MATCH INFORMATION
Date: Saturday, July 1, 2017
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. (Pacific)
Location: Memorial Stadium (Seattle, Wash.)
Forecast: Partly cloudy, 73 degrees
Referee: Jon Freemon
Assistant Referees: Joshua Haimes, TJ Zablocki Fourth Official: Cephas Quartson
Broadcast:nwslsoccer.com and go90.com
Broadcast talent: Brendan Gulick (play-by-play), Marc Serber (analyst)
MATCH PREVIEW
Playing their third match in an eight-day span, Portland Thorns FC travel to square off against Cascadia-rival Seattle Reign FC on Saturday, July 1, at Memorial Stadium.
Saturday’s match is the first of two meetings between the clubs in Seattle. Portland travels for its first of back-to-back road contests. The match is Thorns FC’s fifth road match in it’s last nine games as part of a stretch of six of 10 games on the road. Portland opened up the stretch with consecutive road games on May 13 and May 19 and concludes this stretch away at Seattle and against the Houston Dash on July 8.
LAST MATCH RECAP
Thorns FC tallied a pair of goals in the first half and forward Christine Sinclair completed her third career brace with a goal in the second half to earn a 3-0 win against FC Kansas City on June 28 at Providence Park. Sinclair opened the scoring in the 15th minute and added a second goal in the 75th, while forward Hayley Raso recorded her first career NWSL goal in the 32nd minute. In addition, Raso tallied her second assist of the season on Sinclair’s second goal, while Lindsey Horan recorded her first NWSL assist. Additionally, Portland kept its sixth clean sheet of the season, tied for most in the NWSL, as goalkeeper Adrianna Franch registered four saves.
SERIES HISTORY
Saturday’s match marks the 15th all-time meeting between Portland and Seattle. Thorns FC hold a slight edge in the series with a record of 6-5-3 in the previous 14 matches. Notably, three of the last five games between the two sides have finished in a draw. Thorns FC rebounded to earn a 2-2 draw at home in the first meeting between the two clubs on May 6 in Portland. Allie Long has scored in each of her last two games against Seattle.
SCOUTING SEATTLE
Seattle heads into Saturday’s match coming off a 2-1 win against the Chicago Red Stars at home on June 28. Megan Rapinoe converted two penalty kicks to help Reign FC remain unbeaten at home (3-0-3) in 2017. Seattle boasts the top offense in the league with 22 goals scored. Individually, Rapinoe leads the league with seven goals, while Naho Kawasumi is another scoring threat, tallying three goals to go along with a league-best six assists.
