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  "description": "Sofia Huerta and Maddie Dahlien get their first goals of the season in 2-1 win",
  "path": "/2026/05/reign-earn-road-win-against-boston-legacy/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-05-23T03:01:48.000Z",
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    "[image or embed]",
    "@reignfc.com",
    "6:34 PM · May 22, 2026",
    "Reign Super Fan Matthew for that data point",
    "@nwslsoccer.com",
    "5:41 PM · May 22, 2026",
    "@vancrisp.bsky.social",
    "8:40 PM · May 15, 2026",
    "7:11 PM · May 22, 2026"
  ],
  "textContent": "Seattle Reign ended their five-and-a-half game goal-scoring drought on the road against the Boston Legacy, as goals from Sofia Huerta and Maddie Dahlien ended the home side's five-game unbeaten run. The Reign conceded a late 94th-minute goal to the Legacy, but held on for the 2-1 win.\n\nIn the 8th minute, Angharad James-Turner sent a cross into the box from a deep position. Maddie Dahlien rose up to get her head on it as Boston Legacy defender Jorelyn Carabalí jumped to challenge for the ball. Dahlien got there first, and her header met Carabalí's outstretched arms — giving the Reign a penalty kick. After a three-minute pause to confirm the call, Sofia Huerta calmly sent her shot into the lower right corner as goalkeeper Casey Murphy dove the opposite direction, putting the Reign up 1-0 in the 11th minute.\n\nThe Reign doubled the lead in the 51st minute, with Maddie Dahlien getting her first goal of the season. A Reign corner was cleared with the ball falling to Madison Curry. She whipped a ball into the box, and Dahlien timed her run perfectly to stay onside but get in behind all of Boston's defenders. Dahlien's one-time volley easily beat Murphy and slipped into the left corner.\n\n> That Madi to Maddie connection! 🤝\n>\n> [image or embed]\n>\n> — Seattle Reign FC (@reignfc.com) 6:34 PM · May 22, 2026\n\nThe Reign defended well for the rest of the half, but started to crack under Boston's pressure and let Aissata Traoré slip in behind the defense in the 94th minute and get one back for the Legacy. Minutes earlier, Traoré thought she got her opening goal — but it was waved off on a tight offside call.\n\n\"As a collective, we knew that there were non-negotiables we had to do, which was work really hard, defend for our lives at times, and then the group's disappointed at the end to concede late,\" Reign head coach Laura Harvey said after the match. \"It will be a good lesson for us. You know, anyone who's been following us over the last five weeks knows that tonight was about getting three points, and you saw it in some of the performances.\"\n\nThe Reign (4-4-2) have now won every match they've scored in and moved into a playoff spot, pending results across the league this weekend. They'll stay on the East Coast to face the Washington Spirit next Saturday, May 30, with a 3:30 p.m. PT kickoff game. It will be the Reign's last match before a league-wide, month-long break during the FIFA Men's World Cup.\n\n* * *\n\n## WHAT WORKED: Scoring. Period.\n\nHuerta's 11th-minute goal broke a 510-minute scoreless drought for the Reign (555 minutes if you count stoppage time – shoutout to Reign Super Fan Matthew for that data point). The goal was Huerta's first of the season, and she scored it in her 200th NWSL start — becoming the first player to accomplish that milestone and giving Huerta a goal every year since her rookie 2015 season.\n\nThings were a little shaky for the Reign before their opening goal, but as Harvey always says, \"Goals change games,\" and the Reign managed to dominate for most of the match and score another goal in the second half.\n\n> A goal for the record books 📚 Sofia Huerta is the first NWSL player to score in their 200th regular-season start! She’s scored in every single season since her rookie year in 2015.\n>\n> [image or embed]\n>\n> — NWSL (@nwslsoccer.com) 5:41 PM · May 22, 2026\n\n\"I think before the game, we really focused on just going back to the basics. Not overcomplicating it, getting stuck in, having pride in keeping the ball and winning it back when you lose it, and just doing the little things right,\" Huerta said after the match. \"When you do that, and you stop overcomplicating it, then good things happen, which you saw in the game tonight.\"\n\n\"I think we can do a better job of imposing ourselves earlier in the game, but once we settled in, it looked like us,\" Dahlien added. \"And I'm really proud of gritting it out, but obviously there's always strides we can take next game.\"\n\nFans can also thank The Cooler Guild co-host Van for enlisting the help of an Etsy Witch to break the goal-scoring drought.\n\n> plz help us Etsy witch\n>\n> [image or embed]\n>\n> — Van Crisp (@vancrisp.bsky.social) 8:40 PM · May 15, 2026\n\n## WHAT WORKED: The Maddie Mercado show\n\nNone of it will show up on the stat sheet, but much of the Reign's attacking success came through Maddie Mercado, who started at center forward before moving into the attacking midfield role in the 71st minute. Her hold-up play got wingers Holly Ward and Maddie Dahlien involved, and both had their best showings this season.\n\nHarvey was quick to praise Dahlien for her work rate tonight and Mercado for all the little things she did to help the team keep the ball and counter the things that make Boston dangerous.\n\n\"Maddie [Mercado], I think, has played the most minutes out of any forward in the team. And I think at the end of the Washington game, and then going into the Gotham game, she was just tired. For someone like her and the game that she plays, she needs to be able to be physically strong and hold the ball up, and I thought tonight she did that superbly well. Got knocked about, hard challenges all over the place, but she kept doing it and doing it and doing it.\"\n\nBoston is the most disruptive team in the league, leading in fouls committed and yellow cards, and they deploy an aggressive press. The Reign had to go long at times to break that press, and Mercado was consistently fighting off defenders to help the Reign maintain or win back possession. And when Mercado moved back a line, she facilitated several great looks for the Reign.\n\n## WHAT WORKED: Jordyn Bugg's first start\n\nJordyn Bugg got her first start this season, and while she was on a minutes restriction, she looked every bit the U.S. Women's National Team defender in her 70 minutes on the pitch. In addition to her defensive strengths, one thing that Bugg brings is a calmness in possession that has been missing. On a few occasions, instead of opting for the safe but low-percentage option of passing back to Claudia Dickey, Bugg calmly turned forward under pressure and played a progressive pass. Welcome back, Jordyn Bugg.\n\n## WHAT DIDN'T WORK: Conceding late\n\nThe Legacy were sending lots of balls and bodies into the box in the final 20 minutes of the match. The Reign handled them well for the most part, but you could see the pressure mounting. Unfortunately, Traoré finished the final chance of the game — luckily for the Reign, it was too late to make a difference.\n\n> Aïssata Traoré slots one through in the final seconds of the game 👀\n>\n> [image or embed]\n>\n> — NWSL (@nwslsoccer.com) 7:11 PM · May 22, 2026\n\n\"We're not a finished article, but we will continue to develop game in, game out, and you could sense a little bit of relief at the end of the game from the group ... of just finally getting over the line and getting three points,\" Harvey said.\n\n* * *\n\nSeattle Reign will stay on the east coast this week as they prepare to face the Washington Spirit next Saturday. That match kicks off at 3:30 PM PT and will air on Ion TV.",
  "title": "Reign earn road win against Boston Legacy",
  "updatedAt": "2026-05-23T03:01:49.880Z"
}