Laura Harvey again changed the look of Seattle Reign FC’s starting XI for Gotham FC at Lumen Field in Seattle, Washington, naming her ninth unique lineup of the 2026 season and making three changes from last week. Angharad James-Turner returned to midfield for Ainsley McCammon, Emeri Adames replaced Maddie Mercado in the attack and Shae Holmes came into the backline for Madison Curry.
Holmes’ start was her first of the 2026 season and her first appearance since Oct. 17, 2025, against Utah Royals FC. James-Turner returned to the lineup for the first time since Seattle’s scoreless draw against Denver Summit FC on April 4 at ONE Spokane Stadium, while Adames earned her first start since the club’s scoreless draw at Houston on May 1.
The changes came with a familiar core still in place. Five players had started every match this season — Claudia Dickey, Sam Meza, Sofia Huerta, Emily Mason and Phoebe McClernon — and Dickey extended her run to 49 consecutive starts. That streak is second-longest in club history behind Lauren Barnes’s 59, a reminder of how much of Seattle’s season has already been built around the same spine even as Harvey has kept rotating the rest of the group.
Huerta wore the captain’s armband for the fourth time this season and reached a pair of round-number milestones in the process, making her 100th regular season appearance for Reign FC and her 210th regular season appearance overall in the NWSL. McClernon also hit a milestone, reaching 100 regular season appearances. Mia Fishel, meanwhile, made her third consecutive start and fourth of the season, giving Seattle another option up front after joining the club on July 10, 2025. Since then, she has made 16 appearances with eight starts.
The midfield pairing of James-Turner and Meza also had some history behind it. Friday night marked the 11th match in which they started together, and in the previous 10 such games Seattle had gone 4-4-2 and stayed unbeaten in six. Meza entered the match leading the NWSL among field players in tackles, tackles won and recoveries, while also ranking second in duels won, so Seattle’s shape in the middle carried more than one storyline.
There was also a wider pattern behind Harvey’s selection calls. Seattle had recorded seven assists this season from five different players, and four of those contributors were in the starting lineup against Gotham. That points to a team still searching for the right balance, but one that has already given 18 players at least one start this season. Victory+ was scheduled to carry the match for fans at 7:00 p.m. PT.
The constant turnover has not erased the season’s established hierarchy. Harvey has named a different starting XI in all nine matches this season, but Dickey’s streak and the starts piled up by Huerta and McClernon show that some pieces remain fixed even as the rest keeps shifting. Seattle’s evening against Gotham FC was another test of how far that blend can carry the Reign.
