the match.
“You can’t concede four goals off set pieces and expect to win any game, no matter who you’re playing. You could be playing a U12 team, you’re not going to win the game. So, I think that’s just a very big lesson learned by us today that hopefully we can solve and come back from.”
“We have a young team, we’re learning a lot, but now we’re in a different situation,” added Fishlock. “Two teams, fierce rivalry, you’re in a pressure cooker…The intensity is always different in this kind of game and you have to really feel that and work your way through it. Sometimes it’ll hit you like a ton of bricks, and then with that experience you’ll slowly gain how to deal with these situations better and better.”
Quick Reign notes
21,811 was the announced attendance at Providence Park for this NWSL regular season contest between our visiting Seattle Reign FC and the Portland Thorns FC.
Reign forward Emeri Adames scored her fifth goal of the season, the sixth of her career.
The second-year forward continues to lead all Reign players in scoring and now ranks fifth in the NWSL for goals alongside Penelope Hocking (Bay FC), Bia Zaneratto (Kansas City Current), Gift Monday (Washington Spirit), Alyssa Thompson (Angel City FC), Debinha (Kansas City Current) and Reilyn Turner (Portland Thorns FC).
Reign defender Madison Curry recorded her first assist of the season in the 64th minute on Jess Fishlock’s goal.
This marks Curry’s second career assist.
Reign goalkeeper Claudia Dickey set a new season-high saves in a single match (7) in back-to-back weeks.
The 25-year-old now has 130 saves across four NWSL seasons.
Reign midfielder, captain, and club original Jess Fishlock has scored in two consecutive games with her goal today, in addition to her assist on Adames’ goal in the third minute.
The assist was her second of the season, and her 30th career assist. Her goal marks her third of the season and the fourth time in the 2025 campaign that a Reign player has recorded at least one goal and one assist.
The veteran midfielder now has 45 career regular-season goals, the 11th-most in NWSL history.
With today's result, Reign FC holds a record of 16-17-10 against Portland Thorns FC across all NWSL competitions.
What’s next?
Following a frustrating road defeat in a rivalry match against the Portland Thorns in this Sunday afternoon contest, our Seattle Reign FC return home to Lumen Field for their next match as the second half of the NWSL regular season chugs along. That game comes on Monday, August 18th against the Chicago Stars FC with a kickoff time of 7PM PDT that will be broadcast live on FOX 13 locally and on the CBS Sports Network nationally. This match will be “The Queen’s Match” as the Reign will usher in a new tradition for the city of Seattle. A match to honor the rich legacy of the city and spotlight the incredible women that pioneered the beautiful game, right here from our home in the Pacific Northwest – The Queen’s Match. For the first annual Queen’s Match, Reign FC recognizes the 1985 United States Women’s National Team and celebrates 40 years since they first took the field. The squad featured a roster of 17 women who made history and changed the women’s game forever, as they took a leap and boarded a plane to Jesolo, Italy to play at the Mundialito tournament – the first-ever international competition the United States Women’s National Team participated in.
For the match itself on the field, the Reign play host to Chicago for the first time in their “Stars” existence after dropping the “Red Stars” team name this past offseason. It’s a name change for Chicago’s NWSL franchise, albeit a very minor change, but the struggles on the pitch for the club continue as the Stars have gone winless since their fourth match of the season, a 2-1 win over Bay FC on April 13th. Chicago is one of the two one-win teams in the league this season so far, but they have been able to steal points as they’ve played to a draw in four of their last five matches. No match in the NWSL is an easy victory, but this is a prime opportunity for the Reign to bounce back from this frustrating road defeat to rivals Portland.
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Check out our previous Seattle Reign FC articles here.
Check out our previous articles with writing for CSS by Becca Weinberg here, and her work with Lookout Landing here.
Cover photo and other photos in this article by Jane Gershovich/Seattle Reign FC communications.
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