Thorns come up big against Boston

Thorns celebrate Amandine Henry’s goal (Photo Credit: Diego Diaz).

Every Rose had her thorn, come game day. The Thorns and Breakers met for the second time in nine days on a beautifully sunny, if slightly sweltering, day. If it was pleasant in Boston, it was burning in Portland, the turf adding at least ten degrees to the air temperature of 90. Although conditions were nowhere near as bad as in Houston, where heat caused the Dash’s Daly to collapse from heat exhaustion and dehydration. Despite this, and the fact that the Timbers were simultaneously playing in Seattle midday, over 18,637 fans showed up for the game. The highest attendance of the season thus far, league wide.

There was a somber second of reflection that came before the game; a moment of silence to honor Ricky John Best, 53, and Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche, 23, who recently lost their life standing up to violent and hateful speech on a max train in the Rose City.

The game started strong for the Thorns. They pushed forward on the first touch, Raso taking on three women and winning a corner, from which was scored what was classed as an own goal off Julie King, after an Henry powered header took a deflection. This was a lead they’d hold all game, in part thanks to the constant performance of the Emily’s, and a remarkably good game from Boureille.

Hayley Raso making it past the Boston Breaker back-line (Photo Credit: Jeff Wong).

Henry would get a goal to call her own not four minutes later, when she aimed for the right corner, just out of Smith’s reach, and slotted it home. It was Henry’s first goal with the Thorns, and was celebrated with a kiss to the crest and a point towards the Riveters. She made them wait for it, having been with the club since last June.

Breakers would get their first real chance in the seventh minute, but the cross would safely land in Franch’s hands.

The game opened up from there; it went end to end for a good ten minutes in which there were multiple minor scares. Leon was seemingly caught in the face, Menges ended up with a bloody nose, and both Leon and Raso hit the turf a few times. The first yellow of the game was awarded to Emilie Haavi for a solid tackle on Raso. Smith tipped another strong one from Henry over the bar in the 37 th minute.

Things evened up a bit in the second half; whilst possession was still solidly the Thorns, the Breakers went from 36 to 45% possession. The referee helped Nadim up in the 49th, only to card her. Lavelle broke free from her defender, and got a shot off, only to have it hit the side netting shortly. Dowie tumbled down in the thorns box in the 65 th minute, but nothing was given, likely rightfully so. There was a bit of confusion in the Boston box post free kick in the 60 th minute; but in the end, Long chipped a bit too high and the ball went over the crossbar.

Allysha Chapman (Boston Breakers) being sent off for a hard tackle against the Hayley Raso of the Thorns (Photo Credit: Diego Diaz).

What appeared, at the time, to be a double footed slide tackle in extra time saw Chapman sent off with a red card, and Raso spend a minute or so down on the pitch. The challenge itself was Chapman’s first called offense of the game, and doubtless, some people will feel she was hard done by it. She clearly felt so, taking time to curse at the sideline referee and squirt some nearby Portland fans with her water bottle before heading down the tunnel. Chapman also originally took to Twitter to complain about the call, and the officiating on a whole, though the tweets have since been deleted. Officiating, and its inconsistency, remains a hot topic in the NWSL, with many calls widely contested.

It is hard to argue against the domination of the Thorns in this particular game. Thanks largely in part to a defense which may well be on its way to being the tightest in the league, Boston only managed one shot on target all game; although Franch did also collect four crosses. She currently has the second highest save percentage in the league, but has had to make few saves, making her still a bit of an unknown quality.

The offense has starting to find its grove, in part thanks to Raso finding her place on the wing. There are still a few communication errors; highlighted by a moment in the second half when Long and a Horan collided in Boston’s box as they both went for the ball. Luckily it did not matter then, as the Thorns solidly had the lead, but such mistakes can be the difference between a win and a loss in a tighter game.