Maddie Mercado's Rebound Goal Gives Seattle Reign a 1-0 Pride Night Win Over Chicago Stars

Maddie Mercado took nine shots on Friday night. Only one of them went in, and it came on the second bite of the same chance. That was enough.

Mercado swept home a rebound from close range in the 53rd minute, and Seattle Reign FC beat Chicago Stars FC 1-0 at Lumen Field on the club's annual Pride Night. The Reign outshot Chicago 24-5 and won 13 corners to three, but needed most of a second half against an inspired Katie Atkinson to see it out.

Seattle Lays Siege

Chicago actually landed the first meaningful blow. Mallory Swanson, wearing the captain's armband, forced Claudia Dickey into a save in the seventh minute. Then the Reign took over.

Ainsley McCammon drew a save from Atkinson with a shot from distance in the eighth, and Seattle's set pieces started to pile up. Phoebe McClernon headed a Sally Menti cross at Atkinson in the 12th. Mia Fishel and McCammon both headed off target in the 13th. In the 20th minute McCammon rose to meet another Menti delivery from a corner and smacked her header off the crossbar from point-blank range.

Chicago lived dangerously but had its moments on the break. Swanson went just wide from the left side of the box in the 26th minute and forced Dickey into another stop from distance in the 32nd. In between, Manaka Hayashi went close from outside the box.

Seattle had a big shout late in the half. The Reign said Mercado got tangled up with Atkinson after a Fishel cross in the 43rd minute, but no penalty was given after a video review. It stayed 0-0 at the break, and Chicago replaced Swanson and Anna Gasper with Nádia Gomes and Bea Franklin for the second half.

Mercado Finally Breaks Through

The Reign came out flying. Mercado fired wide in the 47th and headed wide off a Maddie Dahlien cross in the 49th, and Atkinson had to save from Dahlien in the 50th.

The goal arrived in the 53rd minute and was a team effort. Dahlien slipped Sofia Huerta in on an underlapping run, according to the Reign, and Huerta cut it back for Menti, whose first-time ball found Mercado. Her first shot was blocked, but the rebound fell right back to her, and she swept it left-footed into the bottom left corner from close range. The Reign said it was her sixth goal of the season and fourth in Seattle's last six matches.

Seattle could have put it away several times. Mercado blazed over from the right side of the six-yard box in the 58th and again from the middle of the box in the 60th. Dahlien missed just left on a break in the 61st and over the bar in the 63rd. Atkinson then saved from Huerta in the 79th, Mercado curled one just wide in the 81st, and in the 87th Atkinson made a full-stretch stop on substitute Emeri Adames.

Chicago never found a way back into it. After Swanson's halftime exit, the Stars did not attempt another shot.

The Stars of the Night

Mercado was the headline, even if her shot chart looked like a spray-paint test for most of the evening. Nine shots, one on target, one goal. But she kept showing up in the right places, and the one time the ball fell kindly, she did not miss. Seattle says she leads the team in scoring.

Menti was the creative engine. The Reign credited her with seven key passes, which tracks with the play-by-play, where her crosses and passes set up seven Seattle attempts. Dahlien was a constant problem on the left with four shots, and McCammon led the supporting cast with six attempts and the near-miss off the bar.

Huerta deserves her flowers too. The Reign noted she is the NWSL's all-time assists leader, and while she did not get the official assist on this one, her run and cutback were central to the move that won the game.

On the other side, Atkinson was magnificent again. Five days after making five saves in a 0-0 draw with Bay FC, she made five more here. Without her, the margin is a lot wider. Swanson put two of her three shots on target in a lively 45 minutes, and Franklin, making her 50th regular-season NWSL appearance per Chicago, led the Stars in duels won off the bench.

The Turning Point

The blocked shot in the 53rd minute. Chicago did the hard part, getting a body in front of Mercado's first effort, and for a split second it looked like another Seattle chance would go begging. Instead the rebound dropped straight back to the one player who had been getting into those spots all night, and Seattle's long night of pressure finally paid off.

Stats That Matter

• Shots: Seattle 24, Chicago 5.
• Shots on target: Seattle 6, Chicago 2.
• Corners: Seattle 13, Chicago 3.
• Saves: Atkinson 5, Dickey 2.
• Clearances: Chicago 27, Seattle 14.

What It Means

Seattle moves to 8-3-7 with 27 points and is unbeaten in four straight since a 3-2 loss at Gotham on July 18, with wins at San Diego and Bay and a draw with Angel City before this one. The Reign said they have scored 13 goals in seven matches since returning from the CBA break, and this was their third shutout in that stretch. Dickey's clean sheet was the 18th of her career and fifth this season, per the club. Seattle visits Racing Louisville FC on Wednesday, Aug. 19.

Chicago falls to 4-1-14 with 13 points. This was the first match under interim head coach Karina Báez, who Chicago said was named to the role on Aug. 12. The Stars have not won since beating Utah on July 5, a run of five losses and a draw. They visit the Houston Dash on Wednesday, Aug. 19.

Closing Take

Pride Night at Lumen Field came with a parade of Seattle chances and one stubborn goalkeeper who refused to join the celebration. Mercado's line was pure persistence, the soccer version of hitting refresh until the page finally loads. Seattle will take the three points. Chicago will take some comfort in Atkinson, and not much else.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Additional match details from ReignFC.com and ChicagoStars.com.