Seattle Reign original Lauren Barnes goes out on top in final regular-season home match

In the Lumen Field tunnel just outside the Seattle Reign locker room, Lauren Barnes needed a moment. She had just come in from warmups ahead of a match against the Utah Royals on Friday in what was her final regular-season home game after 13 years in Seattle.

Barnes had just finished seeing her family and friends, roughly 25 or so who showed up to watch one of the last of her 250-plus appearances in the NWSL, a league record. She took some time to compose herself before heading back inside with her teammates.

“Lu was exceptional,” said Reign Head Coach Laura Harvey. “I thought she was flawless with the week she’s had and how emotional she was before the game. When she came in from warmups and had a little moment, I was hugging her thinking, ‘Oh no.’ That’s a lot for someone. But she was exceptional. Absolutely exceptional.”

Barnes and the Reign took care of business on Friday, defeating Utah 2-1 and cementing their spot in the 2025 NWSL Playoffs, presented by Google Pixel.

“I knew it was going to hit me eventually, I just didn’t know when,” said Barnes. “[My family has] made so many sacrifices for me, so to see them here for my last [regular-season home] game was so special. Being in front of this crowd and this community that I’ve been a part of for so long was extremely special too.”

Barnes started because of an injury to Phoebe McClernon, but the wily veteran was brilliant in defense all evening, helping keep the Royals’ attack all but nonexistent outside of one counterattacking goal against the run of play. Eighteen-year-old Ainsley McCammon scored her first career goal to give the Reign the lead right before halftime before Sofia Huerta stepped up from the penalty spot midway through the second half to secure all three points.

“Lu is amazing,” said McCammon. “Not just on the field, but off the field, she’s the most incredible person. She’s so easy to come to with anything we need, and she was so welcoming from the beginning. To have that coming in as a young player is a gamechanger, and you don’t get that everywhere.”

Barnes heaped praise back onto McCammon and her younger teammates, all of whom have had a remarkable impact this season.

“Seeing this young group take more of a lead is exactly what senior players want to see,” said Barnes. “This is why it’s so easy to walk away from a club that has done so well to invest in the youth, and today is a great example of that.”

The Reign know there is still more work to be done, though. A Decision Day clash at Orlando Pride on Sunday, Nov. 2, looms, as does a chance to send Barnes out with her first NWSL title in what would be a storybook ending to one of the most decorated legacies in league history.

“To be third [in the NWSL table] after the year we had last year is a phenomenal achievement by the group,” said Harvey. “Everybody: staff, players, everyone bought in…That hard work has paid off to get where you want to be.”