PORTLAND, OR. - Becky Sauerbrunn notched her first Thorns FC goal and assist while Sophia Smith added a brace as Portland put six goals past the visiting Orlando Pride in an emphatic 6-0 victory at Providence Park on Sunday afternoon.
- Matchcenter: Stats and Boxscore
The Thorns outshot Orlando 26-6 as five different players scored for Portland including Hina Sugita, Natalia Kuikka and Taylor Porter, while Janine Beckie, Olivia Moultrie and Yazmeen Ryan all got on the scoresheet with assists.
Match Moments
5'- CHANCE (POR) - Portland came inches away from opening the score in the opening five minutes after a nice build up that led to an opportunity in the box for Sophia Smith. The possession started out of the back as Janine Beckie allowed a pass to run through to Natalia Kuikka on the right. Kuikka spotted Smith in the box and slipped a ball into her, but the shot went just wide of the far post.
17'- SAVE (POR) - The Thorns needed a timely intervention from Bella Bixby to keep the score tied at zero and the goalkeeper obliged. One-on-one against Meggie Dougherty Howard right in front of goal, Bixby got down just in time to get a left hand to the point-blank effort.
17' - CHANCE (POR) - Quick on the counter-attack, Smith found herself with the cleared ball after Bixby's save. Racing right at goalkeeper Erin McLeod, Smith's final shot was pushed out for a corner kick.
18' - CHANCE (POR) - The Thorns nearly went up 1-0 on the ensuing set piece. Becky Sauerbrunn got her head on the delivery at the back post, which forced a diving, fingertip save from McLeod.
21' - GOAL (POR) - On the front foot, Portland soon found the goal it had been searching for. Beckie provided the delivery from outside the box and her cross found Hina Sugita at the back post, who volleyed the ball emphatically past McLeod to put the hosts up 1-0.
26' - GOAL (POR) - Minutes after putting a header on target, Sauerbrunn found herself with another point-blank chance and wasn't to be denied twice. The play started with a free kick from outside the box by Sam Coffey, which forced a save out of McLeod. Quick on her feet, Sauerbrunn won the race to the rebound and slotted the ball home for her first goal as a Thorn.
56' - CHANCE (POR) - The Thorn's nearly added a third goal early in the first half after Beckie's cross from the bounced tantalizingly in front of Smith in the box. Poking her toe out, the forward couldn't find the contact she needed to push the ball past McLeod.
58' - CHANCE (POR) - On the break after winning the ball near midfield, Olivia Moultrie found Beckie down the right and slipped her in on goal, but her shot from a tight angle flew just wide of the far post.
60' - SAVE (POR) - Facing an opportunistic and well-struck shot from outside the box, Bixby did well to leap to her right and deflect the ball to safety.
62' CHANCE (POR) - Coffey found herself with the ball in the center of the box after being played in by Madison Pogarch. After taking a few touches to evade a defender, the defensive midfielder fired a shot that just lacked enough power to truly test McLeod.
63' - GOAL (POR) - Not for a lack of trying, Smith finally found the back of the net for the seventh time this regular season midway through the second half. Receiving the ball at the top of the box, Smith turned and fired a low-driven shot into the bottom left corner to put the Thorns up 3-0.
67' - SAVE (POR) - With a dangerous cross floated across the box, Bixby had to stretch out to catch the ball and prevent Orlando from finding a dangerous opportunity in the box.
73' - CHANCE (POR) - From defense to attack, a cleared ball found the feet of Smith who played Moultrie into space. After a few touches, Moultrie played Smith back into the box one-on-one with McLeod, but her effort was saved.
79' - GOAL (POR) - Kuikka got herself in on the fun with a beautifully-struck goal to put the Thorns up 4-0, the first regular season goal of Portland career. After a spell of dangerous possession in the final third, the Finland international played a one-two with Moultrie at the top of the box, received the ball and curled a shot into the far corner of the net.
84' - CHANCE (POR) - The Thorns had a chance at a fifth goal after winning the ball and springing into transition. The ball ended at the feet of Yazmeen Ryan, whose shot flew over the bar.
86'- GOAL (POR) - Smith secured a brace in the matches waning minutes with another goal from outside the box. This time, she aimed for the top left corner and struck nothing but net, putting Portland up 5-0.
90+' - GOAL (POR) - Taylor Porter put herself on the scoresheet late, capitalizing on Orlando's poor set-piece defending to get on the ball wide open in the box and fire a shot past McLeod to give the Thorns a 6-0 lead.
