PORTLAND, Ore. – In an entertaining and gritty match on a rainy evening at Providence Park, Portland Thorns FC fought to a scoreless draw with OL Reign Friday evening.
- MATCHCENTER: Stats and boxscore
Goalkeeper Bella Bixby made three saves and the Thorns picked up their second straight clean sheet. Portland has not allowed a goal to start the 2022 NWSL regular season.
Editor's Note: The kickoff of the game was delayed slightly due to a pre-emption from a CBS Sports Network of competitive bull riding. As such, the club's social team had some fun with some rodeo puns throughout the Twitter feed. See below.
Match Moments
22' - CHANCE (POR) - Midfielder Sam Coffey sprang on a loose ball atop the box and hit a stinging shot that OL Reign goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce knocked down and gathered.
27' - CHANCE (POR) - On a Portland free kick near the far corner, Meghan Klingenberg served a ball in that Christine Sinclair flicked on frame but it was saved off the line by a Reign defender.
32' - SAVE (POR) - Goalkeeper Bella Bixby got a hand to a Reign shot on goal but it still was flying back towards the net only to have Klingenberg block the shot away off the line.
41' - CHANCE (POR) - Sinclair sent a perfectly weighted ball right up the middle for Sophia Smith to run on to. The Portland forward bore down on goal but Tullis-Joyce came off her line to deny the attempted shot.
52' - CHANCE (POR) - Smith sent a nice throughball ahead for Morgan Weaver to split the defense and race forward on. Tullis-Joyce again came off her line while a Reign defender slid in front of Weaver's shot. The ball deflected up and over but knocked off the left post and was cleared.
65' - SAVE (POR) - In one of the best saves of the evening, Bixby jumped high to quickly tip over the bar a flicked on header from the Reign's Bethany Balcer.
75' - CHANCE (POR) - Smith received a throw-in on the near side and dribbled up the middle before firing a hard shot on goal forcing a save from Tullis-Joyce.
83' - CHANCE (POR) - Weaver received the ball in her own end before rocketing off on a 50-yard run. She blasted a shot on frame that Tullis-Joyce pushed out for a corner. Moments later on said corner kick, the ball came out to Janine Beckie who fired a swerving shot of her own that Tullis-Joyce pushed up and was knocked out for a goal kick near the far post.
85' - BLOCK (POR) - Defender Kelli Hubly put her whole body on the line to block a Reign shot in the box to help preserve the clean sheet.
87' - CHANCE (POR) - Midfielder Hina Sugita rolled a pass that somehow slipped through the whole box for Beckie on the near side. Her one-timed shot curled just outside the left post.
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Portland continues their homestand next Wednesday, May 18 when the Thorns host the Washington Spirit at Providence Park (7pm PT, TICKETS, Paramount+).
Portland Thorns FC (1-0-1, 4pts) vs. OL Reign (0-1-2, 2pts)
May 13, 2022 – Providence Park (Portland, Ore.)
Scoring Summary:
None
Misconduct Summary:
None
Lineups:
POR: GK Bixby, D Menges, D Hubly, D Nally, M Klingenberg (Beckie, 63), M Coffey, M Kuikka, M Sugita, M Sinclair © (Rodriguez, 74), F S. Smith, F Weaver (Ryan, 87)
Substitutes Not Used: GK A. Smith, D Pogarch, D Sauerbrunn, M Porter, M Moultrie, F Betfort
TOTAL SHOTS: 17 (S. Smith, 6); SHOTS ON GOAL: 7 (S. Smith, 3); FOULS: 8 (Kuikka, 3); OFFSIDES: 2; CORNER KICKS: 4; SAVES: 3
OLR: GK Tullis-Joyce, D Barnes, D Hiatt, D Cook, D Huerta, M Quinn, M der Jagt, M Angelina (Rapinoe, 67), M Fishlock, M Lavelle, F Balcer (Watt, 75)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Ivory, D Lopez, M McClernon, M Miramontez, M Stanton, F Latsko, F King
TOTAL SHOTS: 17 (Balcer, 5); SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 (Balcer, 2); FOULS: 6 (Cook, 2); OFFSIDES: 2; CORNER KICKS: 6; SAVES: 6
Referee: Elvis Osmanovic
Assistant Referees: Melissa Gonzalez, Bennett Savage
4th Official: Patricia McCracken
Weather: Rainy, 57 degrees
Attendance: 14,496
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial.
Notes:
- Thorns FC registered a second consecutive clean sheet to start the 2022 season.
- It marks the first time in club history Portland has recorded two clean sheets to start a season.
- Portland has not conceded a goal in 360 regular season minutes, recording four straight shutouts dating back to the 2021 regular season.
- Thorns FC shut OL Reign out for the eighth time in 33 matches across all competitions.
- Portland has squared off against OL Reign more than any other team in the NWSL.
- Rocky Rodríguez made her 100th career NWSL appearance. She is the 56th player to reach that milestone and the ninth international NWSL player to hit 100 appearances.
- Hina Sugita earned her first regular season start.
- Bella Bixby recorded her 11th career shutout.
- Meaghan Nally led the team with an 84.5% passing accuracy.
- Sam Coffey and Emily Menges each won 11 possessions for Portland, while Hina Sugita won 10 possessions.
