NWSL semifinal preview: Rematch!

One game featuring two teams who were not only missed the playoffs a season ago, but instead about as far away as they could get from the postseason. One game featuring an exact rematch of a come-from-behind upset. These are the 2014 playoffs, looking entirely different and strangely familiar all at once. On Saturday, Kansas City will host Portland, a two-three matchup that went Portland’s way a season ago, then the eventual champion Thorns coming back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 in added time. On Sunday, a pair of playoff newcomers - regular season champions Seattle and fourth place Washington - will face off, a year after finishing seventh and eighth respectively, in the then-eight team league.

That Kanas City-Portland rematch stands as the only thing resembling a rivalry here, the only hint of a storied history. But that is not to say that this postseason doesn’t have plenty of stories to tell, plenty of history to write. Here are slates wiped clean, possibilities endless like it’s April again. Here is a chance at worst -- or second worst -- to first, to repeat, to upset, to avenge, to move one step closer, to live another week. Welcome to the playoffs.

FC Kansas City (2) vs. Portland Thorns FC (3)
Verizon Wireless Field Durwood Stadium, Saturday, 1:00 PM ET, ESPN2

This is the rematch of one of last season’s semifinals -- the one where Portland came back from 2-0 down to eventually knock off the Blues in extra time en route to capturing the inaugural NWSL title. And it would be fair to say that since then, the Thorns have mostly had FC Kansas City’s number. In the three times the two teams faced each other this season, the Blues won just once and the Thorns outscored Kansas City 10-3. Seven of those ten Portland goals came in the last regular season meeting between the now playoff opponents, when the Thorns taught FCKC the proper meaning of the word drubbing.

Results aside though, this Kansas City team is perhaps stronger than the one from a season ago, and this Thorns side more prone to struggles than its 2013 version. Portland has had an up-and-down season, and had to deal with injuries to some key players, including Alex Morgan, Rachel Van Hollebeke, and Tobin Heath, who’s made just five appearances since returning from Europe, but the Thorns have also made a name for themselves on coming up big in big moments. Last season’s semifinal, and final - which the Thorns won despite playing down a player for most of the second half, as well as this year’s regular season finale against Seattle - a game Portland needed to win to make it into the playoffs - all stand as proof.

Kansas City’s game has always been a more consistent, and considerably less flashy one. While everyone was focused on Seattle, the Blues quietly put together a nine match unbeaten streak of their own, that 7-1 loss an anomaly in a season full of mostly-close games, something that stands in stark contrast to Portland’s wild season -- the Thorns were involved in six games that featured five or more goals, while Kansas City had just three. FC Kansas City also hasn’t lost a match at home all season, and the Blues have learned the value of sharing the wealth in the offense department, with nine different players scoring during the regular season, in contrast to Portland’s six.

Both sides feature experienced international goalkeepers, though Portland’s Nadine Angerer has lately looked shakier than her early-season form. As has Portland’s defense, which had become something of a revolving door as Van Hollebeke in particular dealt with injury issues. The Thorns will head into the postseason without Nikki Marshall, who tore her ACL early in the first half of Portland’s final regular season game last weekend. Marshall appeared in every game for the Thorns, playing 2,072 of a possible 2,160 minutes this season.

Portland and Kansas City also boast some of the league’s top scorers -- the Thorns have three players in the top ten: Morgan, Jessica McDonald, and Allie Long, in addition to Christine Sinclair, who struggled to find the net early in the season, before eventually tallying seven goals. Sinclair is still one of the world’s best strikers and like her team has a reputation for scoring big goals in big games.

On the other side, Kansas City boasts last season’s Golden Boot winner in Lauren Holiday, as well as 2013’s Rookie of the Year in Erika Tymrak, who also spent part of this season dealing with injuries. While the duo never found quite the same rhythm that made them one of the most dangerous tandems in the league a year ago, they still provide plenty in the way of an offensive threat. Plus, the Blues found plenty of goals elsewhere, with Amy Rodriguez having yet another career resurgence, finishing the season as Golden Boot runner up with 13 goals, just a year after not playing due to the birth of her first child. In the Thorns, Rodriguez will face the coach that was responsible for her first career resurgence. Way back in the WPS days it was Paul Riley who brought Rodriguez from Boston’s bench to marquee striker status in Philadelphia.

Seattle Reign FC (1) vs. Washington Spirit (4)
Moda Pitch Memorial Stadium, Sunday, 11:00 PM ET, ESPN2

Seattle is the obvious heavy favorite here. Despite dropping its regular season finale to Portland, the Reign had a record-setting season, basically running away with the title right from first kick back in April. Washington’s road here wasn’t quite as cut and dry as Seattle’s, with the Spirit playing will-they-or-won’t-they until the final day and eventually only clinching the final playoff spot on tiebreakers. No matter how either team got here, the fact that two clubs that spent all of 2013 just trying to win a game are now fighting it out for a chance at a championship, is an impressive feat on its own.

The Reign and Spirit met three times during the regular season, with the Reign winning the first two and the third, on August 9th, finishing in a 1-1 draw. Although the Spirit couldn’t quite find a way to beat Seattle in the regular season, Washington did at least manage to score a goal in each of the three games. The Spirit will be without forward Lisa De Vanna, who Mark Parsons chose to leave in DC, in what the coach described on a conference call as “the best decision for the team.” De Vanna joined the Spirit, her third team in two seasons, in a June trade with Boston and scored just a single goal during the regular season. Washington isn’t completely without offense though. Jodie Taylor and Diana Matheson carried much of the scoring load during the regular season, combining for 19 of the Spirit’s 36 goals.

Offensive production is hardly Washington’s problem. The Spirit will have to figure out how to contain a Seattle attack that netted a record 50 goals during the regular season. Washington will get some help in that department with the return of Ashlyn Harris, who missed the final two games due to a concussion, but they’ll also need to keep the defensive lapses to a minimum, especially against a Reign side that’s made a name for itself on stealing games late. The Spirit is the only one of the four playoff teams with a negative goal differential, allowing 43 goals, better only than bottom-of-the-table Houston and basically bottom-of-the-table Boston. And Seattle has offense coming from everywhere. Shut down Golden Boot winner Kim Little and there’s still Sydney Leroux. Take Leroux off her game and you’ve still got Megan Rapinoe. Or Jess Fishlock. Or Nahomi Kawasumi. And so on. Eight different players scored for Seattle this season, but each of them scored at least twice, and four of them scored five or more times.