No! Sleep! Til PORTLAND!

Reign v Thorns is a iconic an NWSL rivalry as there is. I mean, even if it wasn’t for West Coast supremacy and all that, where else is there one which has stood the test as well as this has? I mean, Western New York is now Carolina, Sky Blue is now Gotham, FCKC became the Utah Royals who became KC SC; so of the NWSL debutantes, that leaves the Spirit and Red Stars. Both worthy adversaries, don’t get me wrong, but nothing comparable to a duel between Upper Left rivals. Even if it has lost some of the cachet of Seattle v. Portland with the Reign move to Tacoma, we can now frame it as MLS v World, and extend the battle to Merritt Paulson v. Jean-Michel Aulas. Take that, Portlanders!

But more seriously, as far as making a run for the NWSL Challenge Cup goes, this is a must-have 3 points if the Reign hope to face the top team from the East. At six points from two matches, the Thorns should be able to clinch the top spot from the West with a win; whereas the Reign need a victory tonight not to sit five or more points back with a game in hand, but only two remaining. To put it simply, if there’s a winner tonight, that team is likely the West representative in the Challenge Cup final.
So, where do things stand? Portland beat KC 2:1 at Providence Park, and outlasted Chicago on the road 1:0, whereas the only Reign data point we have was the tussle at Cheney Stadium Friday night where Reign B drew the Dash in a scoreless duel.

But tonight, Fortune’s Favourites should field pretty much an A squad starting lineup, with the likes of Megan Rapinoe and Jess Fishlock back from International duty long enough to be all but certain to slot into the Starting XI. Hopefully, we’ll also see the return of Lu Barnes to the centre of the backline. Madison Hammond was the shining light in the back for OL Reign against Houston, and I’d be hard-pressed to take her out of the lineup, even if Amber Brooks might be ahead of her on the depth chart.

But the BIG NEWS from Camp Predmore this week is the loan from the parent club – Dzsenifer Marozsan and Sarah Bouhaddi are scheduled to join the squad after the conclusion of Olympique Lyonnaise’s season in June. This will see the Reign with a stunning FIVE goalkeepers on the roster – arguably two too many – and will leave competition in the midfield open to see who will round out the trio with Fishlock and Marozsan.

From PDX, we’ll see a trio which has been pretty dominant in establishing control in Rocky Rodriguez, Celeste Boureille, and Meghan Klingenberg. No, that’s not a mistake. Midfielder Meghan Klingenberg, not playing as a centre-back. Therein lies PringELLE’s key to the game. The team which can establish midfield dominance will be favoured to walk away with the laurels of the Cascadia Derby and the three points. We’ll need to see a more solid unit than Shirley Cruz, Angelina, and Dani Weatherholt – my guess would be Fishlock joins Cruz and Long returns to the lineup if able; with Weatherholt, Angelina, and Quinn in reserve. Pinoe slots in on the left side in attack, with Sofia Huerta on the right and Bethany Balcer in the middle; we see Hammond and Barnes in the central defending roles, flanked by Celia and Cox or McNabb; and Bardsley between the sticks.

To rehash Laura Harvey and so many coaches everywhere and when, “Goals change games.” Barring a fluky strike against the run of play, this battle will come down to “which side more effectively can control midfield and link up play out of the back into attack.”

If the Thorns can stretch the field and manage to get runs from the likes of Crystal Dunn out of the back, it might be a long night for the visitors; but it’d be premature to discount Rapinoe crosses into the box or Tiny Dragon determination. This, after all, is why the matches are played, rather than just allocating points on strength of roster.

[edited, 6:41 pm. We now see that I’m not an insider. No Pinoe, Fishlock, or Barnes in the XI. King slots in on left wing, Angelina on the right, with Huerta in the attacking midfield.]

Finishing touch would be nice. So would more of the team we saw in the white kits in the second half. Not so much the edition before the turn. Loved the spark from King and Spencer when they came in. Pruitt had a solid go from the front – it’d be nice to see those efforts on frame, though. Thought Madison Hammond looked solid in an otherwise pretty shaky back four. Finding McNabb’s compete level to still be commendable.

With at least three, if not four and possibly five starters either not in the 18 or unused (Rapinoe, Fishlock, and Quinn from international duty; Long from a pre-match injury; and Barnes for undisclosed reasons), there’s a lot to look forward to as the Challenge Cup continues.

The back four, though, need to coalesce a bit, and focus on clearances – that seemed to be a running issue all night; and with the attack generating chances but not capitalizing on them, the fear was always that Houston would strike on the counter, despite being on the back foot most of the second half. Bardsley looked a little less confident in controlling the line in front of her too, and although not called upon to make any really challenging saves, I’d expect an international starter between the sticks to be capable of generalling her defenders much more assertively.

Still, for a first match, and one against a team which played well enough to not lose, there’s hope looking forward.

Welcome to 2021! Hopefully we’re on the flip-side of COVID-19 now.

The OL Reign Lìon lacks an official name, so, after consulting with a number of supporters, we’ve elected to call the Lion Pringle, after the shape its tongue calls to mind for North Americans. With a nod to the parent club, we’re opting to pronounce the name pring-ELLE. After all, elle is the French third person feminine pronoun, and since it’s silly for a women’s team to have a male lion on its crest, this seems to fit.

«Que pense Pringle ?» will be a series of quick takes and general thoughts about the Reign, their competition, the NWSL, or women’s soccer in general. So, without further ado….

It’s not clear if any of the players called up for International duty have returned to the area, and less so whether any will be available for selection in Friday night’s match against the Houston Dash. I’d be surprised if Pinoe, Quinn, and Jess Fishlock were available, more so if all three were, and stunned if any were to go more than 45′.

Regardless of whether England netminder Karen Bardsley – also returning from International duty – starts between the sticks, the Reign will feature a debutante goalkeeper. My money would be on Cosette Morché, but wouldn’t be surprised if Ella Dederick drew the nod, simply given travel for Bardsley.

The potential of the squad to roll out a front three with Sofia Huerta flanked by Megan Rapinoe and Jasmine Spencer, with Bethany Balcer, Tziarra King, Nicole Momiki, and Ally Watt in ready reserve. That the 2019 Rookie of the Year isn’t an automatic for inclusion in the starting XI speaks to the weapons available in attack.

At full strength, the midfield could feature Jess Fishlock, Quinn, and Allie Long – a trio which could out work any opposition. Whether they’ll be effective in linking play remains to be seen, but Long’s passing accuracy should be near the top of the league again; Quinn may be the replacement for Keelin Winters-Petrillo the midfield has been lacking since the latter’s retirement following the back-to-back Shield winners; and the Welsh Tiny Dragon will continue to do Jess Fishlock things.

Centre back will be a potential concern – after Lu Barnes and Amber Brooks, who slots in there? There aren’t similar concerns on the outside.

But, of course, roster strength doesn’t distaste results – thet’s why they play the games. Still, there’s good reason for optimism here at chez Pringle.