Match Forecast: OL Reign Set to Battle for First Place in Portland

OL Reign are set to play their third match this season against the Portland Thorns on Wednesday night in a battle for first place in the NWSL. The Reign have two wins against the Thorns this regular season and will be looking to claim the third game and keep a perfect record against their Cascadia rivals for the 2021 regular season. 

WHEN AND WHERE: Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. PT on Wednesday, October 13 at Providence Park in Portland, Oregon 

WHERE TO WATCH: The match will be available on Paramount+ in the U.S. and international fans can watch on Twitch

2021 RECORDS AND STANDINGS (W-L-D): OL Reign: 12-7-2 (38 points, second place), Portland Thorns FC: 12-6-3 (39 points, first place) 

Key Points Ahead of the Match: 

1. LAST MEETING – The last time that OL Reign and the Portland Thorns met was August 29, 2021, at Lumen Field in Seattle, Washington at a first-of-its-kind doubleheader event featuring the Reign vs. Thorns game first, followed by a Sounders vs. Timbers MLS game. 

In front of a record-breaking crowd, OL Reign downed the Portland Thorns for the second time, earning a 2-1 victory. Megan Rapinoe was the difference maker on the scoresheet, notching both of OL Reign’s goals in the first half of the match. Her first goal came off a combination play with fellow rivalry veteran Jess Fishlock. Fishlock played a through ball to Rapinoe, who took a few touches before ripping a shot low and hard from the top of the 18-yard box to find the back of the net in the 16th minute. 

Rapinoe doubled OL Reign’s lead in the 40th minute of the match. Portland conceded a penalty kick after a handball in the box and Rapinoe was the obvious choice to take the kick. She stepped up, cool as ever, found the same lower corner as her first goal, to put OL Reign up 2-0 against their Cascadia rival. 

The Portland Thorns found one goal back, in stoppage time of the first half, when Angela Salem collected a ball that was only half cleared to the top of the Reign’s 18-yard box and volleyed it into the back of the net. The 2-1 score line held through the rest of the match and OL Reign secured the three points and claimed the head-to-head tiebreaker between the two teams for the 2021 season. 

2. SCOUTING PORTLAND – The Thorns are currently in first place in the NWSL standings with 39 points and a 12-6-3 record. Most recently, the team fought for a 0-0 draw in Kansas City. 

Both teams created chances throughout the match, but only found two shots on target a piece. Portland had 56% of possession compared to Kansas City’s 44% and took seven corners compared to Kansas City’s two. Despite all of this, neither side could find the goal needed to earn three points. This draw leaves Portland only one point ahead of the Reign in the standings. 

The Thorns are winless in their last three matches, picking up a loss on the road against the Chicago Red Stars on September 25, followed by a loss at home against the Houston Dash and the scoreless draw against Kansas City over the weekend. This is the first time since 2018 that the Thorns have gone three regular season matches without a win. 

3. BATTLE FOR FIRST PLACE – OL Reign and the Portland Thorns were the first two teams to clinch a spot in the 2021 NWSL playoffs and are the only two teams to do so heading into the games this Wednesday. The rivals currently sit in first and second place, only separated by one point. This means that a win will boost OL Reign to first place for the first time this season and put them one step closer to winning the NWSL Shield for the third time in club history. 

OL Reign have not suffered a loss since August 14, picking up six wins and one draw. The team has won nine of their last eleven games and earned 28 points in that time – the most of any team. Portland has earned the second most points in that time, with six wins, two losses and two draws for a total of 20 points. 

Going back to 2019, the Reign have won five straight regular season matches between the teams, the first team to win five straight regular season matches against the Thorns in NWSL history. Portland has three wins and a draw with OL Reign, however, over the Fall Series and the two Challenge Cups in that time. 

4. RIVALRY – The rivalry between the Reign and Thorns has been going strong for nearly a decade. This season, the Reign have won out against the Thorns. All time, the Reign have 13 wins, 12 losses and four draws against the Thorns. In just the regular season, the Reign have 13 wins, eight losses and three draws. 

The match is expected to feature the two top goal scorers in the rivalry – Christine Sinclair and Megan Rapinoe. Sinclair has scored nine goals against the Reign and Rapinoe has scored eight goals against the Thorns. In addition, Lauren Barnes has played the most minutes of any players in the rivalry, with 2,244 minutes played over 25 matches. Sinclair comes in second, with 2,212 minutes played across 26 matches. 

“This game has become such a fantastic rivalry because both teams care greatly about putting on a performance to beat the other one. We always want to do that, and I believe they always want to do that,” said Head Coach Laura Harvey. 

MultiCare Injury Report: 

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