WASHINGTON D.C. - Morgan Weaver and Christine Sinclair delivered when it mattered Wednesday night, scoring a pair of goals after the 84th minute to help Portland Thorns FC come from behind to earn a 2-1 win against the Washington Spirit Wednesday evening at Segra Field.
- MATCHCENTER: Stats and Boxscore
Goalkeeper Bella Bixby recorded seven saves for the second game in a row as the Thorns moved three points clear on top of the NWSL table ahead of its two-week-long break from league action.
Match Moments
27' - CHANCE (POR) - Portland's first close call of the game started with Yazmeen Ryan running past defenders on the left side. Her cross across the box found the head of Hina Sugita, who headed the ball low across the box, where Marissa Everett's shot near the back post was smothered up by Aubrey Kingsbury.
29' - CHANCE (POR) - The Thorns' second solid chance came in as many minutes as the visitors generated a dangerous transition opportunity. Sinclair found Sugita down the right side, who once again found Everett in the box. Unfortunately, the forward couldn't quite get her shot to drop over a charging Kingsbury, and it flew above the goal.
33' - SAVE (POR) - On the front foot, Portland soon called on Bixby to help keep Washington off the board. Faced with a strong shot from outside the box, the keeper needed to dive to her right to push the ball away to safety.
39' - CHANCE (POR) - With both teams exchanging opportunities at a torrid pace, Kingsbury stepped up next. Close to goal this time, the keeper got down quickly to make a low diving shave to deny Ryan's dangerous look from close range.
40' - SAVE (POR) - On the other end, Bixby pulled another spectacular save out of her bag as the Spirit broke in behind Portland's back line. Ashley Hatch squared the ball to Ashley Sanchez, but Bixby, charging off her line, stopped the shot with her stomach and the Thorns eventually cleared the danger.
50' - CHANCE (POR) - Ryan almost pulled a piece of magic from her boot on a free kick early in the second half. The ball made it over the wall and just grazed the top bar before going out of bounds for a goal kick.
67' - CHANCE (POR) - Minutes after entering the game, Janine Beckie found herself with a half chance. Breaking into the box on a feed from Sugita, Beckie took a shot at the far post, which Kingsbury had covered.
76' - SAVE (POR) - With Washington's Bailey Feist finding space in the box, Bixby needed to be alert to make a strong save, pushing the ball out for a corner kick.
77' - OWN GOAL (WAS) - The Spirit broke the deadlock on the ensuing corner. Bixby pushed the initial chance out with a strong fist, but the following opportunity forced her into the net with the ball for an own goal.
84' - GOAL (POR) - Portland found its late equalizer in the most bizarre way. Kelli Hubly got a foot to Sam Coffey's corner kick and her shot rebounded off the top post and in front of goal, where Sinclair was standing to power a shot into the back of the net.
90+ 3' - GOAL (POR) - The Thorns turned a late draw into a win thanks to stoppage time heroics by Weaver. After receiving the ball on the right side, the forward made a sharp cut into the box before unleashing a low, curving effort that gave Kingsbury no chance. Her fourth goal of the year helped Portland complete its late comeback and salvage all three points from Wednesday's match.
90+ 8' - SAVE (POR) - Adding a cherry on top of the cake, Bixby ended the night with her seventh save. The keeper squared up a charging Rodman at her near post and got to her knees to deflect Washington's last serious chance of the night away.
-----------
Portland doesn't play another NWSL game until Aug. 24 when it travels to Cary, North Carolina, for a midweek makeup game against the North Carolina Courage (4 p.m. PT, Paramount+). However, the Thorns are back in action again in a week to compete in the 2022 Women's Champions Cup, beginning with a match against CF Monterrey (8 p.m. PT, TICKETS, broadcast details to be announced).
Notes:
- Thorns FC extended their unbeaten streak to 11 games with a record of 6-0-5 during the stretch.
- Portland is the only unbeaten team on the road in the NWSL in 2022 with a record of 3-0-4.
- Thorns FC have not lost on the road in NWSL regular season play in nine games (4-0-5), dating back to Sept. 25, 2021.Â
- Portland has won three of its last five road matches.
- Thorns FC have scored in all seven of their road matches in 2022, scoring multiple goals in six of those games.
- Portland has scored 15 goals on the road this season, which is tied for the most in the league with the Houston Dash.
- Christine Sinclair scored her fifth goal of the season.Â
- Sinclair has scored five or more goals in eight of her nine NWSL regular seasons.
- With the goal tonight, Sinclair has scored five or more goals in six consecutive regular seasons.
- Morgan Weaver recorded her fourth goal of the season.Â
- Weaver has three goals and two assists in her last four games for Thorns FC.
- Weaver is now one of four players with four or more goals for Portland this season, joining Sophia Smith (11), Christine Sinclair (5) and Hina Sugita (4).
- Portland has the most players (4) in the league with four or more goals this season.
- Weaver’s game-winning goal in the 92nd minute is the second-latest game-winning goal in club history. Only Tyler Lussi’s game winner (94th minute) against the Orlando Pride in 2019 occurred later in the match.
- Hina Sugita recorded her second assist of the 2022 campaign.Â
- Sugita is the eighth player to record multiple assists for Portland this season.Â
- Thorns FC have the most players (8) with multiple assists this season in the NWSL.
- Portland has won 12 of their 22 regular season meetings against the Spirit. That is the fourth-most wins in a single fixture in NWSL history, behind the Reign versus Houston (15), Portland against Houston (14) and the Reign versus Thorns FC (13).
- Thorns FC are unbeaten in their last five regular season matches (3-0-2) against the Spirit, including consecutive road wins at Segra Field.
Portland Thorns FC (7-1-7, 28pts) vs. Washington Spirit (1-5-9, 12pts)
Aug. 10, 2022 – Segra Field (Leesburg, Va.)
Scoring Summary:
WSH: Own goal (Bixby), 76
POR: Sinclair, 84
POR: Weaver (Sugita), 90+2
Misconduct Summary:
WSH: Brooks (caution), 48
WSH: Sullivan (caution), 63
Lineups:
POR: GK Bixby, D Klingenberg (McGrady, 61), D Sauerbrunn, D Hubly, D Kuikka, M Coffey, M RodrÃguez, M Sinclair ©, F Ryan (Weaver, 74), F Everett (Beckie, 66), F Sugita
Substitutes Not Used: GK A. Smith, D Provenzano, D Nally, M Porter, F Vasconcelos
TOTAL SHOTS: 19 (Everett, 6); SHOTS ON GOAL: 6 (Sinclair, 2); FOULS: 8 (Everett, Sugita, 2); OFFSIDES: 2; CORNER KICKS: 4; SAVES: 7
WSH: GK Bledsoe, D Biegalski, D Staab, D Brooks, D O’Hara, M Sullivan, M Bailey, M Sanchez (Feist, 74), F Rodman, F Hatch, F McKeown
Substitutes Not Used: GK Kerr, D Vincent, D Rodriguez, D Heilferty, M Almer, M Collins, M Baggett, F Elwell
TOTAL SHOTS: 19 (Hatch, 5); SHOTS ON GOAL: 7 (Seven players tied, 1); FOULS: 9 (Rodman, 3); OFFSIDES: 0; CORNER KICKS: 2; SAVES: 4
Referee: Jeremy Scheer
Assistant Referees: Sarah Gaddes, Tom Felice
Fourth Official: Marie Durr
Weather: Showers, 72 degrees
Attendance: 3,037
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial
