Thorns victorious on the road, defeat Chicago Red Stars 3-2

Smith, Sugita, and Sinclair get on the scoresheet as Portland ends roadtrip with win in Bridgeview, IL.

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. – Energized by goals from Sophia Smith, Hina Sugita and Christine Sinclair, Portland Thorns FC bounced back from last Sunday's loss at Orlando with an impressive 3-2 victory Sunday evening at SeatGeek Stadium. Their win boosts the Thorns to 22 points on the season and first place in the NWSL standings.

Portland were dominant from the initial whistle, racking up 17 shots in the first 45 minutes of play and forcing the hosts into a counter-attack style of play.

The Thorns looked dangerous as early as the second minute, with Smith finding a Sugita cross in the box, and unmarked in a 1v1 with the Chicago goalkeeper, but touching the ball wide right. Sugita would continue to be a menace for the Chicago defense, orchestrating advances and coming close to opening the scoring in the 17th minute, pushing a shot just wide of the goal.

For every few Thorns advances, the Red Stars would push heavily on the counter. Portland goalkeeper Bella Bixby looked confident and alert on goal, completing multiple saves throughout the half, including a flying save in the 13th minute to deny a Chicago header.

With the first 45 minutes coming to a close, Portland would have two additional opportunities. A blast from Sam Coffey to the far post in the 39th minute rattled Chicago goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher before Smith finally broke through four minutes later. In a solo effort down the middle of the field, the Portland forward unleashed a left-footed dinger from outside the box, low and unstoppable to Naeher's right.

Smith's goal brings her season tally to seven and ensures the Thorns' active road-scoring record goes on to live another match, currently at 19-straight road games.

As the referee whistled for halftime, Portland held on to their 0-1 lead on the road. Focus would soon shift to the remaining 45 minutes.

Portland began the second half in much the same fashion as the first, pressing heavily offensively, and creating dangerous plays.

Sugita continued her strong play, stamping her name on the scoresheet and gave the Thorns a two-goal lead in the 62nd. A classic Morgan Weaver cut-back pass into the penalty spot was buried by the Japan international, her third of the season.

The hosts would respond in the 72nd minute via a penalty kick scored by Ella Stevens.

However the Thorns would quickly restore the two-goal difference, scoring their third on the night in the 75th minute with Sinclair tallying late. The Canadian legend received a ball from Crystal Dunn in the box, and after controlling and creating space, fired it past Naeher.

The Red Stars would get one more past the Thorns in the 82nd minute via Allyson Schlegel.

Portland, still in control, would close out the game strong defensively. Earning three points on the road and reaffirming their grip on first place in the league in the process.

The Thorns return to Portland following a 2-1-0 record on their three-game roadtrip. They host Washington Spirit on Friday June 23, kickoff is scheduled for 7:30pm PT (TICKETS, Paramount+).

Notes:

• With today’s victory, Portland (6-2-4, 22pts) sits in second place in the NWSL standings. 
• Thorns FC closed out a three-game road swing where they picked up six of nine points (2-1-0). 
• Sophia Smith scored her seventh goal of the season and the 28^th of her NWSL career.
• Smith has the second most goals in the league this season, trailing only Kerolin (8).
• Smith has scored a goal in three straight matches for Thorns FC, notably all on the road (CHI, ORL, OLR). 
• Six of Smith’s seven goals have come in road matches in 2023. Over the last three seasons, Smith has the most road goals with 15 during that span.
• It marks the third time Smith has scored in at least three straight matches since the start of 2022. No other player in the league has more than one streak of three or more games with a goal in that time.
• Hina Sugita registered her third goal of the 2023 campaign.
• Christine Sinclair scored her third goal of the season.
• It marked the 62^nd goal of Sinclair’s NWSL career. 
• Sinclair has scored 17 goals against the Red Stars across all NWSL competitions, four more than any other player against any single opponent in league history.
• Natalia Kuikka tallied her second assist of the season. 
• Crystal Dunn registered her second assist of the 2023 campaign.
• It marked Dunn’s 24^th NWSL career assist. 
• Morgan Weaver recorded her third assist of the season. 
• Weaver has tallied an assist in three straight games (CHI, ORL, OLR).
• Weaver has recorded three assists in each of her three seasons with Portland (2023, 2022, 2021).
• Emily Menges made her 150^th NWSL regular season appearance for Thorns FC today. 
• Menges is the 23^rd player in league history to reach 150 matches, and just the sixth to do so all with one team. 
• Portland has five players with three or more goals this season (Smith - 7, Dunn - 5, Sinclair - 3, Weaver - 3, Sugita - 3), more than any other team in the league. 
• Notably, all five of those players contributed to goals in today’s match. 
• Thorns FC hold a 14-2-10 record over Chicago. The 24 games avoiding defeat are the most by any NWSL team against a single opponent, three more than any other fixture. 
• Portland is the only team in the NWSL to score in all of its regular season matches this year, tallying a league-best 29 goals in the 2023 campaign.
• Thorns FC have scored 16 first-half goals in 12 games this season, more than any other team in the NWSL.
• Portland has scored in 19 straight regular season matches on the road, the longest such streak in NWSL history.

Portland Thorns FC (6-2-4, 22pts) at Chicago Red Stars (3-8-1, 10pts)June 18, 2023 – SeatGeek Stadium (Bridgeview, Ill.)

Scoring Summary:
POR: Smith (Kuikka), 43
POR: Sugita (Weaver), 63
CHI: Stevens (penalty kick), 72
POR: Sinclair (Dunn),74
CHI: Schlegel (Bianchi), 82

Misconduct Summary:
POR: Sugita (caution), 29
CHI: St-Georges (caution), 58
POR: Bixby (caution), 65
POR: Hubly (caution), 79

Lineups:
POR: GK Bixby ©, D Kuikka, D Hubly, D Menges, D Klingenberg (Reyes, 62), M Coffey, M Sinclair © (Moultrie, 78), M Dunn, F Sugita, F Smith (D’Aquila, 78), F Weaver (Vasconcelos, 90+5)

Substitutes Not Used: GK Hogan, D McGrady, D Nally, M Porter, F Leon

TOTAL SHOTS: 21 (Smith, 6); SHOTS ON GOAL: 7 (Smith, 3); FOULS: 9 (Hubly, Sugita, 2); OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 5; SAVES: 4

CHI: GK Naeher, D Wright (Kowalski, 70), D Davidson, D Sharples (Aguilera, 76), D Milazzo, M Bianchi, M Roccaro, M Cook (Schlegel, 76), F Starke (Matthews, 71), F St-Georges, F Stevens

Substitutes Not Used: GK Wood, M Fisher, M Jones, M Malham, F Bike

TOTAL SHOTS: 15 (St-Georges, 6); SHOTS ON GOAL: 6 (St-Georges, 2); FOULS: 6 (Stevens, 3); OFFSIDES: 0; CORNER KICKS: 8; SAVES: 4

Referee: Anya Voigt
Assistant Referees: Baboucarr Jallow, Matthew Rodman
Fourth Official: Marie Durr
VAR: Geoff Gamble
Weather: Sunny, 80 degrees
Attendance: 3,655

All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial