The Portland Thorns Winning Despite the Odds How This Womens Soccer Team is Dominating the Field

In what proved to be a heated first competitive match of 2021, Portland Thorns FC came out on top 2-1 over Kansas City NWSL. Raquelle Rodriguez and Tyler Lussi had the two goals for the Thorns while Amy Rodriguez scored the goal for KC.

Mark Parsons surprised everyone with his first lineup of the season, deploying Meghan Klingenberg in the midfield. The game started at a frantic pace with Kansas City kicking off and sprinting at Portland’s goal immediately. The fast-paced game led to plentiful transition opportunities and the Thorns looked to play quick one-twos and long balls to Simone Charley.

NWSL

The Thorns found the back of the net early courtesy of a Klingenberg set-piece. She found R. Rodriguez who put the Thorns in the lead.

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“I feel like I can hardly find the words to describe the support that I feel, ” said R. Rodriguez. “You will always feel the support from the fans through social media and whatnot, but there’s nothing that can replace the physical presence. When our supporters start to cheer at the end of the game, I feel like there’s a special connection with the team and the supporters and the fans. So I’m just very grateful to be to be a Thorny at this point. And of course scoring was also very special. I truly wanted to score in Providence Park as many goals as I can but to to score in the home opener is also very special. It’s a goal I will never forget.”

Kansas City had their best spell of the first half around the 20th minute. Amy Rodriguez had a shot blocked in the 21st minute before Michele Vasconcelos fired a shot into the hands of Adrianna Franch.

After Kansas City’s brief run, Portland took over the match. R. Rodriguez dictated play as the deepest-lying midfielder and Klingenberg and Celeste Boureille linked with the front line and attacking midfielder Marissa Everett.

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Everett played as the No. 10 or false nine. She and Charley displayed a good understanding and their movement disrupted Kansas City’s back line. Everett found the back of the net in transition after receiving the ball from Charley. She finished expertly, but it was waved offside.

We don't care if @marissa_everett was offside, you need to see this build-up and finish. #BAONPDX pic.twitter.com/qo90V2pQiT— Portland Thorns FC (@ThornsFC) April 10, 2021

The Thorns created the first dangerous opportunity in the second half. Everett received the ball at the top of the 18-yard box and slid the ball to Charley into the penalty area. Goalkeeper Abby Smith made a goal-saving challenge to deny Charley.

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Kansas City immediately responded. The ball fell to Victoria Pickett in the box but Natalia Kuikka blocked her shot to maintain the Thorns’ 1-0 lead.

In the 57th minute, Kuikka was involved again. She drifted wide and played it to Christen Westphal. The right-back played a pin-point cross to Tyler Lussi, who put the ball in the back of the net.

Tyler Lussi + headed goals in front of the North End = #BAONPDX | #PORvKC pic.twitter.com/7suVr3DEtS— Portland Thorns FC (@ThornsFC) April 10, 2021

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Kansas City cut the lead in half quickly. Pickett poked the ball in the box and it took a fortunate deflection. A. Rodriguez pounced to make it 2-1.

The goal gave Kansas City a boost as they started to pin the Thorns back. Portland regained control of the match after Angela Salem came on in the 72nd minute. R. Rodriguez moved higher up in the midfield and Salem served as the single pivot.

Portland faced a wave of Kansas City pressure as Kuikka and Westphal were required to make challenges in the area to prevent Kansas City from equalizing.

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The match ended in dramatic fashion. Charley was sent off in the 90th minute for a mistimed challenge and then coach Mark Parsons was shown red for arguing the call.

Then Kristen Edmonds and Weaver clashed on the sideline and were also sent off. The Thorns finished the match with nine players and Kansas City played with ten.

Recap:

“Unfortunately, I think I’m really disappointed in what happened, ” said Klingenberg. “Not necessarily from our side, because what I saw was, Morgan Weaver didn’t do anything, she was the one that got taken down, and we watch it on replay and I think that needs to be rectified, because it’s unfair for a player to be carded, and then not able to play in the next game when they didn’t do anything.”

