Had to be awfully sweet for Sinc to back up the off-season "F@$% Seattle" trash-talk and come on to Pinoe's and Fishlock's home turf and give them a taste of their own medicine with that celebration.
- That's the platonic ideal of how the substitutions should be managed: Moultrie starts, Sinc finishes when we have a lead. Reyes brings the energy when the defenders start to flag a little.
- Coffey my WOTM. Nearly perfect and completely under control the entire second half. Helped that Seattle had to play Balcer at the ten with no Fishlock or Lavelle and thus really struggled with ball progression (seriously Harvey, Quinn AND Sonnett at home??), but still a really, really good performance.
- Soph back: Not just with the goal (shoulda been two, figure your shit out VAR!), but her touch was much more confident and precise than it has been over the past month. Defenders have to see Smith on the half turn in their nightmares.
- Reyes was flawless in her 20 minutes. Third straight really nice outing from her. Looks much more composed on the ball than in her first few appearances.
- Weaver's late game energy is a marvel, and she's noticeably better at composing herself in the box to find the last pass than in years past.
- FBs were still high for the most part, but dropped back much more than they have been. Seemed like Dunn held a slightly deeper starting position as well, but I'll wait to see the pass maps to know for sure. Both FBs had a case of the giveaways in the first half and Pinoe got the better of Kuikka a few times, but nothing too severe.
Great win! Now gotta do the business on the road against Chicago and Orlando and we'll be looking pretty good heading into July.
On Wenesday Sinclair assisted to Weaver for the scorpion kick winner. On Saturday Weaver assisted to Sinclair for the F- Seattle dagger. Soph is back to being Soph and Thorns keep top of the table this week. Good times.
I chose to watch at home…and then got caught up in 1) my Bride’s gardening (grunt work double-digging) and then 2) making dinner, so I missed huge chunks of this one. S’okay…I will watch tomorrow to review tape.
What I did see was both impressive and occasionally nail-bitey. Lots of great passing…and the occasional scarey giveaway. Tons of great pressing and forechecking. Bixby coming up big several times.
From what I saw, this looked like an outstanding performance, and against a good opponent. I’m stoked to be able to sit and watch the whole thing, but even more to see a solid win where we’ve often struggled. Well played, Thorns!
Sinc did what Sinc has been doing. In hockey terms, she's skating into the high end of the slot and looking for one-timers when she's not marked. Today, some poor defending by PSWST made that strategy work.
Our next run of games are road games, but we shouldn't come home with less than 6 pts. Orlando this weekend...though it'll be hot Orlando weather. But, Orlando has to travel to Gotham for a mid-week CC game, whereas we don't.
After that, Chicago away.
Grab those 6 points and let's be on a good run for Spirit at home before everyone leaves for WC. Would love to go for all 9 pts in the next 3 weeks!
I wanted to elaborate on the good games everyone had:
Bixby made a bunch of great saves to preserve our lead, and also did well on claiming crosses.
Coffey was everywhere doing everything in midfield. Aside from a few stray passes early on, what a game on both sides of the ball. WOTM for me.
Dunn was her usual stellar self in midfield, pressuring and winning balls, advancing the attack, popping off the occasional shot, more or less doing everything.
Hubly, Menges, and Sauerbrunn generally kept the Reign away from goal, limiting quality looks to a few. I think the xG chart is going to show what a good game they had.
Klingenberg did a fine job controlling the ball and getting it up to Weaver & co., like for the second goal. And she did her job defending just fine, thank you very much.
Kuikka did a great job shutting down Rapinoe and also advancing the attack up the right. IMO she's the most underappreciated player on the team, and maybe in the league.
Moultrie controlled play well, especially early on. Her soccer brain is remarkable for a 17-year-old, and her on-field ability seems to grow every game.
Reyes looked like the #5 draft pick she is, defending well, winning balls, and even getting into the attack. If she keeps this up we'll all forget she's a rookie.
Sinclair brought her sharpshooter boots and used them to good effect, with two excellent shots, including the clinching goal, in her 25' of action. She also combined well up the left.
Smith did Smith things all game long, and the fact that we all know what "Smith things" are speaks to her ability to terrorize a defense. "Smith things" includes goals, and, well, ....
Sugita was her usual ball-control self, squeezing out of jams like it was nothing and nearly scoring twice.
Vasconcelos in her short minutes did well pressing and even had a shot or two.
Weaver was her usual fast and energetic self, but more than that her game has matured and she's become a whole lot more dangerous because she finds good passes now. Like that one to Sinclair!
- We beat Reign in their house! First time since 2017!
- We got a clean sheet! First time in 6 games against a non-cellar-dweller.
- We're in first place! At least until Gotham plays.
- Sam Coffey. That is all.
- Damn near every Thorn had a good game. The only ones who I didn't notice having good games were the centerbacks, and it's a Very Good Thing when you don't notice centerbacks.
- Sophia Smith ended her scoring drought. You always felt this was coming, and it was great to see it happen.
- We dominated most of the game, save a short spell early in the second half.
