PORTLAND, Ore. – They were bounces that had not been going Portland Thorns FC’s way all year. The second-minute goal from Tobin Heath that looped over Utah Royals FC goalkeeper Abby Smith. The deflected Lindsey Horan pass that fell to Ana Crnogorčević in the 32nd minute that she was able to finish with one touch.
In the players’ and coaching staff’s minds, it was hard to remember when those types of chances had been breaking Portland’s way previously this season, part of the reason why the Thorns’ 4-0 victory over the Royals at Providence Park felt so reassuring come the final whistle.
“We came out of the gates and we hunted and we pressed them,” Thorns head coach Mark Parsons explained, describing the mentality that saw his team take the early lead they never relinquished. “We wanted to get after them, and we wanted to get the ball back fast.
“Scoring early is massive. Getting Tobin back and doing that. The whole team fed off this fast start and wanting to not let Utah on the ball. Then with the ball, all that energy followed us.”
It followed the Thorns to a 2-0 lead in the 32nd minute, with Horan scoring off another set piece. Two minutes later, it was Crnogorčević, scoring her third of the season and third of her NWSL career. When Tyler Lussi added her season’s first goal just past the hour mark, Portland had handed Utah head coach Laura Harvey her first four-goal loss since her pre-Arsenal days in England (2008, per #StatMan Mike Donovan).
“You could tell we wanted the ball in the back of the net,” Thorns goalkeeper Adrianna Franch explained, describing her view from Portland’s 18-yard box. “We moved the ball between the lines, beating lines and moving the ball forward … Four goals and a shutout at home? I’m not too mad about it.”
It was the confidence boost the team needed coming off one of its most difficult weeks of the season, one that left the Thorns in sixth place coming into the night’s game. Last Wednesday’s draw at home to Sky Blue felt like a loss, while the 90-minute effort the team gave in Seattle on Saturday was still met with a 1-0 loss.
Tonight, the Thorns gave another complete performance, one that not only resulted in the team’s largest victory of the season but vaulted Portland into third place in the league, even on points (23) with second-place Seattle.
“The focus was outstanding, and right until the end, there, because they started getting some real momentum, and we didn’t let go of our jobs,” Parsons felt. “We didn’t switch off. The focus was immense.
“I think that’s a good platform, because lapses in focus have let us down in the past, and understandably so, because of the changes we’d constantly been making. Tonight, we still made changes, but the performance, result and scoreline gives us lots of confidence.”
Part of that is the four goals posted on what was the league’s best defense, marking seven times this season the Thorns have scored (across three games) against a team that’s only given up 15 goals. The other part was reaching the final whistle while leaving a “0” next to “Royals FC” on the scoreboard.
“That shows the heart (we had) all the way through the game,” Franch explained. “The 90 minutes is key – 90-plus minutes. We can work off that and feed off that to continue to move forward, have that driven mentality and keep the ball out of the back of the net, because at the end of the game, a lot of the games are 1-0 games.”
Not Friday’s, though. For the first time this year, the Thorns opened the floodgates on an opponent. And as a result, Portland’s playoff quest is back on track, with the Thorns reclaiming a spot in the NWSL’s top four.
