Seattle Reign and Denver Summit Battle to 0-0 Draw in Spokane as Abby Smith Extends Shutout Run

Thirty-two shots, two goalkeepers in top form, one crossbar and zero goals. Seattle Reign FC and Denver Summit FC spent Saturday night in Spokane trading punches, and nobody landed the knockout.

The 0-0 draw at ONE Spokane Stadium closed Seattle's three-match stay in eastern Washington, and the Reign left town with seven points from those games, per the club. For Denver, the expansion side kept rolling: a third straight clean sheet, a fourth straight match without a loss and, according to the Summit, a spot in a very small club of first-year NWSL teams.

Seattle Starts Fast, Smith Says No

The Reign came out flying. Jess Fishlock had a shot blocked in the first minute, Nérilia Mondésir and Emeri Adames both had efforts blocked in the seventh, and in the 10th minute Fishlock set up Maddie Mercado, who drove into the box and forced Abby Smith into a save at the near post, according to Seattle's account.

Denver found its feet after that. Janine Sonis fired high and wide in the 18th minute, Melissa Kössler headed wide off a corner two minutes later, and Sonis tested Claudia Dickey from outside the box in the 23rd. Seattle answered right away when Adames burst into the box in the 24th minute, but Smith made the save.

Fishlock had two more attempts blocked in the 27th minute, and then Denver nearly stole the lead. In the 29th, Kössler hit the crossbar with a right-footed shot from the right side of the box, and Megan Reid headed over off the ensuing corner. The Summit kept pushing late in the half, with Yazmeen Ryan and Natasha Flint both blocked in the 41st minute. Seattle's Emily Mason was everywhere on those sequences, per the Reign.

The bigger story of the half was what Seattle stopped doing. The Reign took seven shots in the first 27 minutes and then did not attempt another before the break. Denver, which per the Summit started an unchanged lineup for the third consecutive match, had figured out how to choke off the supply lines to Mercado and Adames.

Denver's Turn to Push

The second half tilted toward the visitors. After Adames had a shot blocked right after the restart and Mercado sent a first-time effort just over in the 57th minute, Denver took control. Dickey saved a Ryan shot from outside the box in the 59th minute, and Smith answered at the other end by stopping a Mercado header in the 64th.

Both coaches went to their benches around the hour. Denver's Nick Cushing brought on Ayo Oke and Emma Regan in the 60th minute, according to the Summit, and Seattle's Laura Harvey sent on Sally Menti and Ainsley McCammon in the 66th, per the Reign. Brittany Ratcliffe replaced Adames in the 77th.

Denver's best chance arrived in the 72nd minute. Ryan curled a cross toward the back post and Sonis met it with a header from the center of the box, but Dickey made the save. Carson Pickett kept shooting from range, firing over in the 67th and 75th minutes and just wide in the 83rd, and Delanie Sheehan had a shot blocked in the 79th.

Seattle had one final swing in stoppage time. Mondésir's shot was blocked, and Mercado got her head to the loose ball from very close range, only to send it over the bar. That was the last real chance.

The Goalkeepers Stole the Show

Smith and Dickey each made three saves, and both had milestone nights. Per the Summit, Smith's shutout was her third straight, her longest such run since 2018. The Reign say Dickey set a new club record for career saves, reaching 190 and passing Hope Solo.

Sonis was Denver's most dangerous attacker, finishing with four shots and two on target. Ryan and Pickett also took four shots apiece, and Denver finished with 19 attempts in all. The Summit also singled out Reid's defensive work, crediting her with three tackles won and four interceptions.

For Seattle, Mercado led the way with five shots and two on target, and Fishlock had three attempts, all blocked, before giving way to Menti. The Reign's back line carried a heavy load, clearing the ball 40 times to Denver's 20 and making 14 interceptions.

The Turning Point

In a 0-0 draw, the turning point is the moment nobody scored. The best candidate is the 29th minute: Kössler's shot off the crossbar was the closest anyone came to breaking the deadlock all night. Had it dropped in, Denver could have sat on a lead against a team that, per the Summit, had gone nine straight home matches without a loss. Instead, the match stayed level, and the momentum swung back and forth for the next hour without either side finding the finish.

Stats That Matter

• Shots: Denver 19, Seattle 13.
• Shots on target: 3 apiece.
• Possession: Denver 54.3 percent, Seattle 45.7.
• Corners: Denver 9, Seattle 6.
• Clearances: Seattle 40, Denver 20.

What It Means

Seattle moves to 3-1-1 with 10 points and is unbeaten in three after back-to-back Spokane wins over Kansas City and Louisville. After the international break, the Reign host the Utah Royals on April 26.

Denver goes to 1-3-1 with six points, unbeaten in four since its opening loss at Bay FC, with a draw at Orlando, a 2-0 win at Gotham and now back-to-back scoreless draws with Washington and Seattle. The Summit say they are just the third team in league history to post three consecutive shutouts in an expansion season, joining the 2016 Orlando Pride and the 2018 Utah Royals. Next up is a home date with San Diego Wave FC on April 25.

Closing Take

Nobody won in Spokane, and that is not a knock on either team. Seattle wrapped up its road-trip-at-home with seven points from three games, and Denver keeps looking like the expansion team nobody wants to play. Think of it as a really good episode with no cliffhanger: tense, well acted and over before anyone could steal the ending.

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