With just three weeks left in the regular season, it's crunch time for teams chasing the three available playoff berths behind league leader Seattle. The 2013 champion Portland Thorns FC, sitting in
fifth place, face a key test at Sky Blue FC on Saturday and should have
Alex Morgan available for the first time since the season opener.
NWSL 2015: Standings |
Schedule A knee injury kept Morgan out of the Thorns' remaining games before she left on Women's World Cup duty.
Following the final, she had arthroscopic surgery on her other knee. Morgan played and scored Wednesday night in the
USA's 7-2 win over Costa Rica.
Portland (6-7-4, 22 points) sits fifth in the
NWSL standings, three points behind fourth-place FC Kansas City (25 points), which occupies the final playoff spot. Chicago Red Stars and Washington Spirit are tied for second place with 28
points.
The top four teams advance to the semifinals.
2015 NWSL Remaining Schedule: 1. *Seattle (33) -- 8/21 @HOU, 8/26 BOS, 8/29 SBFC, 9/5 @WAS
2. Washington (28)
-- 8/27 @FCKC, 8/30 @POR, 9/5 SEA
2. Chicago (28) -- 8/23 WNY, 8/29 @WNY, 9/6 HOU
4. FC Kansas City (25)
-- 8/22 BOS, 8/27 WAS 9/2 @SBFC
---------------------------------------------
5. Portland (22) -- 8/22 @SBFC, 8/30 WAS, 9/4 @WNY
6. Houston (20) -- 8/21 SEA, 8/30 BOS, 9/6 @CHI
7. Western NY (19) -- 8/23 @CHI, 8/29 CHI, 9/4 POR
8. Sky Blue FC (18) -- 8/22 POR, 8/29 @SEA, 9/2 FCKC
9. Boston (15) -- 8/22 @FCKC, 8/26 @SEA, 8/30 @HOU
*Clinched
playoff berth.
NWSL Player of the Week Washington Spirit forward
Crystal Dunn was voted the NWSL Player of the Week by the media for Week 18 after she scored the game-winning goal in stoppage time to help the Spirit record a 2-1 win at the Chicago Red
Stars on Sunday night.
It was the sixth game-winning goal for Dunn, who leads the league with 13 goals scored. The former North Carolina stars was honored for the fifth time this season.