NWSL Quarterfinals: Portland Thorns at NJ/NY Gotham FC | Recap & Highlights
Could Portland pull off the upset on the road against Gotham?
The Portland Thorns took on NJ/NY Gotham FC with a place in the semifinals up for grabs. The “Bats” have dominated the proceedings in the past three games (all wins), outscoring Portland 4-0. The scoring drought for the visitors started at 306 minutes and counting.
In the lineup, the only surprising omission was Isa Obaze who has played better and better after each week. Rob Gale also flipped Reyna Reyes and Marie Müller to left and right back, respectively.
Portland came into the game as massive underdogs. Gotham headed into this matchup winners of four straight while Portland has only two wins in their last 10.
Early on, it was NJ/NY Gotham FC who dominated the early proceedings. They passed the ball around with little resistance and played crosses in to test Portland’s box defense.
The Thorns sat back and played on the back foot for the majority of the half. The good news? They were solid and kept great structure in their shape all half — all of Gotham’s chances came mostly from outside of the box. Portland rarely had any outlets on the counter and continued to sit back defensively.
However, in the 42nd minute, it looked like Portland finally lulled Gotham to sleep for the goal ahead. Hina Sugita won the ball in midfield and found Soph Smith with a perfectly weighted ball who proceed to race past multiple Gotham defenders and Ann-Katrin Berger. She rounded the keeper and placed it in past a diving Emily Sonnett. It would be called offside and no angles were provided to dispute that. VAR would look and confirm. After last week’s debacle where Smith endured a similar outcome, you would hope this would be right this time around.
This dreadful first half ended with an expected goals advantage to Gotham (xG) 0.18–0.05. The visitors had one shot (none on goal) while the home side had four shots (one on goal). Even though the half ended scoreless, to see the Portland Thorns willingly concede possession and play on the back foot is brutal. This team is too talented to play in that manner.
Deciding to come out in a mid/low block worked, but the fact they had eight or nine players sit behind the ball was baffling. The attack was non-existent for the entire first half and at the start of the next.
In the second half, it was much more of the same. The Portland Thorns could not muster much going forward.
Gotham would break the deadlock in the 67th minute, thanks to Tierna Davidson’s first goal in over five years. Portland’s struggles with box and set piece defending would come home to roost.
The game would finally open up after this. If you were yawning or fell asleep the first hour of this game, no one would blame you one bit. If you skipped to this moment, you were treated to a show.
After coming on for Christine Sinclair and Jessie Fleming, Olivia Moultrie and Reilyn Turner looked to turned the tide.
At this point the Portland Thorns goal drought against NJ/NY Gotham FC was at 381 minutes spanning over four games.
Moultrie and Turner would end the drought. In the 75th minute, Liv hit a set piece delivery into the box and Reilyn acrobatically turned her header past Ann-Katrin Berger to equalize.
In the 82nd minute, Moultrie played yet another fantastic ball into the box which found Weaver for a volley that hit off the post.
Soccer can be cruel sometimes. For Portland, that was in the seventh minute of stoppage time, in the midst of 12 added minutes. Lavelle got on the end of a low driven from Delanie Sheehan and smashed it home to put the home team up 2-1.
After everything they did to equalize and finally open up the game, it was not enough. They were outcoached, outmaneuvered, and outplayed. Make no mistake, they did not deserve to win this game.
This offseason will be the biggest test yet in the Lisa Bhathal Merage and Alex Bhathal ownership era. They need to hire the right GM and allow them to move on with their head coaching decision. Time is of the essence, with other teams already signing NCAA players.
"We're a club that's building & growing under new ownership - lots to look forward to with the new facilities” said Rob Gale. “[The players have] Shown what it means to be a Thorn & how much it means to each of them. I told them how proud I was of them."
Although not much is known about the training facility, it should be announced soon. The coaching staff will also be looked at by the new GM.
However, that isn’t the biggest news. That was a goodbye everyone has dreaded for the longest time.
Christine Sinclair’s legendary career ended at Red Bull Arena in heartbreak. She has given all she has for club and country for over two decades. ‘Sincy’ will go down as the greatest player of all time.
"Sincy's definitely been a mentor to me. I'm going to miss the s**t out of her,” said Morgan Weaver. “It's going to be hard for all of us. I think all of us want to make her proud. I want to continue wearing this badge & prove we're here for Portland."
The impact she has made on the sport, city, club, and community will never be forgotten. Thank You Sinc!
Highlights:
12’ First chance goes to Gotham’s Rose Lavelle who rips a shot from outside of the box, but it’s right to Shelby Hogan
13’ Sincy delivers a good ball into Weavs, but final product was not there.
30’ Rose Lavelle from outside of the box misses wide
42’ Good sequence of play leads to a Yazmeen Ryan shot that is off the mark
43’ POR OFFSIDES - In what could be one of the deciding factors of this game, Hina Sugita played Soph on who beat two defenders and Ann-Katrin Berger for a breakaway goal. It would be call offsides and VAR would confirm.
45’ + Yazmeen Ryan goes easily in the box and Gotham asks for VAR, PK call is denied.
45‘ +3 Beautiful set piece by Portland nearly leads to a goal, Berger tips it over the bar - Sincy to Sauerbrunn.
57' Another shot on target by Lavelle that goes straight to Shelby's gloves but still not shots by any of the Thorns.
58' Becky Sauerbrunn with the big block but VAR is checking for a possible handball. Chesky has gone to the monitor. Ages later, it is finally confirmed.
65’ Reilyn Turner and Liv Moultrie on for Christine Sinclair and Jessie Fleming
67’ 0-1 GOT Box Defense lets down Portland again. Tierna Davidson puts away a goal from inside the box.
75’ 1-1 Liv to Turner off a set piece - she equalizes with a header.
82’ Morgan Weaver off the post. Moultrie was that close to her second assist in a matter of minutes.
90’ 12 minutes of stoppage time
90’ +2 Payton Linnehan on for Morgan Weaver
90’ +7 1-2 GOT Rose Lavelle wins it for Gotham
90’ +12 Alexa Spaanstra on for Soph Smith
FT Thorns 1-2 Gotham FC
OT: Here's how a real coach handles the post-game presser after a tough loss.
"We had some plays in the back that were just way out of character," Chicago head coach Lorne Donaldson said after the loss. "As coach, maybe I should have fixed something back there. It's not the players, I just got it wrong." (Quoted by Kassouf in his ESPN piece on the eliminated teams.)
O/T Engage dadbrag module.
Runner Girl competed in her final NCAA XC race this morning, finishing in the 30s in a field of 250 at the SE Regionals. Her team was #4 so probably not going to Nattys, but we won't know for sure until the western races are complete. All nine regionals are today. Chaos!
Know why she was recruited to run? Twelve years of soccering.
End dadbrag.