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After a quick trip home, the Thorns return to the road on July 1 for a match against Angel City FC at Banc of California Stadium (7:30pm PT, Paramount+). Both teams last faced off on June 3, in which Portland picked up an emphatic 3-0 victory at Providence Park.
Notes:
- Portland is unbeaten in its last five matches (3-0-2), outscoring its opponents by a margin of 17-4.
- Thorns FC have recorded consecutive shutout wins with four or more goals for the first time in club history.
- Portland is the second team to score 10 goals in a two-match span in NWSL history after the North Carolina Courage scored 12 in a two-game stretch in Sept. 2019.
- Thorns FC have scored multiple goals in five straight matches, marking the first time this has happened in the club’s history.
- It was the second time Portland has won a game by a margin of six goals. Thorns FC earned a 7-1 win over FC Kansas City on July 13, 2014 at Providence Park.
- Portland is tied for the most shutouts in NWSL this season (5).
- Thorns FC lead the league in goals (21) with the best goal differential (+14).
- Portland has four players (Yazmeen Ryan, Sophia Smith, Olivia Moultrie, Janine Beckie) with two or more assists this season – the most of any team in the league.
- Thorns FC are 6-1-0 all-time at home against Orlando, outscoring the Pride by a margin of 19-8 in those matches.
- With the win, Portland improved to 10-2-2 all-time against Orlando.
- Becky Sauerbrunn registered her first career goal for Portland.
- It marked Sauerbrunn’s fifth career goal in the NWSL. Notably, the last time Sauerbrunn scored a goal in the league was with the Utah Royals against Thorns FC (Sept. 6, 2019).
- Sauerbrunn recorded her first assist with the club. It marked her first assist since Aug. 13, 2017, with FC Kansas City in a road match against the Houston Dash.
- Sauerbrunn is the ninth player to register an assist for Portland this season. Thorns FC have the most players with an assist in the league this season.
- Natalia Kuikka registered her first career NWSL regular season goal.
- Yazmeen Ryan recorded her first career multi-assist game and the 11th in club history.
- Ryan leads the team with three assists this season.
- Janine Beckie tallied her second assist of the season.
- Sophia Smith scored her third career brace in the match.
- It marked Smith’s second consecutive match with a brace. She is the first player to record a brace in back-to-back games in club history.
- Smith has eight goals this season, which surpasses her season total from the 2021 season of seven goals.
- With her two goals, Smith has 15 career NWSL regular season goals, which is tied for fourth-most in club history.
- Sophia Smith has three goals in two career home matches against Orlando.
- Hina Sugita scored her second goal of the 2022 regular season.
- Taylor Porter scored her first NWSL goal in the match.
- Olivia Moultrie recorded an assist for a second straight game.
Portland Thorns FC (4-1-4, 16pts) vs. Orlando Pride (2-5-2, 8pts)
June 19, 2022 – Providence Park (Portland, Ore.)
Scoring Summary:
POR: Sugita (Beckie), 21
POR: Sauerbrunn, 25
POR: S. Smith (Sauerbrunn), 63
POR: Kuikka (Moultrie), 79
POR: S. Smith (Ryan), 86
POR: Porter (Ryan), 90+1
Misconduct Summary:
POR: Pogarch (caution), 32
ORL: Pressley (caution), 88
ORL: Listro (caution), 90+2
Lineups:
POR: GK Bixby, D Hubly, D Pogarch (Beckman, 74), D Sauerbrunn ©, M Beckie (Ryan, 74), M Coffey (Porter, 82), M Kuikka, M Rodriguez, M Moultrie (Everett, 83), M Sugita (Betfort, 87), F S. Smith
Substitutes Not Used: GK A. Smith, D Nally, D Provenzano
TOTAL SHOTS: 26 (S. Smith, 8); SHOTS ON GOAL: 12 (S. Smith, 4); FOULS: 6 (Pogarch, 2); OFFSIDES: 2; CORNER KICKS: 4; SAVES: 3
ORL: GK McLeod, D Jenkins, D Montefusco (Strom, 61), D Petersen, D Pressley ©, M Dougherty Howard, M James, M Jonsdottir, F Abello (Listro, 61), F Doyle (Tymrak, 68), F Kim (Villacorta, 45)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Collins, D Jimenez, M Reiss, M Cluff, M Washington
TOTAL SHOTS: 6 (Jenkins, 2); SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 (Jenkins, 2); FOULS: 14 (Jonsdottir, 3); OFFSIDES: 2; CORNER KICKS: 4; SAVES: 6
Referee: Samantha Martinez
Assistant Referees: Kali Smith, Melissa Gonzalez
4th Official: Dion Cox
Weather: Cloudy, 61 degrees
Attendance: 16,185
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial
