Seattle Reign's scoring woes continue in shutout to Washington Spirit

It took 80 minutes for the Washington Spirit to craft a shot on target Sunday - an impressive stat for the Reign's defense.

As the Reign looked to settle with the defensive showing, Spirit defender Gabrielle Carle raced down the right flank and sent a cross into the box for teenage forward Claudia Martínez to whip into goal from the spot in the 84th minute. The quick play - just the second on-target in the match - was enough for Washington to leave the Reign with a 1-0 loss at Lumen Field.

Out of all of the games we played this year, this is probably my most disappointing," Reign coach Laura Harvey said. "They found it hard to break us down. Like, every player that came to speak to me from their team said, 'We can't believe we just beat you.' That tells you probably everything you need to know about the game."

Not only have the Reign (3-3-2) lost their past two matches at home, but the side also hasn't scored a goal in four consecutive games.

And there have been chances. Reign winger Maddie Dahlien had the last solid chance to net an equalizer in the 86th minute. Her team outshot the Spirit 3-2 on-target, 12-8 overall.

For Washington (5-1-3), the shutout is its fifth clean sheet in its past six matches.

"We don't lose hope," Reign defender Madison Curry said. "This was progress. It sucks to not get three points and obviously to concede a goal, but we're getting closer."

Maddie Mercado had the Reign's first attempt in the fourth minute. But the forward's shot bounced off the crossbar.

Spirit defender Tara Rudd had a bad giveaway outside the box that created a close-range opportunity for Mia Fishel. The Reign forward was closely covered by center back Esme Morgan, who blocked the attempt in the 26th minute.

Reign keeper Claudia Dickey had a peaceful first half. Washington's potent lineup didn't get a threatening look at goal until the 40th minute, when Kate Wiesner sent a left-footed shot over the crossbar.

Spirit winger Trinity Rodman followed with a chance from deep in the 43rd minute. She pounced on a bad pass from Reign midfielder Sam Meza and quickly tried to roof a left-footed shot. It was inches shy of goal.

The teams entered the break goalless. Harvey was irritated an apparent handball wasn't awarded that could've changed the complexity of the game.

"We gave them a battle," Curry said. "We fought back, and they didn't necessarily like that and weren't used to that. It comes out in our possession (53%) and overall scheme of the game. We had a lot of momentum. But it obviously didn't work out in our favor."

Washington coach Adrián González made two changes at halftime. He pulled Rose Kouassi for Martínez, who also had a game-winner last week, and midfielder Paige Metayer subbed on for Wiesner.

The teams still struggled to break each other's defense. Reign midfielder Nérilia Mondésir's soft header attempt in the 54th minute played into the hands of Spirit keeper Sandy MacIver.

González was forced to make another lineup change in the 55th minute. Rodman tweaked her right ankle and seemingly couldn't work past the pain after receiving on-field medical attention. The U.S. international, who has three goals in NWSL play, was replaced by defender Lucia Di Guglielmo.

Seattle had another glance at goal in the 64th minute. Curry sent a cross into the box that Mercado was unsuccessful in heading backward past MacIver.

Harvey made her first changes in the 79th minute. Emeri Adames and Angharad James-Turner entered for Ainsley McCammon and Mercado.

Nothing generated the offense the Reign needed, sending a majority of the 7,597 in attendance home disappointed.

"We always hone in on our defensive game plan, but this week we really did work on our build out," McCammon said. "We've been working on having more unpredictability and being able to do different things. We really showed that. … It's just once we get into that final third, what can we do?"

Mondésir returned to the starting lineup in place of Adames. The nod was Harvey's sole change for the match.

Seattle is back at Lumen on Friday to host defending champion Gotham FC.

"All you remember are the scores," said Harvey, who on Sunday coached her NWSL-leading 300th match, across all competitions. "We scored a lot of goals and created a lot of opportunities when we were working on it in training. (Sunday) we lacked that killer instinct in those moments.

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