On a rainy day in Cary, North Carolina, the Portland Thorns played the North Carolina Courage in what was widely billed as as championship grudge match.
Parsons opted for starting the players most familiar with the team already. Kelli Hubly won the place in defense over new signing Elizabeth Ball, and Celeste Boureille got the start ahead of Angela Salem. The game started out with end to end action, with both teams transitioning from defense to attack quickly. Portland settled into the game and started building attacks, mostly through the right hand side. Emily Sonnett came out of defense to close down players aggressively, earning a yellow card for her efforts in the 33rd minute.