OL Reign and the Portland Thorns battled out 0-0 draw to end both team’s preliminary stage. Here are three things we learned from the match.
OL Reign and the Portland Thorns closed out their 2020 Challenge Cup preliminary round by playing to a 0-0 draw. The game started slowly, with either team pushing forward. The best chances of the match came in the second half, but ultimately, Michelle Betos made several decent saves to keep the game at 0-0. This was both team’s second 0-0 draw of the competition as they now prepare for the road ahead in the knockout stages.
Here are three things we learned.
3. Portland goes winless in preliminary round
The Portland Thorns’ 0-0 draw secured a spot in eighth place and a first-round match with the North Carolina Courage who clinched the number one overall seed before the final round of preliminary matches.
More than just finishing in last place, Portland is the only team to go through the first four games of the competition without a win. The Thorns finished with three draws and one loss in the Challenge Cup opener to the NC Courage. Portland’s performance is following a 2019 when the team finished third overall and lost to the Chicago Red Stars in the first round of the NWSL playoffs.
A win against the Reign would have put the Thorns in third place with five points and a first-round match against the Chicago Red Stars, on the other side of the bracket as the North Carolina Courage. Instead, the draw puts the Thorns as the first team to take a swing at the two-time defending champions where they will for sure be considered underdogs.
It is hard to take these four games as seriously as a regular NWSL season. However, Portland has developed a reputation for trophies and, at the very least, being competitive. If what we expect to happen does happen and the Courage beat the Thorns, Portland will have endured the worst Challenge Cup of all eight teams. That would be very disappointing, to say the least.