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Yet Another HeartbreakerAfter Racing Louisville’s 2-2 draw against the Portland Thorns on Saturday night, defender Abby Erceg didn’t mince words.

“We don’t know how to win. I think it’s becoming quite obvious at the moment. It’s frustrating for the girls, we’re not losing, but drawing all these games won’t win you anything.”

Although Racing is still without a loss in their first three matches, this game against Portland certainly felt like one. It started brightly enough with Uchenna Kanu getting on the board not once, but twice in the first six minutes. This feat not only notched Racing their first-ever goals in Providence Park, it earned Kanu the quickest brace from kickoff in National Women’s Soccer League history.

Louisville’s hot start quickly cooled, however. Although they smothered Portland successfully in the first half, they gave up a goal early in the 52nd minute of the second to bring the Thorns back into the game. Then after scrambling to hold the lead, a heartbreaker of an equalizer was given up in the ninth of 10 minutes of stoppage time. A serious injury to centerback Elli Pikkujämsä in the 72nd minute certainly didn’t help Racing, but it can hardly be blamed for the loss of the lead.

This heartbreak is all too familiar for Racing Louisville players and fans. Giving up two-goal leads happened again and again and again last season and has now happened twice in two out of three matches in 2024. Hence, Erceg’s comments on not knowing how to win. How is it that Racing can fail so consistently in holding onto leads? The offense is clearly clicking, so is it the defense? Is it the many missing players? Are bad habits and old mindsets just this hard to break? Here’s a breakdown of everything in the match against the Thorns.

By the NumbersRacing Louisville and Portland ultimately had fairly even xG with Racing earning 1.35 and Portland 1.55. The Thorns drastically outshot Racing with 27 shots to Racing’s nine, but Portland only managed seven out of those 27 on target while Racing had four out of nine on-frame.

For the third game in a row, Louisville found themselves on the wrong end of the possession battle. This was their worst showing with only 39%. This match also featured their worst passing accuracy with only 70.2%. Interestingly, Racing also won zero corners in the whole match to Portland’s seven.

In terms of individual performances, this was the Uchenna Kanu Show all the way. In addition to her two goals, she won 7 out of 10 duels and won possession a team-high 13 times. She also won both her tackles and notched three interceptions showing just how well she played on both sides of the ball. Taylor Flint also seems to be growing into her role in the midfield more and more now that she’s moved high up the pitch. She led the team in touches (66) and passes (41) and won 12 out of 14 duels. She also won three out of three aerial duels (second only to Jaelin Howell who won four out of four) and won possession back 11 times. Speaking of Howell, she also won seven duels, won possession five times, and had five clearances.

In less good news, Reilyn Turner only had 18 touches in 71 minutes. This is not completely on her at all because she was left very isolated as the center forward while the rest of the team was stuck back playing defensively out of possession. Still, compared to the Houston Dash match, this is a stark difference and not a good one.

Key TakeawaysPinned Back AgainIf there’s anything Racing should know by now it’s that you can’t win on the back foot. It’s impossible to chase the ball and defend for 70-plus minutes every time you go up early in a match. If you let the opponent take control of the game and pepper you relentlessly, they’re almost certainly going to break through eventually.

In both their matches this season that started as two-goal leads and turned into 2-2 draws, their average positions tell a pretty stark story, as seen in the image below.

Passing matrixes showing average positions for Racing Louisville vs. Orlando Pride (March 13, 2024) and Racing Louisville vs. Portland Thorns (March 30, 2024) / Image courtesy StatsPerformOn the left, is the passing matrix from the Orlando Pride match. On the right is the one from Portland. The key point to note in both these charts is that only a single player spent the majority of their time outside of Racing’s half. A quick look at the possession numbers shows what happened. Racing simply did not have control of the ball and spent far too much time pinned back in their own half desperately trying to cling to the lead.

