Lumen Field | Seattle, Washington – Friday, October 20 at 10:00 PM ET
Players to watch:
After her two goals in the regular season finale, attacker Megan Rapinoe now has 80 goal contributions in her 129 games in all competitions for the Reign. The only other player with more than 71 goal contributions for a single NWSL team is Christine Sinclair (POR), who has 92 in 208 matches.
Forward Alyssa Thompson and midfielder Savannah McCaskill ended up tied for the team lead in goals in the regular season with four each. Fourteen different players scored at least one goal for Angel City in league play this season, the most of any single club in 2023 and tied for the most in a single season in NWSL history (Portland & North Carolina – 2022).
Match facts: OL Reign face Angel City FC in the first of two opening playoff games this weekend, with winner awaiting a trip to San Diego to face the Shield-winning Wave on the first weekend in November. OL Reign finished the regular season in 4th place with 32 points from 22 games, while Angel City finished in 5th place with 31 points from 22 games, beating out Gotham and Orlando on goal differential.
OL Reign enter the playoffs with consecutive shutouts as the team delivered 13 clean sheets in 2023 in all competitions, the 13 shutouts are the most in a single season for the Reign, surpassing the 12 they earned in 2018. The Reign are unbeaten in their last three in total (W1 D2) with the vital win coming against Chicago in the last game of the regular season.
On the other side, with interim manager Becki Tweed at the helm, Angel City has lost just once in its 11 league matches (W6 D4). Angel City’s 22 points since June 17 (Tweed’s first match as manager) are four more than the team with the next most (Orlando – 18). Angel City has won two straight coming in, defeating Houston 2-1 on the road before a 5-1 trumping of Portland in the regular season finale.
In the last meeting between Angel City and OL Reign, the L.A.-based side notched its first-ever win in the fixture in all competitions, a 2-1 triumph at home. The Reign are unbeaten in their four all-time home games (W3 D1) against ACFC, the last of which was a 4-1 victory in league play back in May.
In addition, in the history of the NWSL playoffs, the home team has lost 10 times (W14, 1 PK shootout elimination, but OL Reign has three of those losses, the most of any team in league history.
