Week 20 Provides Opportunity for Orlando Pride and Chicago Red Stars to Complete the Playoff Field
The four-team field for the 2017 NWSL Playoffs could be set by the end of Week 20 as the Orlando Pride seek their first postseason appearance while the Chicago Red Stars are chasing their third consecutive trip to the playoffs.
Orlando Pride have the simplest path the postseason – just needing to beat the Seattle Reign when they host the Cascadia club tonight, Thursday at 8 p.m. ET.
Meanwhile, the Chicago Red Stars will be required to win against FC Kansas City in the NWSL Game of the Week on Lifetime on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET and hope Seattle was unable to beat Orlando.
Those two scenarios put in play the elimination of the Houston Dash, FC Kansas City, Sky Blue FC and Seattle – some of which also face their own elimination scenarios. See below for all the various permutations heading into what could be a decisive week.
2017 NWSL PLAYOFF PICTURE
| # | Team | Pts. | GD | GR | Max Pts. | Magic No. | Elimination No. |
| 1 | North Carolina Courage | 42 | + 12 | 4 | 54 | Clinched | — |
| 2 | Portland Thorns FC | 40 | + 14 | 3 | 49 | Clinched | — |
| 3 | Chicago Red Stars | 35 | + 4 | 3 | 44 | 5 | — |
| 4 | Orlando Pride | 35 | + 13 | 3 | 44 | 5 | — |
| 5 | Seattle Reign FC | 30 | + 6 | 3 | 39 | — | 5 |
| 6 | Sky Blue FC | 29 | – 9 | 3 | 38 | — | 4 |
| 7 | FC Kansas City | 26 | – 3 | 3 | 35 | — | 1 |
| 8 | Houston Dash | 23 | – 10 | 4 | 35 | — | 1 |
| 9 | Boston Breakers | 16 | – 12 | 3 | 25 | — | Eliminated |
| 10 | Washington Spirit | 16 | – 15 | 3 | 25 | — | Eliminated |
| Glossary – Pts: Points, GD: Goal Difference, GR: Games Remaining, Max: Maximum points possible | |||||||
| Magic Number formula*
The Magic Number for a team to clinch a playoff spot is determined by subtracting that team’s current points total from the maximum number of points possible for the fifth-place team, then adding one. Elimination Number Formula* The Elimination Number for a team to confirm their exclusion from the playoffs is determined by subtracting that team’s maximum number of possible points from the current number of points of the fourth-place team, then adding one. * = The Magic Number or Elimination Number for each team does not reflect scenarios that require tiebreakers. Tiebreaker scenarios are required when a team’s Magic Number or Elimination Number is 1. |
|||||||
| Week 20 clinching scenarios:
Chicago Red Stars will clinch a spot in the 2017 NWSL Playoffs if… … Red Stars win vs. FC Kansas City AND Reign lose or draw vs. Pride Orlando Pride will clinch a spot in the 2017 NWSL Playoffs if… … Pride win vs. Reign Week 20 elimination scenarios: Houston Dash will be eliminated from the 2017 NWSL Playoffs if… … Dash lose or draw vs. Courage OR … Pride win or draw vs. Reign AND Red Stars win or draw vs. FC Kansas City FC Kansas City will be eliminated from the 2017 NWSL Playoffs if… … FC Kansas City lose or draw vs. Red Stars Sky Blue FC will be eliminated from the 2017 NWSL Playoffs if… … Sky Blue lose vs. Spirit OR … Sky Blue draw vs. Spirit AND Pride win or draw vs. Reign AND Red Stars win or draw vs. FC Kansas City OR … Pride win vs. Reign AND Red Stars win vs. FC Kansas City Seattle Reign will be eliminated from the 2017 NWSL Playoffs if… … Reign lose vs. Pride AND Red Stars win vs. FC Kansas City Home-field advantage scenarios: North Carolina Courage will clinch home-field advantage in the semifinals of the 2017 NWSL Playoffs if… … Courage win vs. Dash OR … Courage draw vs. Dash AND Pride lose or draw vs. Reign AND Red Stars lose or draw vs. FC Kansas City OR … Pride lose vs. Reign AND Red Stars lose vs. FC Kansas City Portland Thorns FC will clinch home-field advantage in the semifinals of the 2017 NWSL Playoffs if… … Thorns win vs. Breakers AND Pride lose or draw vs. Reign AND Red Stars lose or draw vs. FC Kansas City |
|||||||
Tiebreaker Procedures |
|||||||
| To Break a Tie in the Standings: | |||||||
| If two or more teams are tied on points at the end of the regular season, the tie will be broken through the following steps: | |||||||
| Two teams | |||||||
| 1. Head-to-head record | |||||||
| 2. Overall goal difference | |||||||
| 3. Overall goals scored | |||||||
| 4. Head-to-head road record | |||||||
| 5. Goal difference in all road games | |||||||
| 6. Goals scored in all road games | |||||||
| 7. Head-to-head home record | |||||||
| 8. Goal difference in all home games | |||||||
| 9. Goals scored in all home games | |||||||
| 10. Coin toss | |||||||
| Three teams | |||||||
| 1. Points per game against other two teams | |||||||
| 2. Overall goal difference | |||||||
| 3. See tiebreaker procedure for two-team scenarios | |||||||
| NOTE: If two teams are still tied after the third team has advanced via the tiebreaker, the tie will be broken using the two-team tiebreaker rules. | |||||||