Mindset ResetWhy does this keep happening? Erceg said the team doesn’t know how to win and that’s true. They definitely need to work on keeping possession and controlling games, but it’s more than that. This team doesn’t seem to believe that they can win from these positions. If they go up too early, they fall into bad habits and get bombarded. This leads to preventable mistakes and the loss of a lead.

The team is never going to win if they don’t truly believe it. They’re also not going to win if they try too hard to hold onto a lead instead of actually winning a game. If that sounds contradictory, it’s not. There’s a subtle difference between clinging desperately to something and taking charge. Racing defaults into clinging desperately when they need to learn to take charge. Until they learn how to do this, they’ll never stop drawing.

In many ways, it would probably be better for Racing to start losing games. That might give them the fire they need to make the changes they need to pull out wins. As it stands, it’s far too easy to say, ‘We’re so close!’ when they’re clearly quite a distance away from figuring it out. It’s too easy to look at this game and say, ‘We scored our first goals in Portland!’ or ‘We earned our first point in Portland!’ and be content with that. This isn’t the time for contentment or saying it’ll be fine with a few small changes. Players and coaches can acknowledge these small achievements and still say this isn’t good enough. Complacency is the enemy of progress and Racing can’t be complacent with these small gains.

Kanu celebrates her goal in Portland / Image courtesy the NWSLKanu in ControlThe good news for Racing is that mentalities can not only change, they can change dramatically.

Last year, Uchenna Kanu was hailed as a major signing for Racing. She was lauded as the answer to many of the team’s offensive issues after having a standout season with Tigres in Liga MX. Unfortunately, she didn’t have a great year in the NWSL and failed to score a single goal in the entirety of the regular season and only a single goal in the Challenge Cup. As a result, this player that Racing fans had pinned their hopes on found herself mostly on the bench.

It’s clear Kanu lost her confidence and that can be an extremely hard thing to come back from without changing teams or even leagues. And yet, in 2024, Kanu has been entirely in control and is living up to everything Racing fans hoped from her last season. Three games in, she already has three goals and as the stats above show, she’s also putting in excellent defensive shifts as well and looking like one of Racing’s best all-around players this season.

When asked how this turnaround happened, Kanu said that playing in her favorite position helps. “I’ve always played from the left wing position the majority of my career, and I think just doing that this year has really helped me a lot to regain my confidence. And of course, the tactics that [head coach Bev Yanez] and [assistant coach Carmelina Moscato] and the rest of the crew have introduced to us. It’s really fantastic. I like it. And I’m just playing and enjoying myself.”

Just playing and enjoying herself is probably the biggest key. Yes, tactics help, but the fact that Kanu now has the confidence to be herself and play the way she feels most comfortable is what is ultimately leading to her success. She’s not overthinking. She’s not in her head. She’s just playing and absolutely killing it. This is what Racing is failing to do collectively. They play freely and dynamically and then as soon as they get too far ahead they start constricting in on themselves. Even if they put in solid defensive shifts for forty or fifty minutes, it starts wearing on them and mistakes start happening and they start bending under the pressure from the opponent.

Racing needs to find that joy and hold onto it. They also need to do the work that it takes to shift their collective mindset into believing they can win these matches. Last year, NJ/NY Gotham went all the way to the championship after ending the previous season in last place. Defender Ali Krieger said that it was in large part because the team bought into the fact that they were going from worst to first and no one was going to take that from them. Racing has enough talent that if they can just achieve a similar buy-in, they can also achieve great things. They jus thave to believe they can.

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The 12th annual Stand Together Week has now completed in Portland, marking a week of volunteering opportunities for the Portland

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Grit and FightHistory is being made left and right at Racing Louisville.

On the heels of a historic first win over the Portland Thorns last Saturday, Racing came on Wednesday to beat OL Reign for the first time and earn a place in the 2023 UKY Challenge Cup final. Not only was Wednesday’s 1-0 win over the Seattle side Louisville’s first-ever playoff victory, but it was also their first-ever playoff appearance (outside of the Women’s Cup which is only a friendly tournament and not sanctioned by any league.) Put another way, Racing had their biggest game in team history on Saturday against Portland and followed it up a few days later with their new biggest game in team history against Seattle. Talk about a great week for the young Louisville team — and a pretty abysmal one for the two powerhouses of the Pacific Northwest.

