Maddie Mercado's Header and Claudia Dickey's Six Saves Lift Seattle Reign Past 10-Player San Diego Wave

Going down to 10 players is hard anywhere. Doing it for 77 minutes at Lumen Field against a Seattle side that has been tough to crack at home is a nightmare. San Diego Wave FC lived it on Sunday night and still nearly escaped with a point.

Seattle Reign FC beat the Wave 1-0, with Maddie Mercado heading in a Maddie Dahlien cross in the 29th minute, 16 minutes after San Diego defender Mimi Van Zanten was sent off following a VAR review. Claudia Dickey made six saves to protect the lead in front of 9,104 fans, and the Reign completed a season sweep of San Diego.

A Red Card Changes the Script

The Wave came out pressing, and for the first 10 minutes the game had a nice rhythm. Dahlien forced a save from Sandra Paños in the seventh minute, and Lia Godfrey answered with a shot from distance that Dickey caught at the top of her goal.

Then everything tilted. Dahlien chased a ball in behind and went down under a challenge from Van Zanten, and after the video review, referee Abdou Ndiaye upgraded the card to red in the 13th minute. San Diego reshuffled immediately, sending on Brooklyn Courtnall for Melanie Barcenas a minute later. San Diego's notes say it was the club's first red card of the season.

Seattle smelled blood. Sofia Huerta and Sally Menti both went close in the next five minutes, Sam Meza fired just wide from distance in the 23rd, Mia Fishel pulled a shot right of the post in the 26th, and Paños had to save from Ryanne Brown in the 28th.

A minute later, Huerta sprang Dahlien down the left, per the Reign, and Dahlien whipped in a cross that Mercado headed into the top left corner. The Reign say it was Mercado's eighth goal of the season and, for a bit of trivia, the 500th goal scored across the NWSL this season.

Ten Players, Zero Quit

What happened next deserves credit. San Diego, a player short, finished the match with more possession (58.9 percent), more shots (13 to 9) and more shots on goal (6 to 4). Kimmi Ascanio forced Dickey into a diving stop in the 37th minute and Godfrey tested her again just before the break. In the sixth minute of first-half stoppage time, Trinity Byars had a shot from inside the six-yard box blocked.

The second half was largely a San Diego push. Ascanio and Ludmila both had looks in the 55th minute, and Kenza Dali's 66th-minute free kick forced Dickey into another save. In the 71st, Dali swung in a cross and Kennedy Wesley headed toward the top right corner, only for Dickey to get there.

Dickey and Dahlien Deliver

Dickey was the star of the night. Six saves, several of them on shots heading for corners, and a 1-0 lead that never wavered. In the 81st minute Ludmila got in from the left side of the six-yard box and Dickey denied her again, but the play ended in a collision between the two. Dickey went off in the 85th minute and Cassie Miller saw out the final stretch, including seven minutes of stoppage time.

Dahlien was the creative engine for Seattle, putting her lone shot on target and delivering the assist. The Reign say it was her third assist of the season, and that the duo had linked up the week before against Houston, with Mercado setting up Dahlien that time.

Mercado had just one shot. She made it count, and the club says she has two goals and an assist across her last three home matches.

For San Diego, Godfrey put both of her shots on target, Ludmila led the team with three attempts, and Dali, who played the full 90 for the first time since July 18 according to the Wave, was a constant threat from set pieces. Ascanio, making her first start since Aug. 8 per the club, gave 71 hard minutes in midfield, and Courtnall, thrown on in the 14th minute for only her third appearance of the season, held up well in an emergency role.

The Turning Point

The red card is the obvious answer, and it was enormous. But the specific moment was the 29th minute. San Diego had absorbed the early wave of Seattle pressure after going down to 10, and the game was still level. Mercado's header meant the Wave had to chase a deficit with a player short, and Seattle, which finished with 29 clearances and 18 interceptions, was perfectly happy to defend.

Stats That Matter

• Saves: Dickey 6, Paños 3.
• Possession: San Diego 58.9 percent, Seattle 41.1, despite the red card.
• Shots on goal: San Diego 6, Seattle 4.
• Defending: Seattle made 29 clearances and 18 interceptions to San Diego's 8 and 9.
• Fouls: Seattle 17, San Diego 7.

What It Means

Seattle moves to 10-4-8 with 34 points and has won back-to-back home matches by a 1-0 score, after beating Houston on Aug. 30. The Reign also beat San Diego 2-0 on the road in July, so the season series goes Seattle's way, and the club says it remains unbeaten at home against the Wave in the regular season and has not lost at Lumen Field since returning from the summer break. Seattle hosts Bay FC on Saturday, Sept. 12.

San Diego drops to 12-3-8 with 39 points, and the loss snaps a two-match winning streak that included a 4-2 win over Utah and a 3-2 win over Louisville. The Wave return to Snapdragon Stadium to host the North Carolina Courage on Saturday, Sept. 12.

Closing Take

Every season has a game that tests what a team is made of. San Diego's answer, with 10 players for most of the night, was honestly pretty convincing. It just ran into a goalkeeper having one of those nights, the soccer equivalent of a closer who strikes out the side. Seattle will take it, and so will Dickey's highlight reel.

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