Match Recap: Thorns at KC Current

Better than we expected?

The Thorns have officially kicked off their 2025 NWSL season, and in a year that has already left us fans with an abundance of questions the answers seemed to lie in the hands of Thorns head coach, Rob Gale.

And so it was answers we finally received as the Portland Thorns suffered a 3-1 loss in their season opener at the Kansas City Current Saturday morning. First half goals from Temwa Chawinga, Michelle Cooper, and Debinha proved to be overwhelming, while Olivia Moultrie pulled one back for the Thorns in the second half.

Photo Credit: Kelsey Baker

Lineups & Prematch

Nothing like a warm cup of joe on a Saturday morning, the Thorns season opener, and a sobering announcement of the starting XI.

Not only were we seeing a less than ideal 4-3-3 formation from Rob Gale to start this match, but we were also thrown some curveballs with the Thorns starting personnel.

To start, no Payton Linnehan in the starting lineup. A player with speed like hers and the ability to control the ball was considered to be an X-Factor for the Thorns against this Kansas City team — and we were all surprised to see starting this game on the bench.

Sam Hiatt was also missing from the starting lineup. We would end up not seeing Hiatt in this match at all, causing speculation about her health as she has been battling injury this offseason.

Match Recap & Storyline

Kickoff

Aaannnddd we’re off… sike! As if the last month of being a Thorns fan hasn’t been confusing enough, it’s only fitting that we have the most bizarre opening kickoff in NWSL history. If you missed it, look it up because it’s almost comical.

2’ Goal KC — Temwa Chawinga, 1-0

As anticipated, brilliance flashed early from the Current with a goal from none other than Temwa Chawinga, the dazzling assist from Debinha. If it wasn’t clear enough heading into this game how important controlling the speed of the Current was going to be, the results of the first 2 minutes reinforced it.

13’ Yellow Card KC — Claire Hutton

Sam Coffey vs. Claire Hutton is arguably one of the greatest matchups in the NWSL right now, and it lived up to the hype early. A physical battle between the two results in the first yellow card of the game, drawn against Kansas City’s Claire Hutton after a nasty tackle takes down Sam Coffey.

A sigh of relief was breathed from Rose City seeing Coffey get up after this one, it felt too early in the season to see Sam go down from a hit that hard.

18’ Yellow Card POR — Reyna Reyes

The center ref wasted no time setting the standard for this match by pulling out that yellow card twice early — this time against Portland’s Reyna Reyes. Another fun matchup we got to watch this morning of Reyes vs. KC’s Michelle Cooper.

23’ Goal KC — Michelle Cooper, 2-0

After a KC goal was waved off in the 22nd minute with an offsides call against the Current, the Thorns struggled again to maintain a cohesive defense. Resulting in another goal for the Current, as they quickly jumped out to a 2-0 lead.

Kansas City’s aggressive press continued to give the Thorns problems throughout the first half. Rarely allowing for the Thorns to advance the ball and forcing them to maintain position deep in the field.

However, around the 30th minute Portland began to get its first chances at a look in the goal.

A horribly missed called on Alex Spaanstra in the box at the 32nd minute was quickly followed by Jess Fleming getting the first shot off for the Thorns. While not on target, this seemed to be just what the Thorns needed to begin to get things rolling for them ahead of halftime.

Deyna Castellanos followed with a fiery strike of her own, and a flash of competitiveness, in an attempt to continue to rally her team together towards the end of the first half.

38’ Goal KC — Debinha, 3-0

But Kansas City’s speed in transition prevailed. After clocking an assist early in the game, Debhina tacked a goal onto her stat sheet for the day, again capitalizing on an outstretched Portland defense. She added another goal onto KC’s growing lead, making it 3-0.

4 minutes of stoppage time were added to the end of the first half.

Halftime: Kansas City 3, Portland 0

Heading into the 2025 season, the Current have returned 88% of their goals from last season, and that was reflective in the scoring spread in the first half with contributions made from three different players — Chawinga, Cooper, and Debinha.

The Thorns came out with the same look in the second half. Surprising? No. Disappointing? Yes. As we still had yet to see Linnehan, or really any changes made to garner some type of offense for the Thorns.

With a stark lack of offense and an unsettled defense, we were braced to see much of the same in the second half of this game.

