PORTLAND, Ore. - The Portland Thorns came out on the front foot, scored two goals in the span of three minutes and relied on its defense the rest of the way in a 3-0 win against expansion side Angel City FC on Friday night.
- MATCHCENTER: Stats and Boxscore
Defender Kelli Hubly fired the Thorns in front for her first-ever NWSL goal while captain Christine Sinclair added a brace as Portland picked up its first win since it beat Kansas City 3-0 on Apr. 30.
Match Moments
1' - CHANCE (POR) - The Thorns' first shot of the night came in the opening minute thanks to a bit of brilliance from Sophia Smith. After beating two defenders on the left side to reach the end line, Smith sent a low-cross into the box that found the feet of Hina Sugita, but the shot was blocked and eventually cleared away.
6' - CHANCES (POR) - This time on the right side, Smith beat her defender before sending in another cross, this time to Christine Sinclair whose shot from close range was saved out of bounds by goalkeeper DiDi Haracic. The ensuing corner kick found the head of Hubly, whose lofted header required Haracic to make a leaping save to push the ball away.
15' - GOAL (POR) - On the front foot for much of the opening quarter hour, Portland finally found its goal thanks to the head of Hubly, the first goal of her Thorns career. A corner kick served into the box by Smith, Hubly got her head to the ball and flicked it into the upper corner, not allowing Haracic any shot at another save.
18' - GOAL (POR) - Minutes later, Sinclair scored her first goal of the evening to double the Thorns' lead. The play started with Sugita winning the ball in midfield before dribbling toward the box and passing the ball into the path of the Canadian forward, who slotted it past a charging Haracic.
56' - CHANCE (POR) - Portland's first truly dangerous chance of the second half come at the feet of Smith. Running at Angel City's back line, Smith tried a shot to the near post that Haracic parried away at the last second.
67' - GOAL (POR) - If the three points were ever in doubt, Sinclair slammed the door shut with her second goal of the night, which came with just under 30 minutes to play. Open at the back post after creating separation from her defender, Sinclair got her head on Janine Beckie's cross at the back post and put it back across goal and into the back of the net.
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Up next, the Thorns embark on a two-game road trip that takes them to San Diego and Houston over the next nine days. The trip begins on June 8 against Alex Morgan, Abby Dahlkemper and the top-of-the-table Wave. (7pm PT, CBS Sports)
Portland Thorns FC (2-1-3, 9pts) vs. Angel City FC (3-3-0, 9pts)
June 3, 2022 – Providence Park (Portland, Ore.)
Scoring Summary:
POR: Hubly (Smith), 15
POR: Sinclair (Sugita), 18
POR: Sinclair (Beckie), 68
Misconduct Summary:
POR: Smith (caution), 22
Lineups:
POR: GK Bixby, D Hubly, D Nally, D Sauerbrunn (Provenzano, 77), M Beckie (Pogarch, 88), M Coffey, M Kuikka, M Rodriguez (Ryan, 70), M Sugita (Porter, 88), F S. Smith, F Sinclair (Weaver, 77)
Substitutes Not Used: GK A. Smith, M Moultrie, M Beckman, F Betfort
TOTAL SHOTS: 19 (Sinclair, 6); SHOTS ON GOAL: 9 (Sinclair, 4); FOULS: 8 (S. Smith, 3); OFFSIDES: 0; CORNER KICKS: 6; SAVES: 2
ACFC: GK Haracic, D Riley, D Gilles (Nielson, 64), D Reid, D Lussi, M Roccaro, M Le Bihan, M Press (Ferrer Van Ginkel, 81), M McCaskill (Taylor, 81), M Endo (Nabet, 74), F Charley (Breslin, 74)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Perez, D Swaby, D Hammond, M Weatherholt
TOTAL SHOTS: 13 (Four players tied, 2); SHOTS ON GOAL: 2 (two players tied, 1); FOULS: 11 (three players tied, 2); OFFSIDES: 0; CORNER KICKS: 13; SAVES: 5
Referee: Elton Garcia
Assistant Referees: Katarzyna Wasiak, Christian Cleric
4th Official: Jaclyn Metz
Weather: Rain, 66 degrees
Attendance: 14,493
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial
Notes
- Kelli Hubly scored her first professional career goal.
- Christine Sinclair recorded her second and third goals of the season.
- Sinclair tied Sophia Smith for the team lead in goals (3).
- Sinclair is now tied with Lynn Williams for the second-most goals scored in NWSL history (57).
- The brace was Sinclair’s eighth multi-goal game in her NWSL career in regular season play.
- Sinclair has recorded a multi-goal game against six different opponents in her NWSL career.
- Smith, Hina Sugita and Janine Beckie each tallied their first assists of the season.
- Sugita and Beckie’s assists marked their first in regular season play for Portland.
- Smith (1g, 1a) and Sugita (1g, 1a) have each contributed to a goal in back-to-back matches.
- Gabby Provenzano made her NWSL regular season debut in the match.
- Taylor Porter made her first appearance of the 2022 regular season.
- Thorns FC earned their third shutout of the 2022 campaign.
- It marked Bella Bixby’s 12th career clean sheet.
- Portland is tied for the second-most shutouts in NWSL this season (3).
- Tonight’s match marked the first meeting between Thorns FC and Angel City in NWSL regular
season play. - In three matches across all competitions against ACFC, Portland is 2-1-0 with a 6-1 goal
differential. - Thorns FC have won both their matches against Angel City at Providence Park 3-0, including
their Challenge Cup match.
