Match Forecast: OL Reign Ready to Take on Orlando in Last Regular Season Match

OL Reign and the Orlando Pride are set to meet tonight at 7:00 p.m. in their last regular season match of the year. After three huge wins on the road, OL Reign returns to Lumen Field to fight for a first-round bye in the playoffs, in front of what is shaping up to be a record-breaking crowd.

WHEN AND WHERE: Kickoff is at 7:00 p.m. PT on Saturday, October 1 at Lumen Field in Seattle, Washington

WHERE TO WATCH: The match will be available on Twitch.

2022 REGULAR SEASON RECORDS AND STANDINGS (W-L-D): OL Reign: 10-4-7 (37 points, 2nd place), Orlando Pride: 5-9-7 (22 points, 9th place)

Key Points Ahead of the Match:

1. LAST MEETING – OL Reign and the Orlando Pride last met just over a month ago, on August 26. In Orlando, OL Reign initially went down a goal after some sloppy giveaway gave Orlando the lead against the run of the play. After going into halftime down a goal, OL Reign came out hungry in the second half. They find the equalizer when forward Megan Rapinoe won possession of the ball in Orlando’s half and served a ball into the box. Forward Bethany Balcer dove through the box to get her head on the end of it and find the back of the net. OL Reign struck again in stoppage time, when Rapinoe found a goal of her own.

2. SCOUTING ORLANDO– Currently, Orlando sits in ninth place in the NWSL standings, with 22 points. Most recently, the team took on the San Diego Wave and earned a 2-2 draw. Orlando scored goals in the 33rd and 68th minutes, before conceding two late goals in the 76th and 87th minutes to draw the game. In the last meeting between the two teams, OL Reign ended the Pride's seven-game unbeaten streak with a 2-1 comeback win. Since that loss, the Pride are winless in their last five games played.

3. HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS – After a long stretch on the road, OL Reign return to Lumen Field for this final match of the regular season. Not only will the team get to play in front a home crowd, but they have been able to get back into a routine this week.

“It's honestly just been nice to be home. We've had a full week at home, but we had a really good training session yesterday in preparation for the game and obviously today, a little bit more detail around what we need to do and stuff. So yeah, it's just been nice to be home and I feel like we've definitely been on the road a lot this year. So, to know that that's not going to happen now unless we get to where we really want to go, I think it's really pleasing, too,” said OL Reign head coach Laura Harvey.

“I think for players too, consistency is the biggest thing possible and when you're on the road, there are so many factors that indicate that that might not be a thing that we have to being home, we all get to have our own routines, you're back and sleeping in your own bed, eating the food you want. So, regardless of training less this week, we have all the other aspects that kind of help us perform that are in our control, which is really nice and I think just being home and being consistent is great,” added defender Lu Barnes.

4. FIGHT FOR A TOP SPOT– OL Reign can secure a top-two seed in the playoffs with a win over Orlando (full playoff scenarios here), but this game is about more than that.

"We always talk about these games. These teams are playing for pride, whether they're in playoff fight or not. They're the hardest teams to play. They want to go out, remembering their season as a high and just want to prove themselves, probably. So, in terms of what we're going to get on the field, we don't really know, but you know that they're going to come out really hard, probably excited and playing with a lot of heart and those are always the hardest teams to play," said Barnes.

"Yeah, I think that's a definite that they've changed their team a little bit recently. So, the exact eleven, we're not quite sure what it will look like,” said Harvey. “But I think, yeah, pride to me, personal pride is the thing that's the hardest to play against and I think Gotham showed that when we played them last week and I think we'll see the same off Orlando tomorrow."

MultiCare Availability Report:

OUT

Angelina (SEI - right knee) 

Tobin Heath (SEI - left knee)

Sinclaire Miramontez (SEI - right foot)

Jodi Ulkekul (SEI - right knee)

QUESTIONABLE

None

INTERNATIONAL

None