PORTLAND, Ore. – A feeling of confusion washed over Portland Thorns FC at the final whistle a week ago, the team having posted a record 24 shots while losing to the Seattle Reign, 3-2. This week, that feeling was accompanied by one of déjà vu, with the Thorns matching that record shot total in another Providence Park loss, 2-1 to the Orlando Pride.
The final reversed the scoreline from four weeks ago, when goals from Lindsey Horan and Christine Sinclair brought their team back from an early hole. This time, Orlando’s victory extended their unbeaten run to five games, with the Thorns now winless over that same span.
“It’s frustrating, because we’re getting the chances, and we’re on the front foot, and the last 20 minutes of the first half it’s chance after chance,” Thorns wing back and forward Mallory Weber said in the moments after the match. “I’m not sure what else we have to do to get them in the net.”
The chances started to flow after the Thorns, for the fourth time in as many home games this season, conceded the first goal, only this week, Portland allowed the second one, too. Multiple defensive mistakes led to Alex Morgan’s sharp-angle finish in the 11th minute, while a failed clearance at the edge of the penalty box allowed Christine Nairn to loop a shot from distance over Britt Eckerstrom.
“We know that Nairn does that. Our backline should have handled that better,” Emily Menges, seeing her first action of the season, explained. “I blame myself for the first goal. As a team, we just have to be able to bounce back, and we will. This is a good learning moment.”
The Thorns also seemed to have a learning moment in the first half when, moments after Nairn’s goal, the team switched formations, breaking away from their customary 3-4-1-2 in the 22ndminute and adopting a 4-2-3-1. Weber from left-wing back to striker, Tobin Heath and Ellie Carpenter split wide from their forward positions, and the back line’s remaining four shifted to their left.
Over the 68 minutes that followed, Portland outshot Orlando 22-7, producing a 23rdminute goal from Sinclair that immediately brought them back into the game. Although game state helped Portland put up their lopsided shot totals, the first 39 minutes after their formation change saw the Pride outshot, 15-1.
“One is an emotional reaction: we got to go now,” Thorns head coach Mark Parsons said, describing his reasons for changing after Orlando’s second goal, “but then the reason for the shape is they got too much in the midfield.
“We didn’t think they would go through the midfield in this game. We thought they were going to be a little more direct. They took advantage of us when we only had two in there for that period … We can’t let the other team have the ball in central areas when we’re chasing the game, so we decided to mix it up.”
That mix up not only produced Sinclair’s breakthrough but led to two moments when Portland appeared to have evened the score. The Thorns seemed to have an equalizer before intermission until Weber’s conversion off a cross-bar rebound was waved off for offside, and when an early second-half leveler was also waved off -- with Lindsey Horan adjudicated to have fouled Pride goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris -- Portland stood on the wrong end of two high-profile calls.
“It’s really hard to comment on referee performances when you don’t know the ins and outs, but I do know what is a goal and what isn’t …,” Parsons said. “I have to continue putting energy into what helps the team moving forward. Unfortunately, we have to take those blows, and we’re getting a lot of them in regards to that side of the game. You ride that wave and just cross your fingers that [the calls] come back later on.”
Right or wrong, they’re the type of decisions which other teams, including the Thorns, have had to fight through before. That such decisions helped push Portland’s winless run to five games only compounded the team's exasperation. In each of their last five games, Portland have seen their own errors lead to goals allowed. And each of those five games -- ones with no final margin larger than one goal – an often smothering attack has been unable to turn the final score.
“I feel like it’s been like that the last few games, and it’s frustrating, especially at home,” Weber said. “To lose two in a row at home, I haven’t felt that the past two seasons.”
The loss to Orlando marked the first time Portland has dropped consecutive home games under Parsons. It’s the first time Portland’s lost more than once at home in a season with him in charge, with 2014 marking that last campaign where the Thorns lost back-to-back games at Providence Park.
“It’s frustrating and we’re trying to figure out what to do,” Weber said. “It’s, what, 24 shots, and I don’t know how many on goal, so the chances are there. They’re just not going in.”
That attacking frustration, compounded by the team’s errors at the other end, forced Parsons to take a wider, more holistic view of Saturday’s issues.
“When uncharacteristic things happen, is it fatigue, is it mental fatigue, is it just needing a break,” he asked. “The best thing we can do right now is just let this amazing group take a breather and really, really recharge.
“Not a single player is taking a break from giving to this team, and maybe the energy that they’re giving is wearing them thin. Recharge, let this great group of players take their minds off things for two days, and then build up and continue tweaking, continue to find ways to get marginal gains, and step forward.”
The next opportunity to step forward will be next Saturday in Maryland, when the Thorns will take on the Washington Spirit. Until then, Portland will be left with this now too familiar feeling, one of lingering déjà vu.
