By Elisabeth Beathalter
In their second straight home game of the season, the Portland Thorns face a newly remade Western New York Flash.
Last Saturday, the Thorns returned to Providence Park in a novel formation – a 3-4-2-1 according to Paul Riley – and earned a relatively comfortable 4-1 win over the Boston Breakers. The tactical change paid off, perhaps because it was a little surprise for the opponent. And it allowed Portland to control the midfield and get numbers around the ball both offensively and defensively. More importantly, however, the Thorns displayed good on field chemistry. Players were alert, passing was crisp. In that regard, it did not feel like the first game back from a long off season.
Both Paul Riley and Allie Long stressed the work put in by the core group ahead of the season and tremendous steps forward made by several players including Mana Shim, Sinead Farelly and Emily Menges. Shim added that “Everyone brought a little something different this year…we don’t necessarily need to name what it is, but the energy is different.” At least for the first game, that was visible on the field.
All goals for Portland came from players that will be around all season. Allie Long’s brace in particular showcased the good understanding between her and Mana Shim, who provided the assists to both goals. Long noted that “finally [the passing patterns]we do in practice came to the field,” referring to the build up to her first goal. Another positive take away was that the understanding at the core made it easy for the internationals to return to the squad. While she may not have scored a goal, Alex Morgan looked natural with the team: as opposed to several games last season, she was not isolated up top but participated well, constantly interchanging and shifting positions with her teammates in order to create spaces. Van Hollebeke and Heath, too, looked at home with the rest of the team.
The Western New York Flash, similarly to the Boston Breakers, are a team with a high amount of new faces, and that showed in their season opener against the Seattle Reign. But despite the final 5-1 scoreline for the Reign, the Flash should not be taken lightly. For most of the match it was a close game, with Seattle dominating but the Flash with the occasional dangerous moment and a solid performance from Sabrina D’Angelo in goal to keep them in the game.
In the first half the Flash resorted to playing long balls upfield, hoping someone – especially Sydney Leroux – would be able to run on to them, but lacking the final precision to trouble an experienced Reign defense. In the second half, however, the Flash played a little more aggressively, often two-teaming Reign players to try and force turnovers. Instead of aimlessly kicking balls up the field, they opted for shorter passes, working their way up through the midfield and flanks. Those where the moments in which they managed to look dangerous and eventually even score.
Western New York will be looking to bounce back from the devastating loss and the key to that is how quickly they can turn promising sequences into results. They have certainly shown that there is a solid basis they can work on, despite having only three players returning from the previous season. For the Thorns it is important to remain focused and not become unsettled under pressure. This applies to all parts of the pitch, but especially to the defensive third: when Boston managed to establish themselves around the 18 last week, Portland often looked a little insecure and did not close players down quickly or decisively enough.
The challenge will most likely be tougher than it was last week. Unlike Boston, the Flash has already played a competitive game together and will have had a week to work on weaknesses and build cohesion among the team, work on timing and final passes. They are also a little more versatile on the attack, at least if Portland gives them the time and space on the ball.
The Thorns will have to remain focused and may need a bit of patience when attempting to break down the Flash backline and beating D’Angelo, considering 4 of the 5 goals for the Reign only came in the second half. It is important that they keep their calm in these moments and not become hasty, like they often did last season. Equally important is how they deal with setbacks, such as conceding a goal. In order to continue being successful, Portland will have to carry the mental resilience and calm confidence we saw last week into the game against the Flash.
As Michelle Betos pointed out, while the game against Boston may not have been perfect, “it’s a great start.” A solid foundation that the Thorns can continue to build on this Saturday.
