A split result to start the season: Reign begin 2025 campaign with 1-1 draw against Gotham
By Becca Weinberg, edited by Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA - In their first match of the 2025 season, in front of a dedicated crowd at Lumen Field despite the pouring rain, our Seattle Reign FC secured a 1-1 draw against Gotham FC to earn one point at home. As the Reign look to turn the page to a new chapter in many ways, in their second season since rebranding to their original logo after their sale from Olympique Lyonnais, in their first full season under the Sounders/Carlyle Group, and following a disappointing season on the field in 2024, Seattle battled it out against Gotham and was able to net a late equalizer. While the Reign ensured that they wouldn’t begin the new year with a frustrating result at home, there are still questions raised by this first contest of the season and plenty to think about ahead of the clubs first road game of the year next weekend. With that being said, there are still reasons for positivity and reasonable belief is more than alive that Seattle can return to the sort of powerhouse they’ve been throughout their time in the NWSL.
Sights and scenes from warmups and introductions under the rainy Seattle weather at Lumen Field, ahead of the March 15th, 2025 match between NJ/NY Gotham FC and our Seattle Reign FC to open the NWSL season. (Photos by Liz Wolter for Circling Seattle Sports)
Gotham FC opened the scoring first in the 47th minute, with a strike from the top of the box by forward Gabi Portilho in her NWSL debut, joining NJ/NY this offseason after spending the first six seasons of her professional career in Brazil’s Série A1. Portilho’s shot deflected off of Reign forward Jordyn Huitema, who had initially headed the corner kick away to the Gotham player who had positioned herself around the top of the box, and froze goalkeeper Claudia Dickey as she watched it land in the back of the net. Huitema’s attempt to block Portilho’s shot was a fair one, as Reign head coach Laura Harvey said in the post match press conference that she’d never be upset at a player putting their body on the line to block a shot, it was just an unlucky deflection off her right knee that only glanced and went back towards goal as opposed to away from it.
The NJ/NY Gotham FC bench celebrates with Gabi Portilho following her goal, which opened the scoring in this match, in the 47th minute against Seattle Reign FC on March 15th, 2025 at Lumen Field. (Photo by Liz Wolter for Circling Seattle Sports)
Gotham’s goal was answered in the 71st minute by 18-year-old attacker Emeri Adames, who corralled a bouncing ball in the box and slipped it past Gotham goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger just minutes after being subbed in for Maddie Dahlien. The goal developed from a great cross in from defender Shae Holmes, initially punched away by Berger in goal before a first look from forward Nérilia Mondésir was blocked prior to landing at Adames’ feet. Putting her body on the line to poke the ball into the net, Adames secured the first Reign goal of the 2025 season. Just as she had done with her first NWSL tally last season, Emeri’s goal came at a crucial moment of the match to electrify the home crowd and showed what Adames can be for the present and future of Seattle.
“I saw the ball popping around in the box, there were bodies flying everywhere. Everyone was shooting, so I knew if I just got a toe or anything on it there was a chance of it going in.”
The impact of the late-game substitutions of Mondésir in the 57th minute, Adames and Maddie Mercado in the 68th minute, and Sam Meza in the 90th minute were crucial to the success of the Reign attack.
“I said to the group at the end I think our growth is that we can make some in-game changes and it doesn’t detract from us, it actually makes us better. And I think that’s a real testament to preseason and having a good foundation that we’ve been talking about a lot.”
Throughout the match, the Reign featured much more fluidity in their attack off of fast breaks, with the speed of rookie forward Maddie Dahlien in the high press to push the ball forward. Although the new-look roster is still working on meshing together, shown by multiple chances in the final third that nobody could get on the end of, there were a lot of positives to come out of this draw. One of the key contributors was new addition Maddison Curry, who complimented Dahlien’s speed on the attack with leading passes and had an important goal-saving stop in the first half during her Reign FC debut.
NJ/NY Gotham FC defender Mandy Freeman received a red card upon VAR review for her spikes up tackle to the back - leg of Seattle Reign FC midfielder Ji So-Yun in the 87th minute during their March 15th, 2025 match at Lumen Field. (Photos by Liz Wolter for Circling Seattle Sports)
During a highly physical match, both Huitema and defender Jordyn Bugg received yellow cards, with multiple Gotham players being cautioned as well. In the 86th minute, Gotham defender Mandy Freeman was issued a straight red card, which led to Gotham playing down for the remainder of the match. There was inconsistency in the officiating on both sides, which led to frustration from coaches, players, and fans alike.
At the final whistle, the 1-1 draw left some unanswered questions for the Reign heading into the rest of the season, but a comeback goal against an efficient Gotham FC team shows encouragement for the matches to come.
Quick Reign notes
The official attendance was 8,467 at Lumen Field for this season opening match between NJ/NY Gotham FC and our Seattle Reign FC.
Two players made their Seattle Reign FC debuts tonight against Gotham FC. Madison Curry, who joined the club this past offseason as a free agent, was named to the Starting XI, alongside first-year forward Maddie Dahlien. Additionally, Sam Meza made her regular season debut tonight.
Reign FC now holds a 4-3-5 record in NWSL season-opening matches, earning points in nine of the 12 games.
Reign forward Emeri Adames entered the match in the 69th minute and scored two minutes later in the 71st minute scored the game-tying goal. The 18-year-old attacker now has two goals in her NWSL career.
Reign original, midfielder, and tonight’s captain Jess Fishlock, who served as the captain tonight, made her 199th regular-season appearance and led the team with three shots, adding five duels won.
Following the result, Reign FC is now 12-10-9 against Gotham FC across all NWSL competitions.
What’s next?
Following tonight’s draw against NJ/NY Gotham FC at Lumen Field to begin the 2025 NWSL campaign, our Seattle Reign FC will head out on the road for their next two matches of their schedule. The first of those two contests on the road comes on Saturday, March 22nd with a 4PM PDT kickoff time against the North Carolina Courage. That matchup against the Courage will be broadcast live on NWSL+, as the Reign will look to work towards an improved head-to-head record considering they have fared poorly with a slate of 4W-11L-3D. Coming off a match that showed some solid chances and put their depth on display, the Reign will surely be looking for the full three points when they return to match action this next weekend against the Courage in North Carolina. For the Courage, their first match of the 2025 season was also a 1-1 draw, as they battled to split points on the road against Racing Louisville FC at Lynn Family stadium in a match that (similarly to Seattle’s) featured some heavy rain.
Instagram: @CirclingSeattleSports Twitter: @CirclingSports Threads: @CirclingSeattleSports Tiktok: @CirclingSeattleSports Facebook: Circling Seattle Sports BlueSky: @circlingseasports.bsky.social
〰️
Instagram: @CirclingSeattleSports Twitter: @CirclingSports Threads: @CirclingSeattleSports Tiktok: @CirclingSeattleSports Facebook: Circling Seattle Sports BlueSky: @circlingseasports.bsky.social 〰️
Check out our previous Seattle Reign FC articles here.
Check out our previous articles with writing at CSS by Becca Weinberg here, and her work with Lookout Landing here.
Check out previous articles with photos by Liz Wolter here, and her portfolio here
Support the work of Circling Seattle Sports by checking out our merchandise!