In their third Championship face-off, the NC Courage beat the Thorns 3-0 in front of a sold out crowd at Providence Park (photo by Dante’y Buitureida).
Rain or shine, both were present, as the fans of the Thorns and the Courage waited for their chance. It had arrived, at Providence Park, where the home team was not the Thorns, but the Courage, as the top seed in the final.
The tone was set less than a minute in when Mathias shoulder barged Heath. Heath also got the first shot of the game, though the ball bounced and would have been out had Rowland not gathered.
William had a shot go wide in the sixth minute- she seemed to believe it should have been a corner kick but the referee disagreed. In the eleventh minute, Portland’s Ana-Maria Crnogorčević missed an opportune shot when she scuffed the ball.
In the thirteenth minute, the Courage struck through Debinha, when Menges, missing her centerback partner, was beat. In the sixteenth minute, they had another good shot, but Williams header glanced just wide. In the 23rd minute, Mathias had a straight chance that lacked the bite to do more than land in Franch’s arms.
In the 29th minute, Sinclair had a good run, making it into the box before her cross went harmlessly past Foord and out.
In the 35th minute, Mewis had a chance from outside the box, but put it over the crossbar. In the 37th a good cross in from Hinkle would find McDonald’s head, but go just over again.
The NC Courage overtook the Portland Thorns 3-0 in front of a sellout crowd at Providence Park (photo by Dante’y Buitureida).
In the 39th minute, Debinha found herself on the ground after a challenge from Heath. She instantly signaled to the referee to card Heath, but whilst he talked to her, no card was forth coming. The resulting free kick, however, would end in a goal from McDonald.
The first yellow of the game would go to Sullivan, for a challenge on Crnogorčević, in the 41st minute.
Klingenberg was called for a narrow offside on what would have been an excellent chance for the Thorns, and Franch went down directly after. Heath went down in injury time, but the game continued until a foul on Klingenberg by Dunn was called.
In the 53rd minute, off a corner, a Bourielle header would go just wide. Less than a minute later, the Thorns would get another good series of chances which ultimately bounced out into nothing.
Debinha’s spinning header glanced over the bar in the 58th minute. In the 61st, another header, this one from Jessica McDonald, would go wide. Two minutes later, Franch would be forced to make a diving punch to keep the score from climbing. On the resulting corner, they would not be denied. McDonald was promptly carded for the celebration in which she removed her shirt to show a message. She might have been offside, but as coach always says, “play to the whistle”.
In the 71st minute, Rowland was forced to make a phenomenal save when Sinclair shot it high and fast from outside the box.
Portland’s Lindsey Horan reacts after their 3-0 loss to the NC Courage in the 2018 NWSL Championship match (photo by Dante’y Buitureida).
Hamilton aimed for the ball, miss, and took out Andressinha. The resulting free kick came to nothing. The following play, a Tobin Heath rocket just barely missed the the crossbar.
In the 85th minute, Hamilton and Andressinha clashes again, and once again it was called. As before, nothing came of it. Horan’s ball in the 87th would lack power and find itself in the hands of Rowland.
A minute or so later, Foord would ram into her whilst on the search for the ball. Had Rowland been a field player, it might not have been looked at, but she’s a keeper, so she got the call.
That would ultimately be it: 3-0, the Courage would win the league, and the shield, breaking the double curse that has existed since the league’s inception.
“Everyone thinks their team does work the hardest, I always says mine does.” Courage head coach Paul Riley said after the match. Suffering one loss in the season and only allowing a mere 17 goals to hit the back of their net in 24 games, Riley finally had to concede, “I don’t think we can claim the underdog anymore, that’s gone now.”
On the other side, Portland, who had finished second in the league, came back from injuries to fight their way into the finals.
“I’m proud of the heart and effort of this club,” Parsons said in the post match presser, and for Portland, at least, that might end up being the prevailing story. The final, attended by 21,144 fans, a sellout, is currently the most attended pro women’s soccer match in the US.
“Here in Portland, we have the honor and the privilege of playing in front of this crowd, week in, week out,” Sinclair added later. She went on to clarify that this should be the rule, not the exception, and that she hopes one day, this will be what you see everywhere.
Portland Thorns