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“So hopefully, we can appeal that and make it right, because you know, it could have affected the outcome of the game and you’d never want refereeing to get in the way of a match, especially one that was close. And so for me, I just want standards to be held accountable. Because for us, we’re putting it all out on the field. We’re doing everything that we can to win. We just practiced 10 weeks in preseason, I think the players deserve quality refereeing and quality accountability. When it comes to these matches, I want my player safe. I want the other players on the other team safe as well. And I don’t think that’s too much to ask.”The Portland Thorns became the first team in NWSL history to win three league championships on Saturday night, besting the Kansas City Current 2-0 in the NWSL Championship match in front of 17, 624 fans at Audi Field in Washington, D.C. An early goal from league MVP Sophia Smith proved all the Thorns needed, though a second was added via a Kansas City own goal in the second half.

Smith made her mark immediately. Just three minutes in, she ran onto a perfectly-weighted through ball from second-year midfielder Yazmeen Ryan, collecting it some 30 yards from goal. Kansas City defender Elizabeth Ball’s last-gasp challenge did little to contain Smith, who streaked in on goal unmarked, made easy work of KC goalkeeper Adrianna Franch and coolly slotted the ball home from inside of six yards.

Smith nearly turned the game on its head 25 minutes later, collecting the ball just outside the penalty area and evading a trio of defenders in the box before striking a lovely, curled effort towards the far post that only narrowly missed goal.

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SOPHIA SMITH SCORES IN THE FIRST FIVE MINUTES😱 The #NWSL MVP gets around Adrianna Franch one-on-one to give @ThornsFC an early 1-0 lead. 🎥 @NWSL | #BAONPDXpic.twitter.com/oFYWI185KE — The Athletic Soccer (@SCCR) October 30, 2022

Portland

Kansas City rarely challenged for most of the first half, only threatening in its dying moments when forward Kristen Hamilton went to ground in the area, drawing cries for a penalty from her teammates. No call was given. They finished the half without a single shot on goal.

At times, Kansas City looked disorganized defensively, a far cry from the well-managed performance they put in against OL Reign in the semifinals, a match where they bent but never broke, leaning on Franch in a few crucial moments and nabbing a pair of goals against the run of play.

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Smith nearly picked up where she left off in the first half less than a minute into the game’s second stanza, running onto a through ball 40 yards out and streaking down the near sideline toward goal. Her effort was collected by Franch. KC, again, offered little in the way of imaginative play going forward and finally got their first shot goal in the 55th minute, a speculative effort that went well wide.

Portland’s second goal of the match came only moments later, and it was a gift. Ryan found herself with time and space on the near sideline and played a driven cross into the box. Franch made an attempt to parry the effort from danger but was met by her own teammate, Addisyn Smith, who played the ball into the net for an own goal. Franch made several outstanding saves in the latter stages of the match, which easily could’ve turned into a significantly more lopsided affair.

Despite the loss, Kansas City’s turnaround this year was remarkable. The club finished at the bottom of the NWSL table in 2021, their first-ever year in the league. No team in NWSL history has ever gone from a last-place finish to a league championship; the Current, despite being wracked by injuries for nearly all of their 2022 campaign and losing a sizable chunk of their roster to national team duty, nearly did just that.

Portland

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The Thorns, on the other hand, have solidified their place as the league’s most successful club. No team has appeared in more finals and won more championships. Two other NWSL clubs — the North Carolina Courage and now-defunct Kansas City FC — have a pair of titles each, but the Portland Thorns stand alone, for now, as the league’s all-time most successful club.

Pablo Maurer is a staff writer for The Athletic who covers soccer, with a particular focus on the history and culture of the game. His writing and photography have been featured in National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, Gothamist and a variety of other outlets. Follow Pablo on Twitter @MLSist

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