Photo by Robyn McNeil.

Sky Blue FC Hosts Portland Thorns FC on Saturday Night at Yurcak Field

Piscataway, N.J. (Saturday, August 22, 2015) – When Sky Blue FC (4-7-6, 18 points) welcomes Portland Thorns FC (6-7-4, 22 points) to Yurcak Field on Saturday night at 7:00 PM EST, the two teams will be playing in front of a sellout crowd of over 5,000 fans.

Saturday night marks the first official Sky Blue FC sellout since August 5th, 2009, which was during the inaugural season of Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS), and it is the first sellout for the team during its time of playing in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL). On that August 5th date, Sky Blue FC defeated FC Gold Pride, 2-0, in its home finale at Yurcak Field en route to eventually winning the 2009 WPS Championship.

Overall, the capacity crowd for the Portland fixture will be the third official sellout in franchise history, with the first coming in Sky Blue FC’s first-ever home match on April 5th, 2009. On that evening, it hosted the Los Angeles Sol at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater, home of the Somerset Patriots, an independent minor league baseball club. The attendance, which saw Sky Blue FC fall to the Sol by a tally of 2-0, was a franchise record 6,053 spectators.

In its simplest terms, Sky Blue FC must win on Saturday night in order to keep its postseason hopes alive. There still exists a situation where Sky Blue FC could remain in the playoff mix with a draw, but the New Jersey club would need a lot of things to fall in its favor. The top three spots on the NWSL Table are already out of reach, so Sky Blue FC is in a position where it can only earn the fourth and final playoff seed.

Saturday night marks the third meeting of the season between Sky Blue FC and the Thorns, with the series currently split at one win each. In its first pairing, Portland defeated Sky Blue FC at home, 2-1, while the New Jersey side returned the favor the following weekend at Yurcak Field, 1-0.

Fans who are unable to make it to the match can still watch live via YouTube HD.

Sky Blue FC will close out its 2015 NWSL home slate on Wednesday, September 2nd, when it hosts FC Kansas City at Yurcak Field. Individual and group tickets are on sale now and can be purchased online at tickets.skybluefc.com or by calling 888-SBFC-TIX (888-723-2849).