A pleasantly cool and cloudy day broke with the sun as the Thorns took the field against their arch-nemeses the Courage. Considerable rotation had occurred; the Thorns having played three games in ten days.
The first blow came early. In the fourth minute, Crystal Dunn struck it home after the Thorns defense failed to clear the ball.
In the twelfth minute, Matthias shoved Heath down just outside the box, resulting in a free kick; that, and the resulting corner, culminated in nothing.
Portland Thorns defeat the NC Courage 2-1 at home Sunday August 11, 2019 (Photo by Jeff Wong).
The first yellow went to Foord in the 19th minute, when she grabbed and pulled Mewis’ shirt. Less than a minute later, she ended up with Dahlkemper on her as they tumbled to the ground together. The US national obviously felt she’d been the recipient of some foul, as she stood to yell at the referee. This would hardly be the last, and was not the first time, that the referee would face anger from the players.
In the 37th minute, after a foul from Matthias on Heath, both Horan and her protested. This resulted in the referee consulting his assistant, and changing the way he called the play. A tactic many referees in this league would likely benefit from. It can be hard, as an official, to swallow your pride and use your resources, but assistant referees exist for a reason.
A cross from Heath came up short in the 45th minute, and the corner it produced was saved by Labbe, which was more or less the story of any corner the Thorns had in the first half.
Raso started in place of her countrywoman in the second half; Purce came in for Charley. A minute or so into that half, Mewis was softly fouled just outside the Thorns box. The referee called for a free kick. Nothing came from it.
In the 51st minute, Heath picked her moment and slotted a ball through to Purce, who held off the ball by a defender until Labbe collected it.
In the 55th minute, Heath managed to break away, and came face to face with Labbe. Unfortunately for the Thorns, the Canadian’s foot stopped the shot. She was unable to save the next one, however, and in the 67th minute actually caused an own goal, balancing out the match.
In the 73rd minute, Heath was down; the second such occasion within a minute. This time, the guilty party was Zerboni, who had only just subbed in for Mewis. The free kick that resulted was expertly taken by Horan, and equally expertly saved by Labbe.
Portland Thorns defeat the NC Courage 2-1 at home Sunday August 11, 2019 (Photo by Diego Diaz).
Labbe’s inability to gather the ball in the 74th minute was, luckily for the Courage, not enough for the Thorns to get a second, as they had nobody to get on the end of it.
Again, in the 76th minute, equal pay was chanted. This is going to be the norm, it seems, until USSF is willing to listen.
In the 83rd minute Raso, caught between two Courage players, would lose the ball to Hinkle who hit it directly to Erceg, who sent it into her own net with the help of a fumble by Labbe. All that was missing was the Benny Hill music. The second own goal of the night, which put the Thorns ahead 2-1.
Along with the win, the Thorns broke the NWSL single match attendance, with a sellout of 25,218 fans. This puts their attendance above fourteen MLS teams; a mere 20 or so people away from being one of the top ten soccer teams in the US in terms of single attendance. It’s not unlikely that this will happen before the end of the season.
The eternal question: How can it be replicated elsewhere?
For photo recap of the match click here.
Portland Thorns
NC Courage
