NWSL, week 19 in review: Closing time

There is, technically, still one game left in the 2014 regular season, but the NWSL’s second year has pretty much reached its end. Portland and Washington clinched the final two playoff spots last week, officially setting up a rematch of one of last year’s semifinals and a brand-new rivalry with the two teams who spent all of 2013 at the bottom of the table.

The Spirit lost to Sky Blue, but got in anyway, while Portland handed Seattle its second loss of the season to book its ticket to the postseason and a rematch with FC Kansas City. Boston also closed out its season against Houston, topping the Dash in a last gasp effort to just not be the worst.

The difference a year makes
A year after finishing dead last and winning just three times all season, the Washington Spirit are headed to the postseason. Washington lost to Sky Blue FC on Sunday, but thanks to tiebreakers clinched the fourth spot and a first-round meeting with Seattle next weekend anyway. Monica Ocampo scored the game’s only goal in the 27th minute as Sky Blue rolled to its fourth straight win and kept its playoff hopes alive, at least temporarily. The Jersey side was eliminated a few hours later when Chicago tied Western NY.

Sky Blue has one more game, the postponed match against Houston, now scheduled for Wednesday, but will finish in sixth regardless of what happens against the Dash. Washington, meanwhile, joins semifinal opponent Seattle in the Amazing Turnaround Department, finishing the season with a 10-9-5 record and 36 goals scored. In 2013 the Spirit went 3-14-5 and managed just 16 goals all season.
Art of almost
The Red Stars were so, so close. Thanks to a 3-3 draw with Western NY, Chicago was basically in... as long as Portland lost. The Red Stars converted two of the three penalty kicks they were awarded, coming back from 3-1 down to draw with the already-eliminated Flash and keep their playoff hopes alive. Christen Press scored twice, including one of the penalties, and Julie Johnston put away the other PK for Chicago. Adriana, Carli Lloyd and Samantha Kerr all scored -- in the run of play -- for Western NY, and despite giving up the two goals to Press, held a 3-2 lead into the 90th minute before Johnston converted her penalty in stoppage time to tie the game. The draw was good enough to keep Chicago in the postseason picture, at least for the night, but the Red Stars were ultimately eliminated thanks to Portland’s win on Sunday.

Chicago finishes the season in fifth, tied with Washington on points but losing out on the fourth spot thanks to tiebreakers. The Red Stars have never made the playoffs in either WPS or NWSL and finish the 2014 season with a 9-7-8 record. Western NY also won’t be appearing in the postseason, marking the first time in two different pro leagues that the Flash has failed to make it to the title game. Western NY finishes the season in seventh, with an 8-12-4 record.

Portland punches its ticket to the postseason
It may have taken until the final game of the regular season, but last season’s champions ultimately pulled it off. Portland came into the weekend outside of the top four, but a pair of favorable results on Saturday and a 1-0 win over Seattle on Sunday have given the Thorns a chance at that second title after all. Alex Morgan scored the game’s only goal -- and the first the Thorns have tallied all season against the Reign -- off a header in the 68th minute. Nadine Angerer made five saves en route to her fourth shutout of the season as Portland handed Seattle just its second loss.

The Thorns’ win -- combined with Washington’s loss and Chicago’s draw -- also ensured that Sunday’s game wouldn’t be a first-round playoff preview after all. Instead, the Thorns finish third and will head to Kansas City to take on the Blues in the semifinal next weekend. Which sounds familiar. A year ago, third-seeded Portland came back from two goals down to knock second seed FC Kansas City out of the playoffs in extra time of the semifinal.

Portland wraps up the regular season with 36 points and a 10-8-6 record. Seattle, meanwhile, finishes as the regular season champions, setting NWSL records for points (54), wins (16), and goals scored (50). The Reign’s Kim Little also officially clinched the 2014 Golden Boot on Sunday, despite not scoring in the finale. Little’s 16 goals are also an NWSL record. FC Kansas City’s Lauren Holiday won the Golden Boot in 2013 with 12 goals.

Battle for the bottom
Thanks to the league finally getting around to rescheduling that postponed Sky Blue FC-Houston game for Wednesday, there’s still a chance Boston could finish at the bottom of the table, something that would very much benefit Sky Blue FC thanks to the Breakers sending their first-round pick in 2015 to New Jersey. But while Houston will have one more game to play -- and one more chance to not finish last -- the season is officially over for the Breakers. Boston went out on a relative high, topping the Dash 1-0 on a Kristie Mewis goal in the 77th minute and four saves from Alyssa Naeher, good for her third clean sheet of the season. Boston finishes a disappointing 2014 with 20 points, a 6-15-3 record, a league-worst 53 goals against and a minus-16 goal differential. The Breakers are currently in eighth, but a Dash win in New Jersey on Wednesday would put Boston back in the basement.

Scores
Wednesday
Western NY Flash 2 - 3 Sky Blue FC
Chicago Red Stars 2 - 0 Boston Breakers

Saturday
Washington Spirit 0 - 1 Sky Blue FC
Chicago Red Stars 3 - 3 Western NY Flash

Sunday
Portland Thorns FC 1 - 0 Seattle Reign FC
Boston Breakers 1 - 0 Houston Dash