The Washington Spirit and Seattle Reign will play their final regular season game of the 2015 NWSL season on Saturday. The Spirit is looking for a win to boost their chances of hosting one of two semifinal playoff matches next weekend. The Reign knows they are hosting the other semifinal match, they just don’t know who it is at the moment.
The Spirit currently sits in fourth place with a record of 8-5-6 (win-loss-tie) on 30 points. A win by Washington and a loss or tie by the Chicago Red Stars, the Spirit will host the other semifinal match. A loss or tie with Seattle and they will have to travel cross-country and face off against the Reign next Sunday, September 13th.
The Spirit has been led by Crystal Dunn all season long. She currently leads the league with 15 goals and is looking to add to that total against Seattle. If she can score one goal, she will tie the record for most goals in season with 16. The record is currently held by Reign midfielder Kim Little. If she scores two or more, she will set the new all-time record and it would be the second straight year that the record has been broken.
Seattle will look to keep a clean sheet, something they haven’t done since August 21st against the Houston Dash. It won’t be easy as Dunn will frustrate the back line of the Reign all night long. The midfield will also need to be better than they have been in their last two games. Last week, Sky Blue FC was able to put constant pressure on the Reign and create turnover after turnover. Head Coach Laura Harvey has not been happy with their performances the last two times out.
Kelsey Wys of the Spirit is listed as probable for this match against Seattle with a left hand finger sprain. Seattle will be without Beverly Yanez for the third straight game as she has a left hip strain. No real surprise there and Harvey had mentioned a few weeks back that she more than likely would not be back before the postseason started.
If Wys is not able to go, Ashlyn Harris will be making her ninth appearance of the year. She has a record 3-1-4 in her eight games that she has started. She had saved 42 of the 53 shots on goal against her for a 1.25 goals against average. She also has one shutout in eight appearances.
Hope Solo will be making her fifth straight start of the season. She is 3-0-1 since coming back from the 2015 FIFA World Cup and a knee injury that forced her to miss a few games after the world cup. Overall, she has a record of 4-2-1 and has surrendered eight goals on 25 shots that have been on frame.
As always, Seattle’s midfield will be the key to this match. If they play like they did last week against Sky Blue, the Spirit could very well find themselves winning this match. Seattle is currently on a seven match unbeaten streak.
The last time these two squared off, the Reign entered the match with an eight game unbeaten streak and the Spirit dominated the Reign to the tune of a 3-1 victory. Will it happen again or will Seattle be able to exact some revenge. This is the third and final meeting, barring playoffs, and the series is tied 1-1.
Prediction
The previous two times these two faced off, the final score ended 3-1 both times. It would foolish to expect the same type of score this time around, but that is what yours truly is picking. Dunn will score one goal for the Spirit and Little will score a brace with Megan Rapinoe picking up the final goal.
Seattle 3, Washington 1