Tyler Lussi celebrates her goal, coming less than a minute after subbing into the match (photo by Dante’y Buitureida).
Neither the Thorns nor the Riveters are monarchists. This much was clear as 17,930 spectators
watched in the pleasantly warm evening light, as the Thorns dismantled the Royals four to nil.
With Klingenberg sitting out on a rightly deserved suspension for last weeks antics in Seattle,
Andressinha with a sprain, and Kat Reynolds away with an excused absence, the Thorns had
little choice but to revert to a back four.
There were, however, some very early jitters. The whistle had barely blown when the Royals
reached the Thorns box. There was no real threat to it, however, and less than two minutes into
the game Heath would manage to place a perfect ball in the upper reaches of the center of the
net, a difficult spot for Abby Smith to reach. Heath, just back from injury again, was obviously
hungry and in the fifth minute she’d have another chance, though it bounced safely into Smith’s
arms.
Diana Matheson would have the first real chance of the game for the Royals in the tenth, but her
ball was not powerful enough to go through Franch.
Heath once again would have a go in the 24th, but it would soar over and out.
The first yellow card of the game was awarded to Samantha Johnson of the Royals, for
unnecessarily pushing Purce down in the 31st minute. Purce ended up being the target of quite
a few fouls before her game was ended; her speed, and her light feet, made it seemingly hard
for Utah to counteract otherwise. This would also lead to a free kick, which Heath would place
nicely for Horan to head home in the 32rd.
Not two minutes later, before the red smoke had cleared or the fans fully celebrated, Ana Crnogorčević would finally get her first Thorns goal. An unfortunate deflection from Sauerbrunn, desperate to stop a Horan pass from reaching Heath, would fall to her feet and she would easily put it away. It’s been long coming for the Swiss and she was obviously overjoyed; though she refused to
take much credit when interviewed post match, rather choosing to talk about how well her
teammates had done.
The first half would end on a sour note for the Thorns, though they would not concede. A late,
ugly tackle from Diana Matheson would see Purce’s ankle bend in a manner ankles generally
shouldn’t and she would be stretchered from the pitch. Despite having a clear view of the
tackle, the referee opted for a yellow, in part because they determined it was reckless, instead
of dangerous.
Midge Purce, the recipient of several fouls until ultimately having to be stretchered off due to injury (photo by Jeff Wong).
There have been five or so similarly dangerous incidents in the NWSL this season; a high boot
from Williams on Mewis, Scott’s horror double footed tackle against Houston, Harris’ reactive
smack down of Taylor, and more recently, Klingenberg’s late reactive kick on Allie Long. Whilst
the latter was punished by the DisCo with a game suspension, only one of the other incidents
was reviewed, and none of the others punished. There have also been no red cards or double
yellows this season, which calls into question how the referees have been instructed to react in these situations.
The second half started considerably more sedately, with Weber coming on for Purce, and Crnogorčević
slotting back into an outside back position, where she plays with her national team. Utah
managed to shake off some of the shock and get themselves partially back into the game.
Katrina Gorry had a phenomenal shot which Franch managed to gather in the 57th minute. It’s
the second of such saves she’s made in two games; last week’s won her both the save of the
week, and player of the week.
There would be one final blow for the Royals. Less than 30 seconds after being subbed in for Heath,
on her first touch, Lussi, with the help of a Horan pass, would crack the Royal’s defense open
and casually slot the ball home past Smith.
Short of an aggressively optimistic chip from Sinclair in the 70th, the remaining chances in the
game would be Utah’s. Nothing would come of it, and the whistle would blow with the thorns
retaining a clean sheet.
For photo gallery click here.
Portland Thorns