Louisville’s Elli Pikkujämsä summed up the win against OL Reign aptly when she said, “It was not the prettiest game, but it doesn’t matter.”

She’s right that the performance on the pitch could have been cleaner, but that hardly matters when the team got the three points it needed to advance. Ultimately, their single goal from Kirsten Davis was scored off a severe error by OL Reign defender Sam Hiatt who essentially passed the ball to Davis off of a free kick while Davis was standing at the top of Seattle’s box. Davis deftly knocked the ball out of the air, turned, and fired before the keeper or closest defender could react. Much of the rest of the match was spent defending furiously, but they were successful and kept their opponents off the board despite OL Reign subbing in major players like Megan Rapinoe, Jordan Huitema, and Jess Fishlock.

“We stuck together and put our bodies on the line to block shots and keep things out of the way,” said keeper Katie Lund of Racing’s defensive performance. “I couldn’t be happier for us or the way that we played. We’ve been through a lot and this just shows that we have the grit and the fight and that we can win in this league.”

Thanks to this win, Racing now heads to North Carolina on extremely short rest to take on the Courage this Saturday at 12:30 PM. Just making the final will give every play on the team a substantial monetary bonus, but winning it would see each player pocketing $13,400. Considering the minimum National Women’s Soccer League salary hovers around $40,000, this is a comparatively substantial sum.

When asked how the team would take on the Courage — yet another top team that Racing has yet to beat — head coach Kim Björkegren deadpanned that he’d have to sleep on it before he can dive into tactics, but he did say that he thinks his team is in the best position possible to slay another league giant.

“We really believe in ourselves right now,” said the coach. “We are fighting really hard, so I think it’s a good time for us to take North Carolina as well.”

No doubt about it… @kirstendavis22 earns tonight's @UKGInc Rising to the Challenge Moment! pic.twitter.com/OII51SqAJ8

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) September 7, 2023

By the NumbersFor the majority of the match, this was a pretty even game. The first half ended with Racing up a goal with 0.37 xG and OL Reign with 0.34 xG according to Opta. Racing also had the slightest edge in possession with 53% although a good portion of their possession didn’t involve much forward momentum.

In the second half, OL Reign found their footing as they began to sub in regular starters while Louisville instead mostly bunkered down. As a result, OL Reign earned 0.71 xG to Racing’s 0.25. In the final half of the game, Katie Lund faced nine shots although only one was on target compared to Racing only getting off two shots with none on target. OL Reing clearly gained more momentum as they also held onto 58% of the possession in the second half.

Neither team had particularly effective passing accuracy with Racing having only 71% and OL Reign just about 70% at full-time.

All in all, this data exemplifies Pikkujämsä’s comments that this was not a particularly pretty game for Racing, but it was enough to get the job done.

The team was a bit more impressive defensively, with Abby Erceg standing out. With the most knockout match experience of any player on the team (not to mention three championships, three shields, and defensive player of the year accolades) she held Racing’s defense together with 10 clearances — double the next closest player — and four aerial duels with two won. She also had the second most touches in the game and the highest passing accuracy (84%) of any starter on Racing.

Elli Pikkujämsä also had a standout match, which is even more impressive considering she was playing as the holding midfielder in Jaelin Howell’s absence instead of her usual center-back position. Pikkujämsä was involved in a whopping 24 duels and won 10 of them — more than any of her teammates in both categories.

Kirsten Davis celebrates with Savannah DeMelo after Davis’ goal / Image courtesy Taylor VincentLooking aheadRacing has a unique chance to slay three of the biggest giants in NWSL history in a single week. They’ve already chopped down the Thorns and overcome the deadlock against OL Reign and now they have the chance to knock out perpetual playoff contender and regular league shield and championship winner the North Carolina Courage.

The fact that Racing seems to have a pretty solid shot at accomplishing this feat is a remarkable turnaround for a club that’s struggled to develop a winning culture. In this season alone, they’ve given up two-goal leads three times — including twice to OL Reign. They also lead the league in draws with nine. This turnaround and then beat two huge teams in a span of days is a massive confidence booster for the young team. As someone who has been with Racing since day one, Lund says this team’s belief in themselves is what propelled them to finally earn these big victories.

“We’ve been up, we’ve been down,” said Lund, “but I truly believe this is the best team we’ve ever had. The belief is there. The support that we have is incredible and we felt that tonight.”

Racing has never beaten North Carolina in any of their previous eight meetings. After suffering through 3-0, 5-0, and 5-1 drubbings in past years, Racing has only lost each game this year by a single goal.

Also in Racing’s favor is the fact that they’ve done exceptionally well in tight schedules. The first time they played three games in 10 days or less this year they got their first-ever three-game winning streak across all competitions. The next time, they got one draw and two wins across all competitions.

Three games in eight days is an especially tight turnaround, though, especially when they’ve had to fly from coast to coast to do it. Even so, they should go into Saturday feeling confident in their chances and buoyed by the success they’ve had. They’ve already had their two biggest games in history in one week. Why not have a third?

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Heart and GritThe Portland Thorns gave Racing Lousiville a fat lip early on Saturday after a defensive lapse gave up a goal in only the sixth minute. Although they lost their footing for a bit, Racing came back swinging and scored two goals in four minutes in the second half to seal the win. First, Abby Erceg headed in a cross off of a corner from Wang Shuang in the 60th minute. Next, Thembi Kgatlana sent in a blast through traffic in the 64th minute off of an assist from Rebecca Holloway.

On the importance of this win, defender and goal scorer Ereceg said it was huge. “Everyone is desperate for points – the table is so close – so for the girls to show up the way they did today was unbelievable. It was at the right time, a huge performance. I haven’t seen us play with that much grit and heart. You can tell that the girls really want it.”

It’s not hyperbolic to call this the biggest win in Racing Louisville’s history. Not only did they beat the current number one team in the league for the first time in two-and-a-half years, but they also scored multiple goals against them for the first time, essentially dominated them, and did it without four key players and a critical back-up player. While Portland was definitely missing Sophia Smith and Becky Sauerbrunn, the fact Racing was without Savannah DeMelo, Jaelin Howell, Carson Pickett, Nadia Nadim, and Jordan Baggett should have arguably weakened them even more. But, instead, Racing came out and played with an immense amount of heart and grit, as Erceg said. And as a result, they’re well in the playoff running as well.

“It shows the potential–that we can beat all the teams in the league,” said head coach Kim Björkegren. “I think this is the first time Racing actually won against Portland so it shows we’re getting closer to the best teams and on a good day like this we can beat them.”

Playoff WatchIf their playoff chances seemed to be slipping away last week, they’re back in the running better than ever after this match.

Going into this match, Racing was in ninth place after Angel City’s win against Kansas City on Friday pushed them further down the standings. Racing has been calling their games must-wins for the past three weeks but only pulled draws, so it was easy to see all the ways this match could go wrong with so many key players out.

According to Erceg, who wore the captain’s armband with Howell out injured, the players knew this and came out ready to fight. “I said to them before we went out, ‘Our season is on the line. How many games do you want to play? It’s up to us.’ They came out and they showed up.”

As a result of this win, Racing at least temporarily goes up to a playoff berth in sixth place — the first time they’ve ever achieved a playoff position this late in the season. Unfortunately, there are no situations in which they won’t fall to seventh on Sunday, though with OL Reign playing the Orlando Pride. OL Reign goes into Sunday directly below Racing, equal to them in points with 24, with Racing only ahead via goal differential. Orlando is in ninth with 22 points. So no matter what happens, one team will go ahead. A draw or win will put OL Reign ahead and an OL Reign loss will put Orlando ahead.

With standings so close, the players aren’t sweating the fact their flirtation with playoffs will be brief this week. The fact that they proved they can get points off the top teams is what matters.

“Oh, that’s only temporary,” said Erceg of their current playoff position. “There are games tomorrow. It’s so close. You can’t think you’re in until the last game of the season. I think if you start counting your chickens too early it’s not gonna go your way. It’s way too close.”

.@wangshuang7 @abbyerceg pic.twitter.com/6LXNdPO0fu

— Racing Louisville FC (@RacingLouFC) September 3, 2023

By the NumbersThis was arguably Racing’s most dominant performance all season and, once again, the fact they managed this without four major players is stunning.

By the end of the first half, Racing had a jaw-dropping 18 shots with four on target. Their xG in just the first 45 was 1.35 which is higher than they managed in their entire match against Angel City. Conversely, by the end of the first half, Portland only had seven shots with two on target — and yet Portland was the team with the goal.

By the end of full time, Racing had 1.94 in xG with 26 shots and 9 on goal. This isn’t their highest xG of the season, but it’s close. Portland, in comparison, had 15 shots and four on target with an xG of 1.14.

Portland had a bit of an edge on possession with 54%. Defensively, however, the teams were surprisingly even. Both teams won essentially 50% of the duels, each won eight tackles, and each had 10 interceptions. These are good numbers for Racing considering Jaelin Howell and Savannah DeMelo were out.

As far as player standouts, Ary Borges had herself a game with the most touches of any player on either team (70), the most passes (50) and the most accurate passes (38) for Racing. She had the most duels of any player on either team (11) and won the most (8), too. And she also had the most tackles (4) of anyone on Racing and the most interceptions (3) of any player.

Offensively, Thembi Kgatlana was also a standout. She had eight shots with three on target. She also had double the touches inside the opposition’s box (12) than any other player on either team. She also had the most dribbles of any player.

Racing Louisville has now won 9 points from losing positions, more than any other team.

In a final cool, point, Racing had players from different global federations score and assist in every goal. Wang Shuang from the Asian Football Federation assisted Abby Erceg from the Oceania Football Federation and Rebecca Holloway from UEFA assisted Thembi Kgatlana from the Confederation of African Football. A lot has been made of how global Racing Louisville is and this game absolutely demonstrated that.

Checks watch

It's Thembi time @Kgatlanathe1st x #RacingLou pic.twitter.com/d0Rx0AJmCa

— Racing Louisville FC (@RacingLouFC) September 3, 2023

Key TakeawaysHistoric TerritoryHistorically, this is the most points Racing has ever had. This is also the fastest they’ve ever gotten to five games. In fact, Racing has never won more than five games in a season so they’re in great shape In 2021, they ended the season with 22 points in 24 games with a 5-12-7 record. In 2022, they ended the season with 23 points and a 5-9-8 record in 22 games. With four games left to play in 2023, Racing has 24 points and a 5-4-9 record across 18 games.

If San Diego wins today, they’ll move into first place but Racing will only be six points out of first place. If San Diego loses, the Thorns will remain in first and Racing will still only be six points out from first. That’s a remarkably good position to be in.

For the first two years, Racing’s poor performance in light of being an expansion team with extensive player and coaching turnover was more forgivable. In this third year, however, the time for those concessions has run out. So the fact that Racing is finally showing that they can be a dominant team that can beat the best in the league and they’re finally getting the points that show that, is exactly what fans need to see.

As bright as these changes are, however, there are still some issues that still can’t be ignored.

Can’t Quite Find the FinishIt’s hard to be critical in a game as huge as this one, but the fact of the matter is, this game could have easily been 5-1 in Racing’s favor. Especially in the early first half of the match, they had a plethora of chances that pinged off the crossbar or were just flat out missed. The forwards on Racing need to be more clinical if this team is going to continue to advance. A lack of finishing is the number one thing that has been holding this team back and even in this game it was a problem.