- Later in the second half, we controlled the game and did a good job of putting it to bed. I was really only worried about a Reign goal via some fluke - a PK or golazo or something.
- Natalia Kuikka did a great job of shutting down Rapinoe, so much so that Rapinoe eventually shifted toward the center. Reyes did almost as good a job, which is awesome for a rookie playing out of position.
- In a big game, we had our best lineup out there to start. Hooray Mike Norris!
- We subbed in Christine Sinclair for an appropriate amount of time! It worked out well.
Wow! We're almost at the half way point power rankings
Tier One: Great
Portland - The underlying metrics love the Thorns. The Thorns finally put together a complete 90 minute performance. I think this is a substantially different team with Becky.
Tier Two: Good, not great
Seattle - the metrics like Seattle, but they look toothless without Fishlock.
Spirit - Mark is doing his thing, though I am dubious of the Spirit's depth in attack
Gotham - This is a good team at everything except the final third.
Wave - Stoney can grind out wins and draws but it's underwhelming, and hard to win a championship doing this.
Tier Three: On the cusp
Dash - I'm not sure the Dash are good at anything but they have some element of consistency which has to make them favourites to get 6th ahead of everyone else
Racing - getting a point when they had no right to can either be a sign of mentality monsters, or they were lucky. Time will tell.
Courage - 67% possession, 7 shots. Eeesh.
Tier Four: Yikes
Current - Got a win, which is enough to put them at the top of my fourth tier power rankings, and off the table
Red Stars - Two smash and grab wins sandwich getting shellacked at home in the Challenge Cup. Making the #1 draft pick race interesting
Angel City - The worst home record in the NWSL. Still, good news about the NFTs!
Okay, before I get too happy about this game, I have to remind myself that Reign were missing Fishlock AND Lavelle. Sure we were missing Rocky and Beckie but, um, that's not quite the same. If we meet them later in the season at full strength, it'll be a different game.
Had to be awfully sweet for Sinc to back up the off-season "F@$% Seattle" trash-talk and come on to Pinoe's and Fishlock's home turf and give them a taste of their own medicine with that celebration.
Thoughts:
- That's the platonic ideal of how the substitutions should be managed: Moultrie starts, Sinc finishes when we have a lead. Reyes brings the energy when the defenders start to flag a little.
- Coffey my WOTM. Nearly perfect and completely under control the entire second half. Helped that Seattle had to play Balcer at the ten with no Fishlock or Lavelle and thus really struggled with ball progression (seriously Harvey, Quinn AND Sonnett at home??), but still a really, really good performance.
- Soph back: Not just with the goal (shoulda been two, figure your shit out VAR!), but her touch was much more confident and precise than it has been over the past month. Defenders have to see Smith on the half turn in their nightmares.
- Reyes was flawless in her 20 minutes. Third straight really nice outing from her. Looks much more composed on the ball than in her first few appearances.
- Weaver's late game energy is a marvel, and she's noticeably better at composing herself in the box to find the last pass than in years past.
- FBs were still high for the most part, but dropped back much more than they have been. Seemed like Dunn held a slightly deeper starting position as well, but I'll wait to see the pass maps to know for sure. Both FBs had a case of the giveaways in the first half and Pinoe got the better of Kuikka a few times, but nothing too severe.
Great win! Now gotta do the business on the road against Chicago and Orlando and we'll be looking pretty good heading into July.
On Wenesday Sinclair assisted to Weaver for the scorpion kick winner. On Saturday Weaver assisted to Sinclair for the F- Seattle dagger. Soph is back to being Soph and Thorns keep top of the table this week. Good times.
Playful Power Rankings
Tier 1: Nuthin But Thorns
Tier 2: Go F@$% Yourself San Diego!; The Jersey Curse
Tier 3: DC Kang; Puget Sound WoSo Team
Tier 4: Houston You Have Problems; NC Lussi
Tier 5: Loovull; Orlan D'oh; ACFCNFT
Tier 6: KCFUBAR; Chicago No Stars
I chose to watch at home…and then got caught up in 1) my Bride’s gardening (grunt work double-digging) and then 2) making dinner, so I missed huge chunks of this one. S’okay…I will watch tomorrow to review tape.
What I did see was both impressive and occasionally nail-bitey. Lots of great passing…and the occasional scarey giveaway. Tons of great pressing and forechecking. Bixby coming up big several times.
From what I saw, this looked like an outstanding performance, and against a good opponent. I’m stoked to be able to sit and watch the whole thing, but even more to see a solid win where we’ve often struggled. Well played, Thorns!
Sinc did what Sinc has been doing. In hockey terms, she's skating into the high end of the slot and looking for one-timers when she's not marked. Today, some poor defending by PSWST made that strategy work.
Roadshow mojo. Everybody who traveled to Lumen, good on ya. As to Thorns, TCOB the curse is broken!
Our next run of games are road games, but we shouldn't come home with less than 6 pts. Orlando this weekend...though it'll be hot Orlando weather. But, Orlando has to travel to Gotham for a mid-week CC game, whereas we don't.
After that, Chicago away.
Grab those 6 points and let's be on a good run for Spirit at home before everyone leaves for WC. Would love to go for all 9 pts in the next 3 weeks!
I wanted to elaborate on the good games everyone had:
Bixby made a bunch of great saves to preserve our lead, and also did well on claiming crosses.
Coffey was everywhere doing everything in midfield. Aside from a few stray passes early on, what a game on both sides of the ball. WOTM for me.
Dunn was her usual stellar self in midfield, pressuring and winning balls, advancing the attack, popping off the occasional shot, more or less doing everything.
Hubly, Menges, and Sauerbrunn generally kept the Reign away from goal, limiting quality looks to a few. I think the xG chart is going to show what a good game they had.
Klingenberg did a fine job controlling the ball and getting it up to Weaver & co., like for the second goal. And she did her job defending just fine, thank you very much.
Kuikka did a great job shutting down Rapinoe and also advancing the attack up the right. IMO she's the most underappreciated player on the team, and maybe in the league.
Moultrie controlled play well, especially early on. Her soccer brain is remarkable for a 17-year-old, and her on-field ability seems to grow every game.
Reyes looked like the #5 draft pick she is, defending well, winning balls, and even getting into the attack. If she keeps this up we'll all forget she's a rookie.
Sinclair brought her sharpshooter boots and used them to good effect, with two excellent shots, including the clinching goal, in her 25' of action. She also combined well up the left.
Smith did Smith things all game long, and the fact that we all know what "Smith things" are speaks to her ability to terrorize a defense. "Smith things" includes goals, and, well, ....
Sugita was her usual ball-control self, squeezing out of jams like it was nothing and nearly scoring twice.
Vasconcelos in her short minutes did well pressing and even had a shot or two.
Weaver was her usual fast and energetic self, but more than that her game has matured and she's become a whole lot more dangerous because she finds good passes now. Like that one to Sinclair!
So many things to like about this game.
- We won!
- We beat a top-tier team! First time this year!
- We beat Reign! First time since 2018!
- We beat Reign in their house! First time since 2017!
- We got a clean sheet! First time in 6 games against a non-cellar-dweller.
- We're in first place! At least until Gotham plays.
- Sam Coffey. That is all.
- Damn near every Thorn had a good game. The only ones who I didn't notice having good games were the centerbacks, and it's a Very Good Thing when you don't notice centerbacks.
- Sophia Smith ended her scoring drought. You always felt this was coming, and it was great to see it happen.
- We dominated most of the game, save a short spell early in the second half.
- Later in the second half, we controlled the game and did a good job of putting it to bed. I was really only worried about a Reign goal via some fluke - a PK or golazo or something.
- Natalia Kuikka did a great job of shutting down Rapinoe, so much so that Rapinoe eventually shifted toward the center. Reyes did almost as good a job, which is awesome for a rookie playing out of position.
- In a big game, we had our best lineup out there to start. Hooray Mike Norris!
- We subbed in Christine Sinclair for an appropriate amount of time! It worked out well.
OT:
You know who I miss in the NWSL? Lee So-Dam.
I always wanted to see her nutmeg Kornieck just by going under her with the ball.
Wow! We're almost at the half way point power rankings
Tier One: Great
Portland - The underlying metrics love the Thorns. The Thorns finally put together a complete 90 minute performance. I think this is a substantially different team with Becky.
Tier Two: Good, not great
Seattle - the metrics like Seattle, but they look toothless without Fishlock.
Spirit - Mark is doing his thing, though I am dubious of the Spirit's depth in attack
Gotham - This is a good team at everything except the final third.
Wave - Stoney can grind out wins and draws but it's underwhelming, and hard to win a championship doing this.
Tier Three: On the cusp
Dash - I'm not sure the Dash are good at anything but they have some element of consistency which has to make them favourites to get 6th ahead of everyone else
Racing - getting a point when they had no right to can either be a sign of mentality monsters, or they were lucky. Time will tell.
Courage - 67% possession, 7 shots. Eeesh.
Tier Four: Yikes
Current - Got a win, which is enough to put them at the top of my fourth tier power rankings, and off the table
Red Stars - Two smash and grab wins sandwich getting shellacked at home in the Challenge Cup. Making the #1 draft pick race interesting
Angel City - The worst home record in the NWSL. Still, good news about the NFTs!
How does Stoney continue to win with pass maps that look like this lol:
https://twitter.com/arielle_dror/status/1665723604187721733/photo/2
The Jersey Curse? Isn't that when you lose to Gotham?
Sinc ditched the "Canada's Greatest Athlete" Iron Mike Sharpe wrist brace. I noticed that she has a wrist tattoo. Not sure if that's new.
https://www.nwslsoccer.com/game/ol-reign-vs-portland-thorns-fc-2023-06-03/latest
Okay, before I get too happy about this game, I have to remind myself that Reign were missing Fishlock AND Lavelle. Sure we were missing Rocky and Beckie but, um, that's not quite the same. If we meet them later in the season at full strength, it'll be a different game.