HOUSTON – Sophia Smith netted a brace and Olivia Moultrie etched her name in the history books as Portland scored two goals in each half to down the Houston Dash 4-0 Sunday evening at PNC Stadium and extend its unbeaten streak to four games.
- Matchcenter: Stats and Boxscore
Match Moments
1' - GOAL (POR) - Portland immediately found itself the front foot, forcing an own goal in the opening minute of the afternoon. Hina Sugita played the cross in from the left and Houston defender Katie Naughton put it into the back of her own team's net.
7' - SAVE (POR) - Dealing with a heavy spell of pressure from the Dash, Bella Bixby got her hand to a driven shot and pushed the ball away from the top of the net.
19' - CHANCE (POR) - Portland's next truly dangerous chance came midway through the second half on a picture-perfect set piece delivery by Sam Coffey. The ball made it to Rocky Rodríguez at the back post, but the midfielder couldn't put enough power on the ball to beat Jane Campbell.
23' - GOAL (POR) - Smith scored her second goal from the penalty spot in as many weeks to put the Thorns up 2-0. After a beautiful bit of combination between Smith, Moultrie and Sugita at the top of the box, the ball found the feet of Smith who was fouled after getting a shot off. The forward beat Campbell with a driven shot for her fifth goal of the regular season.
29' - CHANCE (POR) - Minutes after her first goal, Smith tried her luck with a driven strike from outside the box. The attempt beat Campbell, but not the top post as it rattled out of bounds for a goal kick.
58' - CHANCE (POR) - A switched ball from Natalia Kuikka on the right side of the field eventually found the feet of Moultrie, whose powerful shot from outside the box with the left foot missed the near post by inches.
74' - CHANCE (POR) - Morgan Weaver nearly found the back of the net after entering the game. Her low, powerful shot whizzed past the near post and went out for a goal kick.
74' - GOAL (POR) - The Thorns ensured three points thanks to a second-half goal from Moultrie, which put them up 3-0. Trying to play out of the back, Houston gave the ball away in its own box to a pressing Smith who found Moultrie in the middle of the box. With the goal, Moultrie now holds the record for the youngest goal scorer in NWSL history.
81' - CHANCE (POR) - Bearing in on goal, Smith received the ball at midfield, dribbled it toward goal and went for the shot herself. However, the ball didn't have enough power on it and went wide of the far post.
83' - GOAL (POR) - Smith scored her second goal of the afternoon to give Portland a four goal advantage. With Moultrie's central attempt saved by Campbell, the ball bounced to Smith on the right side and put her shot from a tight angle into the far corner of the net.
-----------
After a week on the road, the Thorns return to a Providence Park for a Father's Day matchup against the Orlando Pride on June 19. (12pm PT, TICKETS, FOX 12 PLUS, Paramount+)
Notes
- Thorns FC played their second match on the road in four days today, earning four points (1W,
1D) and recording a total of six goals and three assists in the two matches (San Diego Wave,
Houston Dash). - Portland has scored a goal in the first minute of two of its last three road matches against
Houston. Sophia Smith scored in the 32 seconds into the match on July 24, 2021 and 44 seconds
into tonight’s match Thorns FC opened the scoring. - Smith recorded a brace and tallied an assist to earn a team-leading six goals and two assists this
regular season. It marks her second career multi-goal game. - Smith has recorded four goals and two assists in Portland’s last four matches (4G, 2A).
- Two of Smith’s last three goals have come through penalty kicks, successfully converting her only
career attempts (2). - It is Smith’s first time recording a goal and assist in a single game.
- Olivia Moultrie scored her first career regular season goal today, becoming the youngest player in
league history to score at 16 years old. - In her first start of the season, Moultrie tallied an assist, the second of her regular season career.
- Both of Moultrie’s professional goals have been scored against the Houston Dash. Moultrie
scored a goal against Houston in the 2021 Women’s ICC at Providence Park on Aug. 18, 2021. - Smith led the team in shots (7) and shots on goal (3).
- Thorns FC recorded 20 shots this evening, the most the team has recorded in a single match this
season. - Portland earned its fourth shutout of the 2022 campaign.
- It marked Bella Bixby’s 13th career clean sheet.
- Portland is tied for the most shutouts in NWSL this season (4).
- Portland is unbeaten in its last seven regular season road matches at Houston (5W, 2D), dating
back to July 18, 2016. - Thorns FC have recorded 11 shutouts against Houston, which is the most shutouts against a
single NWSL team in club history. - Portland’s 4-0 win over the Dash was the team’s league-leading third win this season by three or
more goals. - It was also the club’s 20th all-time regular season win by at least three goals for most such wins
in NWSL history. - Thorns FC now lead the league in goals (15) with the best goal differential (8).
- Portland has tallied two or more goals in four straight matches and is unbeaten in that stretch of
play (2-0-2). - Natalie Beckman made her NWSL regular season debut.
Portland Thorns FC (3-1-4, 13pts) vs. Houston Dash (3-2-3, 12pts)
June 12, 2022 – PNC Stadium (Houston, Tex.)
Scoring Summary:
POR: Naughton (own goal), 1
POR: S. Smith (penalty kick), 12
POR: Moultrie (S. Smith), 74
POR: S. Smith (Moultrie), 82
Misconduct Summary:
HOU: Groom (caution), 22
POR: Pogarch (caution), 67
POR: Bixby (time-wasting), 88
Lineups:
POR: GK Bixby, D Hubly, D Pogarch, D Sauerbrunn © (Beckman, 64), M Beckie (Weaver, 64), M Coffey (Porter, 79), M Kuikka, M Moultrie, M Rodriguez, M Sugita, F S. Smith (Betfort, 86)
Substitutes Not Used: GK A. Smith, D Nally, M Provenzano
TOTAL SHOTS: 20 (S. Smith, 7); SHOTS ON GOAL: 7 (S. Smith, 3); FOULS: 7 (three players tied, 3); OFFSIDES: 0; CORNER KICKS: 2; SAVES: 1
HOU: GK Campbell ©, D Chapman, D Hanson, D Naughton, D Prisock, M Sanchez, M Viggiano (Jacobs, 87), M Ogle (Anderson, 68), F Abam (Alozie, 79), F Groom (Gomera-Stevens, 87), F Visalli
Substitutes Not Used: GK Drederick, D Ashley, M Eddy, F Farquharson, F Gareis
TOTAL SHOTS: 8 (Hanson, Ogle, 2); SHOTS ON GOAL: 1 (Hanson, 1); FOULS: 11 (Groom, Visalli, 3); OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 2; SAVES: 2
Referee: Karen Callado
Assistant Referees: Matthew Rodman, Ricardo Ocampo
4th Official: Alexandra Theriot
Weather: Sunny, 96 degrees
Attendance: 5,006
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial