NWSL Challenge Cup: Portland Thorns vs San Diego Wave Recap, Highlights, and Quotes
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NWSL Challenge Cup: Portland Thorns vs San Diego Wave Recap, Highlights, and Quotes
Portland suffers their first loss of 2023 in their first game in the UKG Challenge Cup.
In the group stage of the 2023 NWSL Challenge Cup, the Portland Thorns took on San Diego Wave at Snapdragon stadium. After giving up an own goal in the second half, the Thorns unfortunately could not find the back of the net and fell 1-0, suffering their first loss of the year.
Led by Casey Stoney, the Wave were the most successful expansion side in the history of the NWSL. Her leadership, elite defense, and attacking talent almost took them all the way last year.
In their second year, they want to win all the trophies and accolades. The 2022 Coach of the Year and her side are so tough to beat at home.
Since moving to Snapdragon Stadium, they broke the single game attendance record! They truly have some of the best fans and supporters.
With a million dollars up for grabs both Head coaches, Mike Norris and Casey Stoney had to balance out their lineups.
Norris played a lineup comprised of half starters and rotated the other half. One surprise was that he started superstar Sophia Smith who has played lots of minutes for club and country recently. This pretty much says she won’t be playing much against Racing Louisville on Saturday. Shelby Hogan, Taylor Porter, and Meaghan Nally got well deserved starts.
Stoney decided to have Alex Morgan on the bench but also play a relatively good starting XI, but also showed how strong her squad’s full team really is.
Highlights & Recap
First Half
9’ Leon with a right-footed curler that is barely parried away by Sheridan.
18’ Sofia Jakobsson with a powerful shot that Hogan denies.
19’ Sophia Smith is played in by Rocky and rockets the shot but again Sheridan won’t let it pass.
25’ Sinclair lays it back to Sophia who hits it over the bar, another good sequence of play from Portland.
29’ Sheridan punches it out only as far as the top of the box to Hina Sugita, who smashes it over the bar.
34’ Sugita plays a beautiful low driven cross in front of goal, but Sinclair and Leon can’t get a foot on it.
36’ Kelli Hubly with the tackle of the half to keep it tied.
37’ Taylor Kornieck gets in behind the backline, but the combination of Hubly and Reyes stop her.
39’ Flag is up for offside, but Hogan denies Hill anyways. She is an exceptional goalkeeper who may have on the radar of both expansion sides for next year.
In the first half, Early on Portland had the better combination play and more dangerous sequences. Their midfield dominated early on between Rocky, Sinclair, and Porter. However, San Diego were lethal going out wide to Jakobsson and their full backs. Reyna Reyes played a good half of football, which showed why you start a player who is able to learn and has the massive talent she has. Shelby Hogan was exceptional when called upon. She would be a starter for many teams in NWSL. In one of the battles to watch between Jakobsson and Natalia Kuikka, Portland’s star right back figured it out and was stopping her counterpart.
During the halftime break, Sophia Smith mentioned to the broadcast that they space was in front of the San Diego backline and they needed to play quicker and more often.
Second Half
51’ Natu blasts a shot on frame, but Sheridan makes the read and saves.
54’ Natu nearly steers a ball from Sinclair on frame, but can’t get enough of it.
58’ San Diego with some beautiful play and chaos in the box. Reyes is able to get it bounds for a corner. Hogan then snatches the corner and has been active all game long.
61’ Jaedyn Shaw, San Diego’s young star subs in for Westphal. Shaw has five goals in her first ten games for the Wave.
65’ Own Goal 1-0 - San Diego has been on the front foot for the last ten minutes and get their goal. Portland has been wasteful and is now down a goal. Nally went for the clearance but couldn’t get it cleanly.
68’ Weaver, Moultrie, and Menges all sub on. They come in for Sinclair, Leon, and Reyes.
75’ Izzy D’Aquila is coming on for Taylor Porter. Interesting sub when that leaves Portland without a true defensive mid.
79’ The Alex Morgan comes on for Sofia Jakobsson.
82’ Izzy with the great cross into the box on the head of Betfort who can’t redirect on goal.
83’ - 93’ Portland has played very direct this half, and that’s not how you break down this team. They’ve had rare spells of the possession late in the second half.
In the second half Hannah Betfort came on for Sophia Smith which is somewhat of a surprise after the preseason Izzy D’Aquila has had. Portland continued to attack in barrages and kept the ball moving. However, after Shaw came on, she flipped the script. San Diego was the team who had the better chances for many minutes. In the 65th minute Nally misplayed a clearance and put the Wave up 1-0. Portland would have to chase the game the rest of the way. This was an ugly half for the Thorns, they played into the Wave’s hands by playing direct football and route one constantly. This game without Sam Coffey shows us why she is the most important aspect of the midfield along with Crystal Dunn who has been finishing and scoring goals.
