Early on, the game was a back-and-forth affair, with neither team able to sustain possession long enough to mount many attacks. In the sixth minute, defender Sofia Huerta's corner dropped to forward Bethany Balcer in the right corner of the six-yard box, giving the Reign their first genuine chance. Balcer got her head on the ball but missed the near post with her header. Quinn fired a long ball to Watt on the right side of the Reign's attacking half in the 34th minute, and the home team took the lead. Watt took possession of the ball and dribbled diagonally toward the penalty area, dragging LA defender Ali Riley inside and allowing forward Bethany Balcer to break free. Balcer struck a shot from the top of the 18 that went into the net after Watt tapped a through ball to him.

Endo scooped up a deflected ball around the top of the 18, dribbled to the near post, and chipped the ball up and over to Charley at the top of the six in the 83rd minute, tying the game. Charley leaped to her feet and looped a looping header over goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce. Until stoppage time, when Olivia Van der Jagt's lobbed header squeezed under the bar just out of Haračić’s grasp.

[Photography by ICONIC photographer Jackie Shinstrom]