Lumen Field | Seattle, Washington – Sunday, October 1 at 10:30 PM ET
Players to watch:
With three remaining regular season games left in her NWSL career, Reign attacker Megan Rapinoe currently sits at 49 goals and 24 assists. The only NWSL player with more regular season goals for a single team is Christine Sinclair for the Thorns (62) while only fellow Reign player Jess Fishlock (25) has more assists with a single team. The Reign are led by duo Bethany Balcer and Jordyn Huitema in the goals as well, with both players contributing five goals each.
North Carolina starlet Manaka Matsukubo scored her first regular season goal for the Courage in the team’s match against the Pride. At 19 years and 51 days old, Matsukubo is the third foreign-born teenager to score in an NWSL regular season game, joining Australians Ellie Carpenter and Sam Kerr. Forward Kerolin leads the Courage in scoring overall, though, with nine goals (two penalties) on the season.
Match facts: OL Reign and the North Carolina Courage face off on Sunday night in the first of a two-game slate across the NWSL on Sunday as the regular season comes to a close in just a few weeks’ time. This is a battle of two teams currently in the playoff discussion, with OL Reign sitting in 5th place with 27 points from 19 games played while the Courage are in 4th place with 28 points from their 19 games played.
OL Reign have been shutout and lost in each of their last two matches, including the Challenge Cup knockout rounds. The team has not been held scoreless in three straight matches since a four-game streak from May to June 2013. The Reign have also won just one of their last five league encounters, but are unbeaten in three straight at home in the league as well.
For the first time in club history, the Courage have lost three straight road matches in the regular season. All three losses came by the exact score of 2-1 as no NWSL team has ever lost four straight road games in league play in a single season while also scoring at least one goal. With two draws at home in their last two contests, this means North Carolina have won none of their last five league games in the league, a run that has seen them slide down the league table.
North Carolina have won 10 of their 15 all-time meetings with the Reign (D2 L3) including a 1-0 home win earlier this season. The only NWSL team with more wins against the Reign than the Courage is Portland (14), who has played them 38 times.