Player of the Match
Shelby Hogan - She would be a starter for many teams and Portland is lucky to have her as part of the best goalie platoon in the league. Hogan was in absolute command of the backline and made key saves when she was called upon. Her ability to come off the line and take away aerial really shined today.
Soccer is Weird & Brutal
Portland Thorns xG: 1.11
San Diego Wave xG: 0.22
Post Game Presser
Shelby Hogan
On the opportunity to start the NWSL Challenge Cup opener for Portland - Question by Ryan Clarke
”I mean, I was super excited to get the opportunity. Once again, I knew I had the confidence of my teammates. So, I just wanted to embrace the role that I was given tonight. Obviously, a bit unlucky on the goal, just excited I got the opportunity, and tried to make the most of it.”
On the million dollar prize pool for the NWSL Challenge Cup
”I mean, it’s super awesome. I think we’re all really excited to see that large of a number. It’s huge to get those investors into women’s soccer. I think we’re lucky to get that for the championship and the shield as well. I mean, it’s a huge step in right direction. I think, we’re all super excited to see that and obviously, everyone is looking at getting that prize at the end.
Adrianna Leon
How the move came together to bring her to Portland - Question by Ryan Clarke
”Yes, definitely. I want to see some minutes before heading into the world cup. I think, type of player that deserves that. Hopefully get into a good rhythm, flow here, and go into the summer feeling good and ready to compete for Canada.”
“I’m not really sure what happened behind the scenes, my agent was involved with that one. When I heard about the opportunity, I just thought it was something that, I couldn’t say no to, and it was a great fit for me.”
Putting that Portland Thorns kit for the first time
”It felt nice. It’s a bit surreal. I still can’t really believe that I’m here [and] back in the league playing with Portland. I just thought, I never would of thought that this would of happened. So, a bit unexpected, but nice to be here. It’s nice to of met everyone and everyone has been great so far.
Starting with Sophia Smith and Hina Sugita on the frontline
”We haven’t had too much time to train together, but I’m excited to see what we can pull off moving forward. I think they’re great players and the more we play together, the better we’ll be. So, I’m excited to build on that partnership.”
Mike Norris
Thoughts on the match
”It was a tight, balanced game. Happy with the performance to be honest. Just a bit unfortunate. Yeah, listen, not the result we wanted. We’ll move on and be ready for Saturday.
The Portland Thorns are back home against Racing Louisville on Saturday.
NWSL Challenge Cup: Portland Thorns vs San Diego Wave Recap, Highlights, and Quotes
I thought D’Aquila looked very good. I love her demeanor and posture on the field. She looks ready for more minutes. C’mon coach, get her more minutes!
This game was a vast improvement for Reyes but as mentioned several times, that passing. Ugh. If she’s going to play that high up passing has to get more accurate!
Leon. I like her. I remember watching a game in the She Believes and thinking, Wow! What a great, young player. Canada is lucky. Ha! Didn’t realize she has been around as long as she has. But I thought for that game at least she was the best player on the pitch. For that game
Man, Hina in the midfield just looked so good. We have to make this happen! C’mon coach!
The issues the Thorns are dealing with are not really new. They have had stretches of inconsistent finishing for a few years now. I don’t know if that’s really a Thorns thing or a soccer thing. Players get hot and cold like all sports. It seems like in soccer to be a consistent scorer you need volume. The more shots the more goals. We certainly have the volume, they’ll start knocking them in. Happened last year too. Right now we got some things to figure out, but we’re top of the table and dropped one meaningless game that had a wonky lineup and substitutions.
Tough game for the Thorns. Should have come out of it with at least a 0-0 tie, but being unlucky means losing 1-0. There were some positive things to see, starting with a much better Reyes out on the field. She showed decent defense and good control on the ball when going 1v1. However, she really needs to work on her passing, as it was quite poor. Leon also showed she belongs on the team, I thought she was quite good on offense and tracking back on defense. To be fair to Nally, I thought she did a decent job on defense if you take away the mistake. When a CB is invisible and the other team doesn't have many opportunities they are dong their job.
Others have said it, but the team needs to play faster. Hoping that Smith bails you out by playing hero ball isn't going to get the job done. We have some really good players, they just need to move the ball and attack the defense.