Photo Credit: Kelsey Baker

49’ GOAL POR — LIVVV MOULTRIEEE, 3-1

The youngest player on the pitch was the one who opened the goals for the Thorns this season. She squeaked one past the Current’s goalkeeper, Lorena, the 27-year-old who is making her NWSL debut as the first ever Brazilian goalkeeper in the league.

Just like that momentum appeared to be swinging the way of the Thorns in the second half. A quick goal by Moultrie was followed with a beautiful save by Mackenzie Arnold in our own goal, with a less than responsive KC team coming out of the locker room at halftime.

51’ Yellow Card POR — Hina Sugita

A trigger happy center ref didn’t hesitate to whip out the card against Portland yet again, this time against Hina Sugita — a call that made the commentators even begin to question the frequency of the yellow card being pulled this game.

64’ Substitution POR — Jessie Fleming and Alexa Spaanstra OFF// Reilyn Turner and Payton Linnehan ON

Well we finally got to see Payton Linnehan on the pitch, unfortunately the sub came in for one of the bright spots so far in this game for the Thorns — Jessie Fleming.

However, could these substitutions have been the offensive spark the Thorns needed to continue plowing forward in the second half? Payton Linnehan’s quickness had the potential to provide a boost of speed, with Reilyn Turner as a continuous aerial threat for this team.

These substitutions failed to provide the needed spark, perhaps too little too late, and instead momentum begins to taper off on the side of the Thorns.

73’ Substitution POR — Reyna Reyes and Hina Sugita OFF// Mallie McKenzie and Caiya Hanks ON

Just three days after signing a 3-year contract with the Thorns, rookie Caiya Hanks made her NWSL debut in the 73rd minute of this contest. Another crafty, speedy player, her entry came as no surprise as we expected to be potentially seeing minutes from her in Kansas City.

81’ Handball KC — PK for POR

After a call reviewed and reversed by VAR resulted in a handball penalty against the Current, Olivia Moultrie got a shot at her second goal of the day with a penalty kick… anddddd it’s off the crossbar. A heartbreaker for the Thorns, and you think if this one goes in it completely changes how the rest of this one plays out.

87’ Substitution POR — Deyna Castellanos OFF// Pietra Tordin ON

In the 87th minute of this match we got to see yet another Thorns rookie make their NWSL debut in just the first game of the season. Rounding out the trio of Thorns rookies, Pietra Tordin replaced Castellanos at striker.

Riding the narrative of our young team, it was exciting to see three young stars get their first opportunities not just in the season opener, but in an environment like Kansas City, as they begin to build their professional resume. While we didn’t get to see much of a result from them, I don’t doubt this will be something they continue to build on this season.

Eight minutes of stoppage time were added to the end of the second half.

Full time: Kansas City 3, Portland 1

Despite inching tooth and nail to gain some sort of momentum in the second half and overcome that 3-0 deficit, Portland was unable to convert in this one. They fell to the Kansas City Current 3-1.

After shutting out Kansas City in the second half, and adding a goal of their own, the question quickly became: did Kansas City take their foot off the gas, or did Portland finally settle in and show us a glimpse of this season’s potential?

Photo Credit: Kelsey Baker

You can’t help but wonder, if that PK finds some net for Moultrie, one of Fleming’s shots goes in, or the team minimizes their turnovers at the beginning of the second half, do we see a different outcome of this game?

The two bright spots of this match for me were Jessie Fleming and Mackenzie Arnold. Mackenzie Arnold showed us the veteran leader she is in that goal today. Despite being scored on three times in the first half, she was able to shut out an explosive Kansas City offense in the second half with some memorable saves throughout this game. And Jessie Fleming embodied what it means to be a Portland Thorn with her aggressive mentality, leaving it all out on the field. These are two returning players for this team who I believe will continue setting the standard, and to support the growth of this team’s youth.

As for Deyna Castellanos, although we had hoped to see her make an immediate impact in this game for the team, I think it’s no surprise that with this lineup there simply wasn’t enough power to get her the ball and the opportunity to score.

My parting thoughts: did the Thorns do everything they could despite a less than ideal starting lineup, a flurry of missed calls from the ref, and a season opener in one of the most lethal environment’s in the NWSL?

I guess we’ll see for ourselves next Friday, as the Thorns take on Angel City FC in their home opener.