Reign have been eyeing match vs. Portland: ‘A little bit more meaning to it’

It’s the Reign’s favorite time of year — the Cascadia derby with Portland.

“It’s the game that I circle first and foremost on the schedule every year when I see it come out,” Seattle coach Laura Harvey said. “Because it just has a little bit more meaning to it.”

The first of the home-and-home series is Friday. The Thorns are looking to build from a 1-0 win last week on the road against the Utah where forward Reilyn Turner scored an early goal and keeper Bella Bixby collected the clean sheet, the 25th in her career.

Seattle wants to bounce back from a tough 1-0 loss at home to Orlando. The Reign outshot the Pride 13-7 but couldn’t finish any of the opportunities. The defense being able to hold a potent Pride team was motivating.

Here’s a look at the match:

Reign (1-2-1) vs Portland (1-1-2)

Time/place: 7 p.m. Friday at Lumen Field in Seattle

TV: Prime Video

Radio: None

Series history: Portland leads the all-time series 16-15-10 since 2013.

Fishlock questionable

Reign midfielder Jess Fishlock was questionable as of Thursday afternoon due to a leg injury. She also missed last week’s match against Orlando.

But forwards Lynn Biyendolo and Jordyn Huitema won’t be limited after returning from leg injuries last week. For Biyendolo, the Orlando game was her debut with Seattle. She created three chances in the loss but didn’t get a shot at goal in 45 minutes on the field.

Squeaky clean

Limiting chances will be key against Portland. The Thorns are second in the NWSL with 42 shots this season, 17 were on target. There have been clean sheets in the past seven meetings between Seattle and Portland, the sides finishing in a 0-0 draw the last time they played at Lumen in June last year.

Quotable

“There are no words to put into this, it’s definitely a feeling when you go out there,” Reign defender Lu Barnes said of playing the Thorns. “It’s this respect, this hate, this community battle. It’s not just on the field; it’s off the field as well with the two cities. That’s something that we are trying to instill in the players that come in here, especially the ones that are new to the league but also who’ve played on different teams. They don’t get to experience that with other teams because this is definitely the big clash here in the NWSL.”