Top Reign Takeaways From Seattle’s Home Loss to NJ/NY Gotham FC, May 15th, 2026
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA - The final home match before July for Seattle Reign FC, with no official NWSL matches being staged from June 1st to 28th due to the FIFA Men’s World Cup, did not prove to be a satisfying sendoff as the club fell to NJ/NY Gotham FC in a frustrating match. The Reign’s goal drought has pushed to five matches, and with that, they’ve gone winless in those five matches. Seattle is just about done with the first third of their 2026 campaign, as every NWSL team will play 30 matches this season, and this was the ninth for the Reign.
We’ve seemingly seen two different teams on display so far this year, and the current version of the club that cannot score while making defensive mistakes has dropped them out of a playoff spot following tonight’s results. Here are some top takeaways from Seattle’s home loss to Gotham on May 15th, 2026, as we’re nearly a third of the way through the Reign’s 2026 season.
“Not enough good moments, honestly. I think tonight, their experience showed. I think one thing that we talk about a lot is being dangerous and how we’re going to be able to do that, and we didn’t put it in the areas we spoke about putting it in enough. I think in the game we played too much in front of them and not behind them. When we did late in the game, good things happened... We didn’t create enough tonight.”
Seattle Reign FC attacking players during the club’s defeat against the NJ/NY Gotham FC at Lumen Field on May 15th, 2026. (Photos by Eric Hiller for Circling Seattle Sports)
Seattle takes a step backward offensively
Over this current five-match goal drought for the Reign, something they’ve been able to say over the last few matches is that they are indeed generating chances and getting dangerous possession against their opponents. They weren’t gaudy numbers that the club was putting up, nothing over two expected goals generated in a match during this stretch, but there were stats being produced on a consistent basis that would lead you to believe that a breakthrough was coming.
Expected goals rose from the Denver match to the Houston match; shots on target steadily increased, and touches in the box improved over time since the Denver match. Over the last two matches against Washington and Gotham, the numbers have gone backward: expected goals dropped below one in both contests, and total shots, shots on target, and touches in the opposition box all fell below the numbers seen against Denver, Utah, and Houston. Granted, Spirit and Gotham are two clubs that are routinely near the top of the league and are loaded with top talent, so you can’t just say that Seattle struggled when they shouldn’t have. But, it is discouraging that the numbers in the attack are going backward.
Sam Meza masterclass, once again
Coming into this match, Reign midfielder Sam Meza was leading the NWSL in tackles, tackles won, and recoveries, while not being far off from the league lead in duels won. She’s started every match this year for Seattle and came into the game having played the fourth most minutes among all field players for the club, continuing a strong career arc after being loaned to the Dallas Trinity of the USL Super League in August of 2024. Sam’s been the club’s most consistent player this season, per head coach Laura Harvey, and she turned in another strong performance tonight against a Gotham team that can tear you apart if you’re not strong in the middle third of the field.
Meza’s heatmap spans nearly the entirety of the field in this match, with the only space that the 24-year-old didn’t register touches in being the Gotham box, which may sting considering the Reign got shutout again tonight. Sam played all 90 minutes, something she’s now done in all but one of the nine matches Seattle has played so far this year. Meza completed 79% of her passes (33/42), three going into the final third, while completing one cross and two long balls, in addition to tallying nine defensive contributions.
“She’s been great, as a human and as a footballer. She comes in every day, and she is at her best every single day. She drives this team, especially without the ball. The amount of balls that she wins back, the recoveries that she makes, the tackles she makes, she drives this team forward. She’s been great for us this year, she was last year. We’ve all got to match that.”
Sam has admitted she wants to do things a bit better when it comes to her offensive play, specifically, more passes into the final third, but what Harvey said about Meza’s consistency rang true once again tonight.
“I’m not perfect by any means, and there are parts of my game that I still want to develop, and that I’m continuing to kind of refine. Like I said, it’s a team effort, and everybody has good games, everybody has bad games, so it’s just about finding moments where we can all kind of fire on the same cylinders and kind of just be on the same page.”
Seattle Reign FC midfielder Sam Meza during the club’s defeat against the NJ/NY Gotham FC at Lumen Field on May 15th, 2026. (Photos by Eric Hiller for Circling Seattle Sports)
How will the Reign respond to this low point?
