Seattle Reign back on road, ready to rebound
The Reign are back on the road and this time didn't suffer any travel delays.
The club is in Texas to play the Houston Dash. For the Reign's season-opening road match in Orlando, snow in Washington stalled their departure, lightning caused a three-hour delay at halftime of the match, and more inclement weather delayed their return home.
For this trip, the Reign were only able to train in full once this week due to losing to Utah at Lumen Field on Sunday.
Here's a look at Friday's match:
Reign (3-2-1) at Houston (3-2-0)
Time/place: 5 p.m. at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston, Texas
TV: Victory+, FOX 13+
Radio: 950 KJR AM
Series history: Seattle leads the all-time series 18-6-5 since 2014
Defensive lead
Aside from a bout of first-half turnovers that led to Utah scoring three goals in their shutout win, the Reign have been solid defensively. Midfielder Sam Meza has the statistical receipts. She leads the NWSL in tackles (31), tackles won (17), duels won (51) and recoveries (52).
Bugg out
U.S. international Jordyn Bugg suffered a new injury during training in April that will have her out longer than expected. She hasn't made her season debut because of a hamstring injury suffered at a national team camp.
Bugg joins Reign co-captain Jess Fishlock as key absences. The latter injured her ankle in Sunday's match.
Baby Biyendolo
Reign forward Lynn Biyendolo announced this week the birth of Lucky Lachance Biyendolo. He's the first child for her and husband Marley. Biyendolo is expected to remain on maternity leave until July, at the earliest.
Quotable
"We have to respond from last week," Reign midfielder Sally Menti said. "We knew that performance was not us and not close to our potential. A lot of the talk has been internal than our scout (of Houston). But Houston is a great team. They've been doing really well this season so we have to show up."
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This story was originally published April 30, 2026 at 11:41 PM.