The Portland Thorns and Kansas City could see their upcoming match up on Wednesday night at Swope Soccer Village to be a critical one. Both clubs are currently tied on 22 points for the fourth and final playoff spot in the NWSL, meaning the heat is on. If either side edge out a win in Kansas, it could temporarily move them into a third place spot, inching them closer to their goals outside of the regular season.
This will be the two clubs second meeting in 2015. They met back in June at Providence Park where the final match ended in a 1-1 score line when goalkeeper Michelle Betos scored the game-tying goal after heading a corner kick taken by Allie Long in stoppage time to make it 1-1.
Portland is coming off a gritty 2-1 victory over the Chicago Red Stars at Providence Park. Chicago took an early lead in the 29th minute on Portland’s home turf when Lori Chalupny sent a soft pass to Alyssa Mautz on the wing and she brilliant aimed the ball into the corner of the net to open scoring, despite the incredibly tight angle. It wasn’t until later in the match when Portland re-emerged and managed to bag two goals, both by Allie Long and secured the match in their favour.
FC Kansas on the other hand, is coming off a stellar 4-0 win over the Western New York Flash where four different players on the roster claimed a goal Saturday night. Leigh Ann Robinson, Yael Averbuch, Heather O’Reilly and Jen Buczkowski all added to the tally as the NWSL defending champions wiped out their competition.
Although both Kansas City and the Thorns enter the match with the same overall record the Blues have a +5 goal differential over Portland’s +3. Conceding goals in this instance only makes the tension of the match higher.
Both clubs have met before on significant occasions including in the play offs where both clubs found victory once as well as they met in the 2013 (FCKC 2-3 PTCF) and 2014 (FCKC 2-0 PTFC) NWSL semifinals.
Lianna Sanderson, formerly a player for Arsenal ladies in the FA WSL, made her Thorns debut on Sunday against Chicago. She replaced Jodie Taylor who is still struggling with a knee injury.
Alex Morgan and Stephanie Catley are also struggling with injuries and are unlikely to be available. Morgan is recovers from minor knee surgery and Catley recovers from a foot injury. This offers quite a disadvantage to Portland, yet with the likes of Long's current form; their goal scoring prowess is not fully shut out yet.
