Portland Thorns rally for 3-3 draw at WakeMed Soccer Park in North Carolina.
Thorns FC remain undefeated and in the top spot of the NWSL standings following a courageous 3-3 draw against the North Carolina Courage Saturday evening at WakeMed Soccer Park.
Crystal Dunn secured a brace, Sophia Smith tallied her league-leading fifth assist, and Olivia Moultrie scored her first goal of the season in three incredible comebacks.
Portland went down early in the first minute of play following an Emily Menges own goal. The deflected ball left little for Bella Bixby to do but with 89 minutes left to play, the Thorns pushed for an equalizer.
It arrived via Dunn in the 22nd minute. In a classic Smith run down the left, the reigning MVP slotted the ball back into the box after reaching the endline to a waiting Dunn. Making no hesitation, the midfielder fired it into the back of the net to tie the game 1-1.
North Carolina would answer four minutes later and score their second of the night via Kerolin Nicoli.
Heading into the halftime break, head coach Mike Norris and the squad would try and come back in the remaining 45 minutes.
The second half brought more goals, on both sides.
Dunn would again bring Portland back level just seven minutes after the restart. In a spectacular team play, the build-up began with captain Christine Sinclair orchestrating the attack. The Canadian legend found a running Meghan Klingenberg who, with a quick touch, dropped the ball to Smith. With her back towards goal, Smith cheekily back-tapped the ball through to the on-running Klingenberg. As Dunn fought for positioning in the box, Klingenberg's cross came in and Dunn tapped it home. The game was once again tied at 2-2.
The Courage would again answer back, and scored their third of the night in the 70th minute via Victoria Pickett.
With the game in its final stages, Portland pushed for a third equalizer in the night. They found it via Moultrie. The 17-year-old midfielder took a chance from outside the box, and sent a left-footed dipping screamer past Courage goalkeeper Casey Murphy. Moultrie's 83rd minute strike helped preserve Portland's undefeated streak to start the season, bringing it to six matches unbeaten in NWSL.
The Thorns remain on the road for week seven action, as they travel to Texas to face the Houston Dash on May 12th.
