Portland Thorns Playoff Battle Continues

A fierce battle has been under way for a couple of weeks now, which has had women’s soccer fans on the edge of their seats. Portland’s beloved Thorns have been vying for a spot in the NWSL (National Women’s Soccer League) playoffs. As the regular season is wrapping up, there are a couple of teams that are very close in points, making these last games heated as everyone is vying for those precious spots in the playoffs.

Last week, it seemed as though the Thorns had a decent chance to get there if a couple of key things happened. Last Saturday’s away game against New Jersey’s Sky Blue was a crucial element, however, Sky Blue bested them that day 1-0. The other important game involved the team’s close point rivals, Kansas City. It would have been in the Thorns’ best interest for Kansas City to lose their match last week against the Boston Breakers, which would have kept them from accumulating any more points, but Kansas managed to score a 3-0 victory.

With that turn of events, the Thorns now stand at No. 5 in the rankings, which puts them just out of the playoffs. In order to have any chance left at all, there is a game today featuring Kansas City and the Washington Spirit. This game is important to the Thorns because if Washington wins or ties with Kansas City, they will then have enough points to get into the playoffs instead of the Thorns. At this point though, as both Kansas City and the Spirit have more points than the Thorns, it would take quite a bit for the team to break their way into the playoffs.

The next chance that the Portland team will have to gain those valuable points will actually be in a game against the Spirit Sunday, August 30. This will be a home game for the Thorns, and it is easy to tell that the fans are very excited and supportive of their team; the game is already sold out.

The next few days will be intense moments for the Thorns, filled with anticipation, as the season starts to wrap up. Whatever the outcome, there is still the fact that the NWSL Championship game will be hosted in Portland at Providence Park, which is exciting just in itself. And just maybe, depending on these next two games, the Thorns could have a chance to be there.