FULLERTON, Calif. – Portland Thorns FC lost 1-0 to Angel City FC in NWSL Challenge Cup play Sunday evening at Titan Stadium.
- MATCHCENTER: Stats and Boxscore
With the loss, the Thorns remain in second place in the Challenge Cup West Division but do not advance to the tournament semifinals due to goal differential.
Match Moments
6' - CHANCE (POR) - On a Portland corner kick, Christine Sinclair made a slicing run to flick the ball on frame forcing a sprawling save from Angel City goalkeeper DiDi Haračić.
29' - PK GOAL (ACFC) - Angel City took a 1-0 lead when Christen Press converted a penalty kick attempt firing into the right side of the goal.
33' - SAVE (POR) - Goalkeeper Bella Bixby made a great point-blank save to deny AC's Savannah McCaskill's shot after she broke free on a counter.
40' - CHANCE (POR) - The Thorns took off forward with midfielder Olivia Moultrie crossing a nicely weighted ball to the middle for Janine Beckie but the forward's shot was high over the goal.
75' - SAVE (POR) - Defender Meghan Klingenberg made a save off the line as she kicked away an Angel City shot that had been headed towards goal.
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Up next for the Thorns is the start of the 2022 NWSL regular season on Saturday, April 30 when they host the Kansas City Current at Providence Park (3pm PT, TICKETS, Twitch).
Next Wednesday, Apr. 27, the Thorns will join the Portland Timbers in a special PTFC for Peace charity match benefiting UNICEF's efforts in assisting those affected by the war in Ukraine. Tickets are free with an encouraged donation (6pm PT, TICKETS, Stream at ThornsFC.com).
Portland Thorns FC (3-2-1, 10pts) vs. Angel City FC (1-4-1, 4pts)
(NWSL Challenge Cup)
April 24, 2022 – Titan Stadium (Fullerton, Calif.)
Scoring Summary:
ACFC: Press (penalty kick), 29
Misconduct Summary
POR: Rodríguez (caution), 28
ACFC: Roccaro (caution), 37
ACFC: Charley (caution), 81
POR: Kuikka (caution), 90+7
Lineups:
POR: GK Bixby, D Klingenberg, D Hubly, D Menges, D Pogarch (Kuikka, 71), M Rodríguez (Beckman, 80), M Ryan, M Moultrie (Everett, 65), F Beckie, F Sinclair ©, F Weaver
Substitutes Not Used: GK A. Smith, GK Hogan, D Provenzano, F Betfort
TOTAL SHOTS: 8 (Beckie, 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 (Beckie, 2); FOULS: 7 (Rodríguez, 4); OFFSIDES: 0; CORNER KICKS: 5; SAVES: 4
ACFC: GK Haracic, D Spencer (Hammond, 79), D Gilles, D Reid, D Riley ©, M McCaskill, M Roccaro, M Weatherholt, M Endo, F Charley (Breslin, 87), F Press (Lussi, 71)
Substitutes Not Used: , GK Perez, GK Isenhour, D Swaby, M Taylor, M Ferrer Van Ginkel, M Nabet
TOTAL SHOTS: 14 (Press, 5); SHOTS ON GOAL: 6 (Press, 3); FOULS: 7 (Endo, Spencer, 2); OFFSIDES: 2; CORNER KICKS: 4; SAVES: 3
Referee: JC Griggs
Assistant Referees: Justin Fillmore, Cameron Siler
4th Official: Patricia McCracken
Weather: Sunny, 83 degrees
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial.
Notes:
- Janine Beckie made her Thorns FC debut in the match, starting and playing 90 minutes.
- Olivia Moultrie started her first game of the Challenge Cup. She is the youngest player to start in the Challenge Cup at 16 years, 7 months and 7 days.
- Beckie and Moultrie became the 18th and 19th players to start in a Challenge Cup match for Thorns FC in 2022.
- A total of 22 players featured for Thorns FC in the 2022 Challenge Cup.
- Kelli Hubly and Emily Menges started in all six games. The only two players to start every match of the tournament.
- Morgan Weaver along with Hubly and Menges was the only other player to appear in every match of the Challenge Cup.
- Weaver made her 17th Challenge Cup appearance. She is the only Thorns FC player to appear in every Challenge Cup match across all three years of the tournament.
- Mike Norris served as the acting head coach for the match. Head coach Rhian Wilkinson was unavailable for the match after testing positive for Covid.
