As week 19 begins, let's take a minute to reflect. We've already lost our first team, with the Boston Breakers officially eliminated from playoff contention and thus heading to the big offseason in the sky. The Breakers succumbed to ineptitude last week after a long battle. Their season was four months old (that's 70 in NWSL years), and leave behind several best friends, including Sky Blue FC and Western NY. Due to previous commitments, neither could be at Boston's side in the end, though both will likely be joining them very soon.
NWSL week 19 preview: Can Chicago finally book a ticket to the postseason?
Sky Blue FC hosts Portland, Boston pays a visit to Kansas City and Chicago takes on Western NY as the playoff picture starts to come into focus.
Brian Bahr/Getty Images
The news isn't all sad though. Week 19 also brings us a chance at seeing another team join Seattle in clinching a playoff berth. The Chicago Red Stars could very well book their ticket to the postseason for the first time ever this weekend. The Red Stars just barely missed the playoffs last season, losing on tiebreakers, and finished in sixth in 2013. A win this weekend, combined with a favorable result in the Sky Blue-Portland game, would secure that top four spot for Chicago. Of course, the postseason isn't a sure thing for them yet. As close as Chicago is to finally breaking through, if a few results go the other way, the Red Stars could very well finish where they have twice before: on the outside looking in.
After this weekend, everyone except for Seattle will have just two games remaining. Though the playoff picture is starting to take shape, there will still be at least two spots up for grabs, a Shield winner to decide and a middle of the table that still looks pretty crowded ... Oh, what’s that? You have an announcement, Commissioner Plush?
You’re extending the season until November? An 87-game schedule. That’s ... I mean, it’s late August already. No, it’s good to see you too, Mr. Plush. We were starting to get worried, it’d been a while and ... Oh you’re just kidding. You’re not kidding? Maybe you’re kidding? No, doing the rest of the season as Crab Soccer is absolutely not a good idea. You discussed this with the owners eight years ago? There wasn’t even a league then. That seems ... I understand that, but maybe then you should have mentioned ... No, surprises can be really fun, it’s just that ... Wait, where are you going? Mr. Plush? Sir? Commissioner?
Friday
Houston Dash vs. Seattle Reign FC
BBVA Compass Stadium, 8 p.m. ET
FOX Sports 1
A game on FOX Sports 1! What a world we live in.
Seattle’s signing of two of the world’s best players who will never play in a World Cup, Olympics or cash-grab friendlies continues to pay huge dividends, as Jess Fishlock and Kim Little have played every game and guided the Reign to first place. Having Beverly Yanez up top instead of Sydney Leroux certainly hasn’t hurt either.
Their opponents on Friday, the Dash, sit in sixth place and are in big need of a win. Given their situation in the standings, they’re probably thoroughly annoyed that Carli Lloyd and Meghan Klingenberg played a friendly in a thunderstorm this week, though they’ll also be relieved that Morgan Brian sat out of the USWNT victory tour game.
The last time these teams met, Seattle won 2-1 at home. Kealia Ohai put Houston up early, but it couldn’t hold on for any points.
Saturday
Sky Blue FC vs. Portland Thorns FC
Yurcak Field, 7 p.m. ET
Sky Blue heads into the weekend on the verge of elimination. A loss would send the Jersey side packing for a second straight season, a draw would leave things up to the result of the Kansas City-Boston game that’s also happening on Saturday. Portland, meanwhile, is safe regardless of the result. But with just three games remaining including Saturday, a loss could very well put the playoffs and a chance at actually playing in that championship at Providence Park out of reach. The Thorns, one of the lowest-scoring teams in the league, are currently in fifth and three points out of the top four. With only a few weeks left in the season, they still haven’t figured out the combination to Cindy Parlow Cone’s hat locker.
In other words, both teams need a win, badly.
The Thorns managed to climb up the table thanks to a three-game win streak, but a 3-0 loss FC Kansas City last week brought all that to a screeching halt. It was the seventh time this season the Thorns have been shut out, and five of Portland's six wins have come against the league's bottom three teams. The good news? Sky Blue is definitely one of those teams.
Portland perhaps got more good news during the week, with Alex Morgan playing 34 minutes and scoring a goal in the USWNT's 7-2 win over Costa Rica, her first game action since the World Cup. Tobin Heath also appeared for the USWNT on Wednesday.
Sky Blue has won only four games this season, and with just three points separating them from the bottom-of-the-table Breakers, a last place finish still isn’t out of the question. The Jersey team has struggled offensively all season, netting a league-worst 18 goals, and now a key part of that offense in Kelley O’Hara is coming off a 90-minute appearance for the USWNT on Wednesday. Christie Rampone did not play for Sky Blue in the game after going 90 last weekend with the USWNT. Rampone does have one goal this season for Sky Blue, making her the club’s fifth-leading scorer.
FC Kansas City vs. Boston Breakers
Swope Soccer Village, 8 p.m. ET
As defending champions, FC Kansas City hasn’t exactly impressed in their bid to become the first team to repeat. The Blues have floated in and out of the playoff picture for much of the season, and though they’ve landed in fourth place heading into the final few weeks, it’s hardly a comfortable position with Portland just three points back.
Kansas City has gotten back on track recently, heading into Saturday on the heels of two straight shutout wins. Taking on a Boston team that probably deserves that Blues nickname way more right about now could provide a little more insurance heading into the homestretch.
The Breakers were officially eliminated from postseason contention last week, a week in which they didn’t even play or have a game on the schedule.
Boston's Alyssa Naeher and FCKC's Heather O'Reilly, Amy Rodriguez, Lauren Holiday and Becky Sauerbrunn all appeared in Wednesday's USWNT game against Costa Rica, though only Holiday and Sauerbrunn went the full 90.
Sunday
Chicago Red Stars vs. Western NY Flash
Benedictine University, 5 p.m. ET
After two seasons of coming thisclose to reaching the playoffs, the Red Stars are finally on the cusp of a postseason berth. A win on Sunday, combined with anything less than a win for Portland on Saturday, would put Chicago in the playoffs for the first time in its NWSL history. (The Red Stars did make two final appearances in the years between WPS and NWSL, in WPSL and WPSL elite, though Chicago eventually lost both of those games.)
But before the Red Stars start thinking about the postseason, there’s still three more regular season games to play. Chicago faces a Western NY team holding on to the last threads of a season that could have been much worse, considering the major upheaval that the Flash’s roster faced before the season even kicked off way back in April.
After sitting atop the table for much of the summer, the Red Stars have suffered a major dip in form recently, falling into third and five points back of the league-leading Reign. Chicago is winless in its last five, including a loss last weekend to the Spirit. There’s also the question of how much Julie Johnston, Christen Press and Lori Chalupny will be able to contribute after putting in considerable time in the USWNT’s two-game series against Costa Rica. Chalupny went the full 90 on Wednesday, while Press came in as a second half sub. All three also played in last Sunday’s match in Pittsburgh, as did Western NY’s Whitney Engen, who also went 90 in the Wednesday game.
The Flash head into Sunday with just one win in their last five games, in seventh on the table and on the cusp of elimination. If there’s any good news, it’s that in the lone previous meeting between Western NY and Chicago this season, it was the Flash that came away with the 3-1 win. With things looking pretty grim as far as the playoffs are concerned -- anything but a win pretty much ends Western NY’s postseason hopes -- playing spoiler may be as good as things get for the team that processed meats built.
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