Recap & Review: Portland Thorns 1 - 2 Washington Spirit
A tough loss on the road.
The Thorns traveled to the Capital to face Jonatan Giráldez’s team. Portland were the underdogs but they held their for most of the match. And when we thought they were getting at least a point on the road, Colombian Leicy Santos said “Not so fast.”
The lineup was interesting with three speedsters up front. The new thorns Alexa Spaanstra and Reilyn Turner started alongside Sophia Smith. In the midfield, Olivia Moultrie went back there along with Sam Coffey. Regarding defense, Becky Sauerbrunn started in the backline.
It was no surprise that Washington dominated the game. The right wing was a highway for them and Nicole Payne was caught out of position more than once. That made it easier for the Spirit to send crosses that put Portland’s goal in trouble more than once.
Ouleymata Sarr got injured in the first half and so Trinity Rodman jumped on the field. As a result, the Spirit stopped attacking from the right and started to do it more from the left with Rosemonde Kouassi and Leicy Santos pairing up to get to the Thorns’ box.
Hence, the first half finished with Washington having more chances than the Thorns – including a sitter Ashely Hatch should’ve put away – although the visitors could’ve finished it with the score in their favor since a goal scored by Reyna Reyes was disallowed.
The second half brought a surprise when the Thorns scored through Hina Sugita. Moultrie passed the ball to Spaanstra who in turn, crossed it to the far post where Sugita was. The Spirit charged with even more intensity after that, and Trinity Rodman found the equalizer with a fantastic goal.
It was nice to see that the introduction of Christine Sinclair in the second half, as the replacement of Spaanstra freed Smith a little. The Canadian helped the young forward set up their teammates to get another tally. The plan almost succeeded if it wasn’t for the woodwork. It was Izzy D’Aquila one that had the golden opportunity to put Portland up in the score again but the crossbar denied her. What a shame.
The heartbreaking loss happened in stoppage time. The Thorns left Leicy Santos unmarked in the box at the far post and the Colombian didn’t waste her opportunity to score a header and grant her team the three points.
Despite the loss, the Thorns looked better. The formation helped although it would’ve been good if Turner would’ve had at least 15 more minutes to show if she could’ve impacted the match a little bit more. Moultrie kept making her presence felt and while most of the fans and pundits kept (rightfully) waiting for Smith to be the Lord and Savior of this team, Hina Sugita showed that the element of surprise is something that can be highly effective and that is something the Thorns need desperately. Another positive for Portland was Macca Arnold, who had a good performance overall and who hopefully will keep growing in this league.
However, despite the acceptable performance overall, this is the third loss in a row for Portland in league play . The last time they won was July 5th when they played the Wave with a lone goal score by D’Aquila.
We will have to wait and see for the rest of the results this weekend but the Thorns are getting closer and closer to the edge of the playoff positions and the situation is startling to get dire.
Some stats
xG Portland = 1.76
xG Washington: 2.8
Last thing- It's a cliche, but soccer really is a game of moments: Not to pile on Izzy even more than we already have, but that was just an absolutely horrific miss from her. If she scores --in the 87th minute, no less-- theres a pretty good chance they have three points on the board. Soph would have had an assist. Vibes would be totally different. You HAVE to score those, especially when your team is in poor form. A confident player keeps their head down and finishes, or takes a touch and slots home there. Yeah Washington had their moments of missed opportunity too, but MAN, that just needed to find the net for the whole team's sake and it fell to the wrong player.
Does Linnehan score? Maybe? Maybe not? It's a question worth asking tho!
On what planet does Sinc sub on after playing 90+ Wednesday night? [Am being told Mars, on account of the gravity differential.]
Did Linnehan get caught tagging Ken's Subaru or something? How is she in the doghouse and not on the field when speed is needed?
So many questions.