A newly renovated Providence Park stood, 19,461 strong as the Thorns made their first home appearance of the season. With a majority of the starting XI already headed off to France, it was the perfect opportunity for somebody new to shine; particularly against a Chicago missing Sam Kerr and Julie Ertz.
The first chance, though it was rather without teeth, came for the Thorns in the second minute when a tame ball from Charley was gathered by Boyd. In the fourth minute, Midge Purce zinged a strong shot off the crossbar. Then Purce won a foul just outside the box in the eighth minute; nothing came of it, however.
Chicago didn’t really get a look in until the 13rd minute, but Nagasato’s ball was easy enough for Eckerstrom to catch. They managed to almost get one off a breakaway from Vasconcelos in the 20th minute, but the a last minute defensive block and a poor cross meant it also came to nothing.
Charley had a header off a cross from Purce in the 24th minute, but Wright was a strong enough defensive disruption to ensure Boyd could hold it.
In the 28th minute, Purce would get an excellent chance; after getting a through ball from Charley, she dribbled around the goalkeeper, who was then too far out. The ball physically went off Naughton on its way there, who was too close and too fast to do anything other than help push the ball into the net. In the 30th minute, she would have another chance, but Boyd caught it.
In the 31st minute, another beautiful cross from Charley and a poorly marked Purce would result in a brace for Midge.
A not on Midge Purce is that she looked hungry. Perhaps visibly hungrier than anybody else on the pitch, but more than hungry, she looked prepared. She netted her first goal last match and seemed to be everywhere offensively this match. Reading balls before they were there and winning fouls. Whilst there are parts of her game that need to be worked on, she was largely able to make up for any mistakes she did make with a combination of speed and tenacity. Sparks of this have been seen before, but it was showed off at its best today in combination with Charley.
The first yellow of the game went to Portland defender Elizabeth Ball in the 37th minute for a late challenge.
PORTLAND, OR – JUNE 02: Portland Thorns 3-0 defeat over the Chicago Red Stars (Photo by Dieog G Diaz/Prost Amerika).
In the 40th minute, Angela Salem went down completely untouched, and very obviously in quite a bit of pain. Salem is only just getting her chances with the Thorns a season after her previous team, the Boston Breakers, dissolved. A level headed veteran, she was somebody who was potentially earmarked to make a big difference whilst the international players are away at the World Cup. There was no update on her condition after the match.
The Thorns got the second half under way with a chance that made the crowd gasp and cheer, even though it did not go in.
Casey Short, earned a yellow for shoving Simone Charley in the 66th minute; a last ditch effort as the other had managed to almost speed past her.
The Thorns netted a third goal through former Duck, Marissa Everett, in a rather nice set piece in the 85th minute. Everett, who is still in the process of completing college at U of O, was signed as a national team replacement not even a month ago; though she was only on the pitch for a short period of time, she had a couple of looks after her goal which make her a player to keep an eye on.
Nine Thorns are off at this year’s world cup, the joint highest number for any NWSL team. Thorns’ head coach, Mark Parsons, has already shown his adaptability with the line-up and his ability to get his players to buy into the team, regardless of how it looks. It’s too early to make a definite conclusion, but it looks like the Thorns might be able to avoid the pit falls of their previous world cup season.
For photo recap click here.
Portland Thorns
Chicago Red Stars
