Monday Morning Regista: Six Point Weekend
Midfield consistency, the end of a debate, and two huge wins on the road for the Thorns & Timbers
There are no quarterbacks in soccer — but there are deep-lying playmakers, better known as “registas”. So rather than doing some “MMQB” discussion, let’s look back in hindsight and analyze some key moments & decisions from the PTFC weekend in “Monday Morning Regista”.
This edition: the first six-point weekend of the year!
Thorns: Hina Hive keeps on buzzing
The challenges currently facing the Portland Thorns are numerous. Scoring goals has been a problem, defending has been an issue (but might be getting better?), and finding good balance on the field is a constant struggle.
One area that lends itself to the solutions of all three of those problems is the makeup of the midfield — and Rob Gale just about nailed that last weekend.
The decision to maintain the trio of Sam Coffey, Olivia Moultrie, and Hina Sugita has started to pay dividends for the Thorns. Coming out of the international break with a fully healthy Jessie Fleming able to start, Gale opted to keep the trio intact. In particular, he kept Sugita — the player with the closest profile to Fleming — in the starting XI.
That decision was validated almost immediately, as Sugita played an integral part in the winning goal from Friday evening.
Sugita’s smarts on the field were showcased in multiple ways on the goal. She was spot-on in her positioning and read of the pass to expertly intercept, and she made the perfect run to get in behind Utah’s defense and collect the pass from Deyna Castellanos (which was very good as well). She deserved a goal, but I think will take the assist all the same.
Straight up: I do not think the Thorns win that game if Hina Sugita doesn’t start. She brings a two-way presence to the Thorns midfield that nobody else on the roster does at the same level at the moment. Despite being a bit of an unsung hero for Portland the past few years, her consistency shouldn’t be under-recognized.
For a Thorns team that still has so many things to address, Gale’s faith in Sugita was an emphatic solution on Friday night.
Timbers: The name’s Pants — Jimmy Pants
Ten penalty kicks have been missed in Major League Soccer in 2025. 30% of those misses have been saves made by James Pantemis. The fact that that stat exists and we’re not even a quarter of the way through the season is absolutely wild.
It likely would not have had an impact on the final result due to the late hour of the kick, but Pantemis’ save on Dejan Jovelic in second half stoppage time helped assert his identity in 2025. And that identity is not just “Emerging PK Save Expert”, but also “Portland Timbers First Choice Goalkeeper”.
The debate that has been raging since last season appears to be finally put to bed: James Pantemis is the starting goalkeeper for the Timbers. He’s started every match of Portland’s current five-game unbeaten run, and he’s helped the team earn two clean sheets along the way.
The PK save was a nice little bit of revenge for Pants after Jovelic scored a penalty earlier in the match, but his biggest contributions to the win came earlier in the second half. With Sporting KC pushing, on two separate occasions attackers (one of which was Jovelic — talk about a nemesis!) got in behind Portland’s backline and were one-on-one with Pantemis. And on both occasions Pantemis stonewalled them, preserving Portland’s two goal cushion.
Heck, we should have known that that type of performance was coming when Pantemis slid out and did the exact same thing on Daniel Salloi in the opening minutes.
Those two second half chances and Salloi’s first half chance were Sporting’s biggest non-penalty chances according to expected goals, and Pantemis stopped them all.
Phil Neville making the call to leave the high-priced Crepeau on the bench, settle on a single starter, and give the gloves to James Pantemis has played no small part in Portland’s recent surge in form. We saw that call rewarded with aplomb on Sunday as Pants put in yet another sterling display, helping the Timbers win three more road points.
Sugita has been so underrated by the team the past few years, and is rightfully getting the attention she deserves. Her importance to the Thorns is right up there with Coffey, and the two of them should be the first players written in any lineup.
Jimmy Pants became my guy last season when Maxie was playing for Canada and he's never looked back since. I wouldn't be surprised if Neville would get pressure to play the much bally hooed and expensive keeper in no small part bc it makes NG look bad for signing Maxie in the first place. Too much dough for a bench sitter. I don't know if #s 3 and 4 on the depth chart are capable of being our #2, but if one of them is, they need to try to move Maxie.