PORTLAND, Ore. – A goal on either side of halftime – one from Sophia Smith, the other from Marissa Everett – gave Portland Thorns FC a 2-1 victory over visiting Orlando Pride Sunday night at Providence Park.
The win put the Thorns atop the NWSL in first place.
- MATCHCENTER: Stats
Match Moments
21' - POST (POR) - A nice through ball found Thorns forward Morgan Weaver in the area. She tried to cross a ball atop the six-yard box but it deflected off an Orlando defender and skittered off the left post.
24' - CHANCE (POR) - On a Portland corner kick, Celeste Boureille tapped a loose ball to an open Kelli Hubly but her shot was high over the goal.
26' - GOAL (POR) - Thorns forward Sophia Smith gave Portland a 1-0 lead in the 26th minute with a tremendous bit of individual skill. Taking a ball in her own end from Rocky Rodríguez, Smith darted forward with the ball some 40 yards, shed a defender and then rocketed her shot from the edge of the 18-yard box inside the near post and past an outstretched Ashlyn Harris.
39' - PK DENIED (ORL) - In the 38th minute Portland's Meghan Klingenberg stutter-stepped her way into the area but was tripped up by Orlando's Kylie Strom earning the Thorns a penalty. However, Rodríguez's spot kick was saved by the Pride's Harris.
40' - CHANCE (POR) - A minute later, a cross into the box was headed down by Weaver but Harris dove to her right to gather.
45+9' - CHANCE (POR) - Deep into first half stoppage time, Thorns defender Natalia Kuikka sent a perfectly weighted ball forward to Smith who then dribbled in on goal but sent her shot wide left.
59' - GOAL (POR) - The Thorns doubled their lead in the second half as Klingenberg chipped a ball up over the Orlando defense that forward Marissa Everett flicked a header on frame and into the back of the net for a 2-0 lead.
90+3' - SAVE (POR) - Portland goalkeeper Bella Bixby made a diving save on a header from Orlando's Sydney Leroux.
90+5' - GOAL (ORL) - The Pride scored a late goal from Marisa Viggiano to make the score 2-1.
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The Thorns will next travel to Texas to face the Houston Dash at BBVA Stadium on July 24 (5:30pm PT, FOX 12 PLUS, Paramount+).
Portland Thorns FC (6-3-1, 19pts) vs. Orlando Pride (4-3-4, 16pts)
July 18, 2021 – Providence Park (Portland, Ore.)
Goals by Half 1 2 F
Portland Thorns FC 1 1 2
Orlando Pride 0 1 1
Scoring Summary:
POR: Smith (Rodríguez), 26
POR: Everett (Klingenberg), 58
ORL: Viggiano (Kim), 90+5
Misconduct Summary:
ORL: Dougherty Howard (caution), 60
POR: Ryan (caution), 80
ORL: Bench (caution), 81
ORL: McClemon (caution), 82
POR: Pogarch (caution), 90+1
Lineups:
POR: GK Bixby, D Kuikka, D Menges ©, D Hubly, D Klingenberg, M Rodríguez, M Salem, M Boureille, M Everett (Ryan, 62), F Weaver (Pogarch, 84), F Smith (Charley, 62)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Hogan, D Nally, D Betfort, D Westphal, M Strom-Okimoto, M Moultrie
TOTAL SHOTS: 20 (Boureille, Smith, 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 5 (five players tied, 1); FOULS: 17 (Boureille, 6); OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 12; SAVES: 1
ORL: GK Harris ©, D Petersen, D Turner, D Krieger, D Strom (Washington, 90), M Tymrak (Kim, 46), M Dougherty Howard (McClemon, 69), M Jonsdottir, M Thomas (Viggiano, 63), M Kornieck, F Leroux
Substitutes Not Used: GK Wilson, D Haran, D Pressley, D Plummer
TOTAL SHOTS: 6 (Leroux, 2); SHOTS ON GOAL: 2 (Viggiano, Leroux, 1); FOULS: 14 (Kornieck, 3); OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 4; SAVES: 3
Referee: Laura Rodriguez
Assistant Referees: Salma Perez, Katarzyna Wasiak
4th Official: Dion Coxe
Attendance: 14,985
Weather: Sunny, 83 degrees
Notes:
- Thorns FC are 10-2-1 all-time against Orlando Pride, including playoffs, and 6-1-0 at Providence Park.
- Mark Parsons recorded his 75th win in the NWSL, which is ranks as second-most in league history.
- Sophia Smith scored her third goal of the 2021 campaign.
- Marissa Everett’s goal was her first of this season, and second of her career.
- Meghan Klingenberg recorded her second assist of the 2021 season.
- The assist marked Klingenberg’s 14th all-time with club, which is tied for second-most in club history with Christine Sinclair.
- Rocky Rodríguez tallied her third career assist across all competitions for Portland.
- Natalia Kuikka led the team with four chances created.
- Thorns FC have attempted an NWSL-high 210 shots this season.
- Portland has scored in all but one of their 13 matchups against Orlando (0-0 draw on Sept. 23, 2017).
- Nine different players have scored for Thorns FC this season.
- Thorns FC have recorded 15 or more shots in all 10 matches this season.
- Tonight’s game was the seventh time Portland has recorded 20 or more shots this season.
- Bella Bixby set a league record for most consecutive shutouts minutes (269) to begin a NWSL regular-season career.