The result has dogged the team since the final whistle, if not sooner. The moment the last goal went in midway through the second half, Portland Thorns FC immediately began ruing the result. It was game where they expected more; where the final result would magnify doubts; where they’d spend days stewing on the points that they’d lost.
No, that wasn’t the world after the Thorns’ last game against the North Carolina Courage, a 4-1 home loss that highlighted how much ground the NWSL’s defending champions had to make up on the pace-setters atop the circuit. Carolina was amazing that night. No doubt, there were lessons to learn, but at some point, you have to recognize what the other team’s accomplished. That loss was reason to get back to the training ground, not stew in the night’s result.
On the contrary, the result that’s lingered with Portland for so long came against a team at the other end of the standings, one that has only scraped together two other points from the league this season. It came back into focus this week, as the Thorns moved their attention from 4-0 and 3-1 wins over Utah Royals FC and the Houston Dash toward Saturday’s opponent (4pm PT, NWSLsoccer.com/go90), a Sky Blue FC team took that a shock 1-1 draw from Providence Park just over three weeks ago.
This is a Sky Blue team which, through 15 games this season, have yet to win a match, collecting only three points this season. They’re on pace for the worst record in NWSL history, and it’s not particularly close, with no player on their team having scored more than three goals (three Thorns have eclipsed that mark). The team’s conceded 30 times, lost seven of eight at home, yet still managed to take a point from Providence Park.
How? That’s what the Thorns have been asked themselves for over three weeks. How did they let that happen? Portland dominated play, scored just before halftime, then let Sky Blue take control.
Why? Why did they let that happen? There’s still no clear answer to that question, one the team spent days asking itself after that final whistle. But the repercussions were obvious. Some time on the ball, a burst of confidence, and next thing you know, Carli Lloyd was standing over a ball on the spot. Moments later, the league’s worst team had equalized, and when 13 minutes didn’t prove enough to reclaim the points they’d dropped, the Thorns were left with their season’s most perplexing result.
This, not the loss to North Carolina, is what the Thorns have stewed on. It was the subtext to their effort in Seattle (albeit while losing, 1-0), and it was part of the drive to put up the 7-1 aggregate margin they have over their last 180 minutes.
On that Wednesday night against Sky Blue, Portland was expected to run out easy winners. Instead, the team reached the low point of the season. They took their control for granted, and as a result, they were handed a cause for redemption.
Come Saturday, their chance at redemption will arrive, even if the team will have to manage a number of changes to redeem themselves. Four U.S. internationals will be gone, having joined their national team for the upcoming Tournament of Nations, meaning a new goalkeeper, central defender, midfield linchpin and attacking creator will have to be found. The depth the team has slowly been solidifying over the season’s last month will be tasked with vindicating the squad, knowing another slip against the league’s worst team will be far more costly than the first.
After all, the Thorns are only in fifth place. With four teams making the NWSL’s playoffs, Portland has to make up ground, only with seven games left in their season, time is starting to run out. Matches against North Carolina, Orlando and Chicago are on the horizon, but first, the Thorns will have to make sure they don’t overlook Savannah McCaskill, one of Sky Blue’s three-goal scorers. They can’t take central defender Mandy Freeman for granted. They can’t see that “0” in Canadian international Janine Beckie’s goals column and assume a player who has scored five times over the last two years couldn’t find a sixth, should the Thorns look too far into that distance.
Three weeks ago, Portland got burned, but in their lack of focus over that match’s final 20 minutes, they essentially burned themselves. That can’t happen this Saturday. This Saturday, the Thorns have to redeem themselves.
What to watch for on Saturday (4:00 pm PT, Go90.com and NWSLSoccer.com):
- Those Thorns players who will be missing? You might have guessed from the descriptions, above, but lest there be any doubt, Adrianna Franch,Emily Sonnett, Lindsey Horan and Tobin Heath will all be with the U.S. women’s national team by the time you read this.
- The options at head coach Mark Parsons’ disposal, however, leave little excuse heading into Saturday’s game. Britt Eckerstrom proved herself reliable when replacing the injured Franch earlier this season. Katherine Reynolds is a valuable option in central defense, while the team’s options higher up the field – Andressinha (health permitting), Angela Salem, Mallory Weber, depending on who Parsons chooses – all have ample experience in their prospective holes. Saturday’s won’t be your typical patchwork team, by any measure.
- Across the way, Sky Blue will only be missing one player. With McCaskill missing out on this U.S. camp, only midfielder Lloyd, the team’s co-leader in goals, will be absent for the home side.
- The stakes are continuously heightening for the Thorns, who could rise as high as third in the standings with a victory. If Seattle defeats Orlando in Saturday’s first game (12:30 pm PT, Lifetime), a Portland win will see them leap frog both the Pride and the idle Chicago Red Stars.
- To help in that quest, Portland could see the return of Andressinha, who trained fully this week and could see action after suffering an ankle injury in Seattle. Likewise, Foord could potentially make her Thorns debut, with the window now open on the “three to five weeks” timeline Parsons offered following her June arrival.
