Photo Credit: Jane Gershovich via Seattle Reign
Seattle Reign FC signing Mia Fishel through 2029 may be the biggest signing any National Women’s Soccer League team made over the summer. But despite the deserved hype there is little expectation or pressure for her to make an immediate impact.
It is possible that the forward immediately starts scoring goals left and right (and headed), but the team’s focus is on the future.
“We’re invested in Mia for the long term,” Reign head coach Laura Harvey told media at Fishel’s introductory presser on July 10. “If she can hit the ground running and come in and be unbelievable from day one, great. But I think we know, one, she’s on a journey. Two… Mia’s potential is so high, and now it’s about the journey of getting it where we all believe it can be. And that’s why the investment is not just about tomorrow. It’s about the long term and showing up for what that looks like.”
They also don’t need Fishel to immediately make up for lackluster scoring. Right now, the Reign’s existing attacking unit is playing their best soccer of the season when the NWSL last played matches. In the first 10 games of the season, the Reign only scored multiple goals once. In their last three games, they scored a total of eight goals, recording three consecutive multi-goal games.
Amid this low-pressure approach, Fishel’s integration into the team has been going well.
Since joining the team in early July, Fishel has quickly found comfort off the field and made friends off the field. An avid fisher, it didn’t take Fishel long to connect with fellow teammates, making plans to enjoy some of the great fishing and crabbing that Seattle has to offer.
Veteran midfielder Jess Fishlock admitted that she’d only been around Fishel for a week, but commended her great personality and joked to The Equalizer that she finds it interesting that Fishel has terrible table tennis form but somehow still wins.
Outside of fitting in well with the overall group environment, Fishel is also surrounded by familiar faces. Harvey was her coach with the U-20s, where she also played with several current teammates. Her existing relationship and experience with Harvey were a big reason she signed with Seattle in the first place.
“When it comes to [Harvey’s] coaching style, the way that she coaches, it brought the best out of me,” Fishel told media at her introductory press conference. “And I knew that immediately with the short time I had with her. And she gave me the confidence to be my absolute best. And that definitely intrigued me to come to Seattle.”
Some teammates she has known even longer, like midfielder Sam Meza, with whom she has played with since the U-15 USWNT level. Meza was very excited when she heard Fishel was joining the Reign and has since been impressed with her return from injury and contributions to the team.
“She’s done really, really well,” Meza said of Fishel’s integration. “I think coming back from injury, it’s definitely a process. And I think she’s doing really well within that process. She’s been super positive and really just a light since being here. I’m super excited for her. I think she is super talented, and I think she can really help us in the attack.”
On the field, she is developing the relationships and understandings that will be key to her success.
“I think when you play as a forward, to understand the tendencies of the people around you is the thing that can be the key ingredient for a forward to be successful or not,” Harvey explained.
In the two friendlies Seattle played in July during the break in NWSL play, Fishel played 30 minutes in the first game against Japan’s Urawa Red Diamonds and then 45 minutes against the Thorns in Portland.
“Even in that sort of week of training between the first game [against Urawa], the second game [against Portland], and then how she executed in the second game, you can see she’s starting to understand people’s tendencies and what each other wants within the team,” Harvey told The Equalizer on Tuesday. “But that takes time. You know, it’s hard to be able to do that overnight. And Mia is definitely someone who needs to understand what other people are doing to get the best out of her strengths as well.”
Seattle only returned the last of their European players this week, and their players who were called up in the previous international window were given a break before returning to the team, so Fishel is just this week integrating with the last of her teammates.
“We haven’t had a chance yet to play everybody. I think she and Lynn, and the partnership that they can create, will be interesting,” Harvey said. “I think that’s just the next stage of it is getting back into these games that we’ve got thick and fast, and seeing what works with the team that we have now.”
Despite the limited amount of time she has had with the full team so far, her potential impact has been evident.
“I can absolutely see on the training field what she’s going to bring, what she’s going to add,” Fishlock told The Equalizer at practice on Tuesday. “I’m super excited to get on the field and link up with her. Just going to add a different dynamic to our group and our team. And that’s kind of what we need to do, is just keep adding those little tiny parts.”
Combination of young stars and veteran wisdom = Reign attacking success in June
One thing helping take pressure off of Fishel is the Reign’s relatively recent success scoring in league play. Right before the summer break, a team that was desperately struggling to score to start the season found its goalscoring form.
They started their June road trip with a 2-1 victory over San Diego, came back to tie Chicago 2-2 and then rolled over the Royals 4-1 in Utah.
What inspired the team’s improved goalscoring form? Young attackers Maddie Dahlien and Emeri Adames said it is a combination of increased confidence, the team gelling over time, and a hunger.
“We’ve just been telling each other, like, ‘shoot, get something on the ball,’” Adames said after defeating Utah. “But I also think there’s a hunger that we didn’t have at the beginning of the season that we do now, in like, we can beat these teams by multiple goals. We don’t have to just score one goal a game. We can get into our attacking third and really attack them. So I think that’s what changed.”
“I think it’s like getting into a gel with the relationships on the field. I think that we’re all finding a rhythm with each other,” Dahlien added. “And I think it really showed like with Ji [So-Yun] and Emeri and me and Lynn [Biyendolo] today, like we are figuring out each other’s tendencies and where each other like to be.”
Harvey agreed with her young stars and added that she thinks there is a renewed belief in the group that combines with their constant desire to get better.
“I’ve never worked with a group that, when adversity comes or things don’t quite go our way, they want to solve it immediately,” Harvey said. “They don’t want to leave things to chance. They don’t want to talk about it in their little silos. They want to come in the room collectively and go, ‘okay, this happened to us, we need to solve it.’ And I think that as long as we can keep that mentality and keep adding quality as we go to our play, we will be okay.”
One player who has helped fuel that belief is veteran USWNT and NWSL forward Lynn Biyendolo. Though Biyendolo didn’t register an official assist or goal on the stat sheet, she had three hockey assists against Utah.
“I think that just speaks to her impact,” Dahlien said. “She draws in three defenders, and then that leaves me and people on the other side open. I think people respect her so much as a player, so sometimes she’s not going to be available to get her shot off, but it’s her dishing the next pass and then finding the next free player. And her impact has been immense, not only on the field, but as a leader off the field. And so I don’t think really you can measure her impact here.”
That Biyendolo trusts her young teammates in those moments, Adames said, instills confidence in them.
“That she trusts us so much to give us the ball in those scenarios, and to trust us that we’ll be there when she plays the ball, I think that means a lot,” Adames said.
The NWSL’s all-time leading goalscorer (tied with Sam Kerr) also leads by example.
“She’s involved in all the good things that we do, and she’s that sort of pinnacle up there that has that experience, that understands what it takes to win in this league,” Harvey praised. “So, without someone like her in the forefront of it, I think the young ones would be looking for someone to work off. And thankfully, having Lynn means that they have that sort of stalwart up there who sets the tone for them all the time.”
Following Biyendolo’s example, young players like Adames have also improved their individual performances to contribute to the whole. Adames capped off a stellar June where she scored three goals and became the second youngest player to score a brace in the NWSL (behind only Mallory Swanson), named to the Team of the Month Best XI.
To begin the season, Adames’ playing time was sporadic and limited. A month or so before the game in Utah, Harvey had a conversation with Adames about what she needed to do to get more playing time. Defense was what was keeping Adames off the pitch. In June, her improved effort on the defensive end paid off.
“Being committed to the defensive side of the game is what she needs to do,” Harvey explained. “Because we know how good she is going forward. We know it. But we’re a team, and we play in a league where you can’t carry someone who doesn’t execute defensively. And 1754233136 she’s executing defensively, and she’s getting the reward for that. … Now she’s set her own standard that we know she can do on both sides of the ball. So it’s the challenge for her now to stay in that standard and keep pushing forward from there.”
Roster competition
Right now, Seattle’s attacking options are plentiful. Dahlien has played every game of her rookie season, Adames is in form, Biyendolo is an all-time great goalscorer, five-foot-11 Jordyn Huitema is always a threat on set pieces, Nérilia Mondésir is healthy and finding her footing in the NWSL and Maddie Mercado has been impressive and energetic in her minutes. That doesn’t even take into account the legendary attacking midfielders they have back and healthy in Fishlock and Ji So-Yun. That sort of depth exists at nearly every position on the field for Seattle.
“I think the thing that we have now, which I’m really excited about and makes my job really hard, is our one to 26 is very competitive,” Harvey told The Equalizer. “I’m not sure I’ve had a roster one to 26 that’s as competitive as — I may have had a more talented maybe at times, 2021 was a highly talented roster. But just how competitive it is between the whole 26, I’ve never really felt that, ever, I don’t think, but for a very long time. Which makes my job hard, but also exciting, because we have loads of options.”
The depth helps take pressure off of Fishel, but it also breeds an ideal kind of competition. Fishel said she wanted to join a team that would push her in training every day, and this roster fits that bill.
“I think that that really helps with competition and I think that’s another reason why we’re on a good momentum shift,” Harvey said. “Because I think everyone knows and believes that they’ve got a chance to play. If they play well they play, and if someone’s playing better than them, then they might lose their spot. … I think that that’s been a really good positive thing for us that we need to take into the second half of season. …
“With where the team is I don’t think there’s pressure for her to be [amazing from day one] which is great. It’s ideally what you want. We’re not bringing her in to be the hero today. We’re bringing her in because we think that she’s got short term and long term value to this team, and the more we can expose her, the better that will be.”
Depth will also be key going into this stretch of the season, where the team will play 12 games in 12 weeks.
“I think we’ve got players who can step in or in every single position, which you know is great, as long as the players all buy into that, and right now they are,” Harvey said. “It’s unrealistic to think you’re going to play the same starting 11 every week, with the travel and the days between the games. So having a really competitive roster that can go out and perform depending on opponent, depending on where we are, depending on what travel and recovery we’ve had, is a luxury I don’t think I’ve really had before.”
Returning to full capacity after ACL injury
Fishel is still technically returning from tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee while training for the 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup. She had been cleared to play since January, but didn’t make her return to play for Chelsea until March. Though the injury was tough and derailed her professional and international career, Fishel said she learned a lot from the experience.
“I learned so much about being professional and taking care of your body, strengthening it. And I feel like me as a player is night and day. I’m quicker, I’m stronger, [and] I’m mentally stronger as well,” Fishel said.
Now, Fishel and her knee are feeling good as they continue to grow her fitness and get her back to being fully fit. Though Fishel isn’t on a strict minutes restriction, Harvey said they are cognizant of being smart about her playing time. She played 30 minutes and then 45 minutes in friendlies, and that kind of minutes distribution is likely to continue at least to start the second half of the season.
“How much we can get out of her quickly isn’t the priority, right?” Harvey told The Equalizer. “We’re invested in Mia long term, so whatever we get out of her in the next 12 games, in this crazy stretch we have — bonus. If that’s 30 minutes here, 45 minutes there, 90 minutes as we get going, great. But there’s just no expectation. I think we’ve just got to drip feed her in, and I think that’ll be the best way.”
What Fishel brings to Seattle
There are many visibly evident talents that Fishel is bringing to the Reign.
Fishel’s goalscoring prowess is easy to point out and get excited about. The attacker was the Mexican league’s top scorer in the 2022 Apertura (fall) season with 17 goals in 17 appearances, making her the first foreign player to win Liga MX Femenil Golden Boot, as Tigres won the title, and she added another 13 goals in the 2023 Clausura (spring) before her move to Chelsea. In her time at UCLA, from 2019 to 2021, Fishel scored 32 goals and added 14 assists in 59 appearances for the Bruins.
“What I’ve observed with Mia is a uniqueness in ability to finish,” general manager Lesle Gallimore said after introducing Fishel to Seattle media. “To be that person and to want that on you is unique in our game. And those are the type of players you’re always looking for, the ones that want it on them all the time. And even as a young player, she’s not shied away from being the go-to.
“And she finishes in different ways. That’s the thing. She’s not a predictable player that anyone’s going to be able to look at and say, ‘Oh, this is how you take Mia out of the game,’ … she’ll find a way to make you think differently. And that, to me, is really, really exciting in our game. And she’s one of those players, I feel over time, our fans are going to learn to be on the edge of their seats anytime she’s in and around the box. And the cellies are solid.”
Fishel agrees that she is exactly the kind of player Gallimore described, she wants the ball at her feet in the big moments, and she is not phased by pressure.
“I’ve been having pressure since I left UCLA, going to Tigres,” Fishel said. “That was, I think, the biggest backlash. … So I’m used to the pressure. I’m used to showing up in big moments. And I think that’s who I am as a player — I want to be in the big games. I want to be the one the ball gets to when it’s the last minute of the game. So it’s part of my DNA, and this is no different.”
Fishel is also versatile and willing to help her team in whatever position or role is best.
“I know that I could bring something different in whatever way Laura wants. That’s the trust that we have,” Fishel said. “I’m multi-dimensional. It just depends on who we’re playing, how we’re setting up. I think that I can gel in multiple ways, so I’m excited to explore that with Laura and see what works best with this team.”
There are also some more intangible attributes that the UCLA alum is bringing with her that suggest she will be successful.
Fishel is hungry. She felt she wasn’t getting enough opportunities at Chelsea and has not been shy about her desire to be a consistent contributor for the U.S. women’s national team.
“I feel like even though I was doing really well and doing all that I could, it just wasn’t enough for the [Chelsea] coach at the time,” Fishel said. “And I wanted to, obviously, be on a team that values me and respects me and knows my talent and will use it. I also want to be in the U.S. women’s national team, and I know how big playing time is, so that definitely helped with my decision to leave Chelsea.”
Some things that have stood out to Harvey since coaching her with the U-20s, which wasn’t a very long period of time but featured a lot of games in a short span, are her ability and drive to learn.
“I think just the flexibility to learn really quickly was something that stood out,” Harvey said. “I think she described herself as a sponge. I would echo that. [She also has] a drive, a real drive to want to be the best she possibly can be. And when you’re working with a player like that, you just lean towards that. Because I want everyone to be the best they can possibly be. And if we can help develop her in any way possible, we want to do that.”
