OL Reign Vs Portland Thorns: 3 things we learned – The stage is set

1. Both teams know knockout fate

This game was one of the last matches in the preliminary round, followed only by the North Carolina Courage and Sky Blue FC. Portland went 0-3-1 while Reign ended 1-2-1. The Thorns finished in eighth place while OL Reign ended in third. As such, they now know their knockout fate. The Thorns face off against the North Carolina Courage in the first round while Reign takes on the Chicago Red Stars.

Portland has the hardest ask of anyone, trying to take down the Courage for the first time in the competition. The good news for the Thorns is it took some late-game heroics for North Carolina to defeat them the last time these two teams met. But the Thorns still lost and a repeat of the earlier result will have Portland out of the tournament without a win.

OL Reign was fortunate to receive one of the coveted spots that is on the opposite side of the bracket as the Courage. Now, they turn their focus to the Red Stars and possibly the winner of the Spirit-Sky Blue match if Reign defeats Chicago.

It is set up to be a fascinating knockout round. With every team trying to knock the Courage off their perch, can Portland find something from somewhere? Now they know what they must do, the challenge is set before them.