PORTLAND, Ore. – They’ll play two more times this season, meaning over the NWSL’s final 14 rounds, Portland Thorns FC and Reign FC will spend more than 20 percent of their minutes lined up against each other. Given where those games fall, though, each are likely to have a drastically different feel.
Sept. 29’s will be two weeks before the playoffs, with at least one of the teams likely to be fighting for their playoff lives. Given how tight the NWSL is this season, it might be both. The same feeling Portland and Seattle had when they met at the end of the 2018 season, they’ll feel near 2019’s close.