After a flying start to the season, with strong performances through their first five matches outside of a disastrous performance against the Portland Thorns, the Reign have lost three of their last four and have obviously not scored a goal over their last five matches, as you’ve already seen mentioned several times. It’s been a pretty brutal stretch that’s knocked them down a few pegs in the table after being somewhat high following wins in three of their first four matches on the year. This current skid, like any poor stretch of a season, presents an opportunity.
“We’re a really good group; we stick together in the tough times, and we hold each other and ourselves accountable. We’ll do that tonight for the performance: we’ll hold our hands up and say we’re not good enough and that it needs to be better. There’s no shying away from that, but as Sam mentioned, we have to remain positive. It’s a long season, and we’ve got two big games before the next international break, and we can go away from home and pick up the results we want.”
The Reign can use it to fuel them and turn things around before the break to give themselves some momentum going into an extended time away, or they continue to sputter heading into the break, which leaves even more of a sour taste in their mouth over nearly a month off. Mental fortitude is always key in sports, and this is still a somewhat young group learning the non-negotiables of winning as a unit. On numerous occasions, including tonight, veteran leadership has said that this Reign roster must take the necessary lessons from tight, painful losses so they can take the next step as a group and truly become a force.
It seemed like we’d seen bits of that early on with that thrilling season-opening victory over Orlando, beating the Current when they were struggling earlier this year, and grinding out that victory over Racing. But now the true test has presented itself, this rough patch earlier in the year. The culture laid by the club originals has gotten the Reign through numerous difficult issues, many of which we may never know the full truth about, and it will need to play a role in Seattle getting out of this current skid. It will be fascinating to look back on this stretch later in the season and see how the Reign pushed forward.
“Anytime you lose, it’s tough. Anytime you’re scoreless, it’s just hard to take in. It’s a long season, and we’re definitely trying to stay positive. At the end of the day, we can’t do anything but try to stay positive, keep pushing each other in training, and look at what we need to do better... We have to figure it out. I’m pretty positive that we’re able to do that.”
Seattle Reign FC midfielder Angharad James-Turner during the club’s defeat against the NJ/NY Gotham FC at Lumen Field on May 15th, 2026. (Photos by Eric Hiller for Circling Seattle Sports)
Other observations and notes from this match
An interesting lineup note in the Reign's starting XI was that regular outside back Madison Curry had been replaced by Shae Holmes for this match. Curry has been a regular in the Seattle lineup since the club signed her in the offseason a few years ago and has been largely a reliable name, so having her on the bench was a bit of a curious decision.
Harvey said post-match that two factors played into starting Holmes over Curry, one being the club's quick turnaround from their last match. The other was more of a tactical decision for the Reign, considering the way that Gotham presses. It creates pressure on the fullbacks, but often allows them to get wide up the field, so having a left-footed fullback to break the pressure appeared to be a good opportunity for Seattle. Add the fact that Holmes had impressed in training and showed well in the scrimmages the club held over the last break, and that’s how we got to the decision to start Shae over Madison.
Milestones
Pre-match, head coach Laura Harvey was honored with special artwork and other gifts for reaching the 300-career-matches milestone, and she also celebrated her birthday on the day of this match.
Harvey becomes the first coach in NWSL history to reach the milestone.
Defender and club co-captain Sofia Huerta made her 100th appearance with the Reign in this match.
Huerta becomes only the 6th player in Reign FC history to reach this milestone.
Defender Phoebe McClernon made her 100th NWSL appearance in this match.
What’s next?
Following tonight’s home loss against NJ/NY Gotham FC, the Seattle Reign FC heads on the road for two matches before the NWSL goes on an extended break through the month of June. The Reign’s first of two road matches before that break comes on Friday, May 22nd, against the Boston Legacy FC with a 5 PM PDT kickoff time that will be broadcast live on Amazon Prime Video. Seattle will be looking to snap their five-match unbeaten streak that coincides with their five-match goal drought.
Since starting their inaugural season on a five-match losing streak, the Boston Legacy have gone on a five-match point streak that includes wins over fellow expansion side Denver Summit and the Orlando Pride, and points split with Bay FC tonight. This match against the Reign will be the final home match at Centreville Bank Stadium for the Legacy before the international break, as they’ll head on the road to take on the Kansas City Current on May 30th to close out their slate before the break. Playing Boston should give Seattle a great opportunity to snap their five-match goal drought, as the Legacy haven’t kept a clean sheet in ten matches.
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