The playoff race in the NWSL just gets tighter and tighter as the season winds down, and Sunday’s match featuring the Chicago Red Stars at the Portland Thorns drove that point home. 5th place Portland beat 2nd place Chicago 2-1, and tied FC Kansas City on points for the last playoff berth.
Chicago opened the scoring through a misplaced cross by Alyssa Mautz from the right flank; it was lucky, it must be said. There was a hint of a deflection as Mautz crossed the ball, and its trajectory carried it over a helpless Portland’s keeper, Michelle Betos, and into the net. It was easy to sympathize with Betos, as the look on Mautz’ face after she scored said all you needed to know about how much she meant to do so.
Luckily for Portland, in one of the cruelest, most embarrassing passages of play you will ever see, Allie Long scored the equalizer 10 minutes later. Red Stars goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc and defender Abby Erceg both tried to clear a ball rolling across the 6 yard line, but instead ran into each other and fell over. Long was perfectly positioned to put the ball into the empty net that remained in the aftermath of their collision.
The score sheet then received a much needed dose of class when Long scored the winner in the 69th minute with a long range strike from the middle of the park, just outside the 18. It was hit low and hard to the far post, and deserved to be the winner.
The win was Portland’s third in a row as it continues to improve after seeing the return of many of its best players from the USWNT. The whole league has been rebalancing since the end of the World Cup, and in doing so it finds itself in one very tight playoff race. Only the top four teams make it into the postseason, and right now 3rd through last place are separated by 7 points. With most teams in the playoff hunt having 4 games left, we could still see a lot of movement across the table.
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