Herriman, Utah − The Thorns wrapped up preliminary play in the NWSL Challenge Cup in an early Monday morning clash with rivals OL Reign today. Despite finishing in a scoreless draw, the Thorns continued to see new players shine and gave Portland a glimpse of what’s to come; if not in the knockout stages, then in the seasons to come. Portland kept the Reign pinned back for most of the game, but weren’t able to capitalize on any of their four shots on goal. The Reign created few chances of their own, but did see the welcome return of Jess Fishlock to the field in the 72nd minute. Fishlock had been sidelined with an ACL injury since June 2019.
The Thorns finished at the bottom of the table going into the quarterfinals, but for Portland this preliminary round has felt mostly like a heightened audition for new players integrating into the squad, and with all eight teams advancing to the next round, this was the perfect environment for it.
New players like Rocky Rodriguez, Morgan Weaver, and Bella Bixby saw plenty of opportunities in four preliminary games where they may not have been so heavily featured had some of the Thorns stalwarts been playing.
With goalkeeper Adriana Franch out of the picture due to injury, plenty of fans were left scratching their heads when Bixby’s name was in the starting lineup for their tournament opener against the defending champion North Carolina Courage. The 6’ keeper from Oregon State University was quick to impress with eye-catching saves throughout the tournament and showed Thorns fans why Coach Parsons and GK coach Nadine Angerer were so committed to her development, despite her being drafted in the third round of the 2018 NWSL draft. Monday’s scoreless draw was Bixby’s second clean sheet of the tournament; a noteworthy feat considering veteran CB’s Becky Sauerbrunn and Emily Menges were sidelined for most of the tournament due to injury.
On the offensive side of the ball, Sophia Smith, the Thorns number one overall pick in this year’s draft, has also been unavailable due to injury. This opened the door for rookie Morgan Weaver to get plenty of professional minutes and despite not getting on the score sheet, showed her ability to run at defenders and create chances in the final third. Returning players like Simone Charley and Tyler Lussi also received quality playing time to show the progress they’ve made since last season and should make those starting spots competitive once the team is back to full strength.
In the midfield, Rocky Rodriquez has thus far lived up to the hype after arriving in Portland via trade in the offseason. In an area of the field in need of an upgrade, Rocky has been quick to gel with Lindsey Horan and was comfortable playing in a more offensive role on Monday with Horan out due to a minor injury. In the 70th minute, she nearly tallied the game’s first goal with some fancy footwork to lose her defender and get a shot off from the top of the box.
In their quarterfinal match-up, the Thorns will face a heavily favored North Carolina team on Friday, 7/17 at 9:30 am on CBS All Access. The Thorns last played the Courage in the preliminary opener last month. In a tight, nail-biter of a game the Thorns held their own, but ultimately fell 2-1 due to a Lynn Williams stoppage-time goal.
