Thorns FC shut out Cascadia rivals OL Reign 2-0 at Providence Park

With first-half goals from Hina Sugita and Morgan Weaver, Thorns FC earned a 2-0 shutout victory against rival OL Reign in front of a sellout crowd at Providence Park. With the win, Portland reclaimed first place in the NWSL standings.

PORTLAND, Ore. – With a pair of first-half goals from Hina Sugita and Morgan Weaver, Portland Thorns FC earned a 2-0 shutout victory against Cascadia rival OL Reign in front of a sellout crowd at Providence Park on Saturday night. With the win, Portland reclaimed first place in the NWSL standings. 

Tight Table
With the win, Thorns FC improved to 9-5-5 (32pts) to move back to the top of the NWSL standings with three matches remaining in regular season play. Portland holds a two-point lead over San Diego Wave FC (30pts) in second place and NJ/NY Gotham FC (30pts) in fourth place. Thorns FC will host San Diego at Providence Park on Sept. 30 and Gotham FC in their regular-season finale on Oct. 7 before wrapping up the regular season on the road against Angel City FC on Oct. 15. Notably, Portland holds the head-to-head tiebreaker against every team in the league due to a +15 goal differential.

Weaver the Wonder Kid
Weaver tallied her seventh goal of the 2023 season, which is tied with Lynn Williams for fourth-most in the league. Seven goals in a single NWSL campaign matches Weaver’s career best (2022). Weaver became the seventh player in franchise history to reach 15 career goals. Weaver also became just the fourth player to register at least 15 goals and 10 assists in their Portland career along with Christine Sinclair, Allie Long and Alex Morgan. Weaver has recorded a goal contribution in four consecutive matches (3G, 1A), tallying goals in each of her last three matches. Weaver (10) and Sophia Smith (11) are the first pair of Thorns FC teammates to each score 10 goals across all competitions in a single season in the club's NWSL history.

Cascadia Rivalry
Tonight’s match marked the 38th meeting across all competitions between Portland and OL Reign. With the win, Thorns FC improved to 2-1-1 in all competitions against their rival to the North in 2023. Portland outscored OL Reign by a margin of 4-1 in those matches, registering three shutouts. The win was Thorns FC’s first in regular season play against the Reign at Providence Park since Sept. 7, 2018. It was also the first time Portland has won multiple regular season meetings against OL Reign since the inaugural 2013 NWSL season.

Goal-Scoring Plays
POR – Hina Sugita, 30th minute: From distance, Sam Coffey served a Thorns FC free kick into the box. Rocky Rodríguez got onto the end of it at the back post and volleyed the ball across the goal line. Hina Sugita finished the play from inside of the six-yard box, putting the ball into the back of the net.  

POR – Morgan Weaver, 36th minute: Meghan Klingenberg played a diagonal cross into the box. An OL Reign defender attempted to clear the ball with a header, but it landed at the back post for Morgan Weaver, who fired a volley into the opposite corner of the net.

Notes:

• Tonight’s match had 25,218 in attendance at Providence Park, a sellout crowd. 
• It marks the team’s first sellout crowd since the 2019 season and the eighth in club history. 
• With the win, Thorns FC improved to 9-5-5 (32pts) to move back to the top of the NWSL standings with three matches remaining in regular season play.
• Thorns FC and OL Reign met for the 38th time in all NWSL competitions, the most games of any fixture in league history.
• Portland swept OL Reign in the 2023 NWSL campaign with two wins, outscoring the Reign 4-0 this season. 
• Thorns FC have scored in 18 of their 19 regular season matches in 2023.
• Portland has scored 40 goals this season, marking the fourth time the team has reached 40 goals in a single campaign. 
• No other team in the NWSL has more than three 40-goal seasons. Thorns FC are also the first team in the league to record back-to-back seasons with 40+ goals. 
• Thorns FC have scored 22 first-half goals in 19 matches this season – more than any team in the NWSL.
• This season, Portland has scored multiple goals in seven of their nine home matches, outscoring their opponents by a margin of 22-8 across those matches.
• Morgan Weaver tallied her seventh goal of the 2023 season, which is tied with Lynn Williams for fourth most in the NWSL. 
• Seven goals in an NWSL campaign matches Weaver’s career best (2022).
• Weaver became the seventh player in franchise history to reach 15 career goals. 
• Weaver also became just the fourth player to register at least 15 goals and 10 assists in their Portland career along with Christine Sinclair, Allie Long and Alex Morgan.
• Weaver has recorded a goal contribution in four consecutive matches (3G, 1A), tallying goals in each of her last three matches.
• Weaver (10) and Sophia Smith (11) are the first pair of Thorns FC teammates to each score 10 goals across all competitions in a single season in the club's NWSL history.
• Hina Sugita tallied her fourth goal of the NWSL season. 
• Sugita has contributed to four goals (2G, 2A) in her last four appearances at Providence Park. 
• Sam Coffey and Weaver are the only two players to start every game for Portland this season.
• Becky Sauerbrunn made her first NWSL appearance since June 3, also against OL Reign.
• It marked Sauerbrunn’s first time in the starting lineup since April 22 against Racing Louisville FC. 
• Crystal Dunn made her first start for Thorns FC since returning from the World Cup.

Portland Thorns FC (9-5-5, 32pts) vs. OL Reign (8-8-3, 27pts)
Sept. 16, 2023 – Providence Park (Portland, Ore.)

Scoring Summary:
POR: Sugita, 30
POR: Weaver, 36

Misconduct Summary:
OLR: Sonnett (caution), 29
POR: Klingenberg (caution), 58

Lineups:
POR: GK Bixby, D Klingenberg (Reyes, 77), D Menges, D Sauerbrunn (Hubly, 46), D Kuikka, M Sugita, M Coffey, M Rodríguez (Vasconcelos, 77), M Dunn (Moultrie, 68), F Weaver, F Sinclair (Betfort, 68)

Substitutes Not Used: GK Hogan, D Nally, M Porter, F D’Aquila

TOTAL SHOTS: 14 (Weaver, 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 8 (Dunn, Sugita, 2); FOULS: 5 (Moultrie, 2); OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 1; SAVES: 3

OLR: GK Dickey, D Barnes (Holmes, 84), D McClernon, D Cook, D Huerta, M Van der Jagt, M Sonnett, M Rapinoe (Quinn, 84), M Fishlock (Angelina, 64), F Huitema (Bennett, 76), F Balcer (Latsko, 64)

Substitutes Not Used: GK Ivory, D Hiatt, M Stanton, F King

TOTAL SHOTS: 9 (Rapinoe, 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 (three players tied, 1); FOULS: 5 (Sonnett, Rapinoe, 2); OFFSIDES: 2; CORNER KICKS: 6; SAVES: 6

Referee: Ekaterina Koroleva
Assistant Referees: Christian Clerc, Stephen McGonagle
Fourth Official: Jaclyn Metz
VAR: Robi Hullner
Weather: Sunny, 82 degrees
Attendance: 25,218

All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial

Next Game

The NWSL will pause for an international break this coming week and Thorns FC will return to action to host San Diego Wave FC on Saturday, Sept. 30, at Providence Park. The Sept. 30 match kicks off at 7:30 p.m. (Pacific) with a local television broadcast on FOX 12 PLUS and streaming available on Paramount+.