After an rough game at Boston last week, Seattle Reign FC came into this weekend’s match against Portland Thorns FC ready to try something new. The lineup card announced that they would be playing a 3-4-3, similar to how they finished last week’s game against the Breakers. However, in reality they set up in their standard 4-3-3 while attacking, albeit with three notable changes — Rebekah Stott and Rachel Corsie started in the back, and Merritt Mathias moved up top in place of the absent Christine Nairn.
The big strategic change came in how they utilized their wide players while defending.