Lumen Field | Seattle, Washington – Friday, October 6 at 8:00 PM ET
Players to watch:
Forward Megan Rapinoe’s assist to teammate Bethany Balcer on Sunday was her 25th in regular season play, all with OL Reign, equaling teammate Jess Fishlock for the most assists with one team in league history. With two matches left, Rapinoe is on 49 goals and could become the fourth player with 50 goals and 25 assists in regular season play in NWSL history and the first to do so for a single club.
Washington forward Tara McKeown and defender Gabrielle Carle both collected their first assists of the year in Washington’s win on Saturday. Washington has 14 different players with at least one assist in all competitions this season, with only North Carolina having as many or more players with an assist this season (15 different players).
Match facts: An incredibly entertaining NWSL season enters its penultimate weekend of action with OL Reign hosting the Washington Spirit on CBS on Sunday night as forward Megan Rapinoe signs off in the final regular season game of her illustrious career. It’s also a massive matchup between the two lowest seeded teams current in the playoff picture, as OL Reign sit 6th with 28 points from 20 games played while the Spirit are just ahead in 5th with 29 points from 20 games played.
The hosts are in need of an immediate turnaround as they have just one win in their last seven regular season matches (D2 L4) dating back to the beginning of July. In that time, the club has only scored five goals (one penalty) and were shut out three times, all of which were losses. The last time the Reign recorded just one win in a span of seven matches within a single regular season was from May to June 2018.
Meanwhile, Washington snapped a seven-game winless streak of their own in league play (D3 L4) with its 2-1 win over Kansas City on Saturday, the team’s longest winless streak since going 16 straight without a win at one point last season. The only team with a longer such streak in league play this season, though, is Houston, who is with a win in their last eight games.
Washington are unbeaten over their last 10 matches against OL Reign in all competitions going back to May 2019 (W5 D5, excluding forfeits). The Spirit have held the Reign scoreless in six of those 10 games after keeping clean sheets in just three of the previous 18 matches against them. These two sides met in a season opening 1-0 win in Washington’s favor, with forward Trinity Rodman scoring the lone goal.