Luckily for Racing, their defense has been strong enough to earn them points even when the finishing isn’t there, but that’s not good enough. Those nine draws from earlier in the season are stinging a bit more as Racing remains on the cusp of playoffs without staying over the line. Just one win out of those nine draws — three of which Racing surrendered after going up by two goals — would have given them a strong chance to go into next week solidly in sixth. If they’d won all three of the draws where they surrendered their leads, they’d be in first place with 30 points. Yes, that’s right, first place.

Of course, giving up the leads isn’t totally an offensive problem but the bottom line is there have been plenty of games where Racing had more than enough chances to put games away and didn’t and that is continuing to haunt them. But if they’ve truly found their footing, maybe there’s still time to learn from their mistakes and continue to gain ground in the playoff race.

Looking AheadWhile most of the league goes into a two week break, Racing is one of four teams to advance to the Challenge Cup semifinals. On Wednesday, they take on OL Reign in Seattle for a chance to fight for their first-ever league hardware.

The fact Racing has made it to the semis and a big deal and OL Reign will be a tough opponent. In their two regular season matchups this year, OL Reign and Racing have played to two 2-2 draws and, in both games, OL Reign scored late goals to equalize and kill Racing’s lead. If there is ever a time to prove that they’ve learned from past mistakes and can hold onto wins it’s this match. In some ways, this semifinal is a chance for Racing to put some of these early season demons to rest and prove, as Saturday’s Thorns game did, that they’re capable of taking on and winning against any team in the league.

In better news for Racing, they’re certain to have DeMelo back. It’s hopeful that Howell, Nadim, and Baggett will also be available as well. Pickett seems a bit more uncertain, but just having the midfield back to the typical starters will be a huge boon for the team.

If Racing wins in Seattle, they will quickly advance to play either Kansas City in Kansas City or the Courage in North Carolina on Saturday. The team has made it clear that this year just making playoffs isn’t enough — they’re here to win. If they can show the same heart, grit, and belief in themselves that they did on Saturday, they will have a very good chance at bringing home their first hardware by this time next week.

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Racing Louisville’s match against the Portland Thorns on Saturday night couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start. By the second minute, the Thorns were already on the board, and Racing’s center-back Elli Pikkujämsä simultaneously went down with a non-contact hamstring injury and had to exit the match. Despite the rough start, Racing was able to play themselves back into the match before giving up a last-second goal during first-half stoppage time. Although Louisville would come back and play a solid second half, the damage was done and the match ended 2-0 and gave Racing their first loss after three consecutive draws to start the season.

“When you start like that – they scored a goal after two minutes – it’s really difficult to play against maybe the best team in the league away,” said coach Kim Björkegren. “It’s disappointing – we gave away some pieces in the game way too easy. I think really we had a chance today. I had a really good feeling. We had good energy in the group.”

As tough of a result as this game might have been, it was hardly a major full-team collapse. As a whole, the team played consistently, held decent possession, and regularly forced Portland into turnovers or earned corner kicks. Instead, this match was doomed by individual mistakes. Both Pikkujämsä and Wang Shuang gave up balls in dangerous areas which led to Portland’s goals. Neither Carson Pickett nor Jaelin Howell was able to get back and either mark Morgan Weaver when she scored the second goal or defend the back post. And, no midfielders came back to help. This left defenders outnumbered far too often and unable to contain Portland’s potent attack.

“It’s a hard lesson,” said defender Abby Erceg after the match. “We’re still learning how to win. We’re still learning how to play against these top teams.”

Abby Erceg and Carson Pickett talk with Katie Lund / Image courtesy Taylor VincentBy the NumbersThe last time Racing played Portland in Portland in September of 2022, they lost 0-3. Although Saturday’s match only had one less goal, the course of the matches was very different.

In almost every metric Racing has improved significantly. In 2022, Racing only had an xG of 0.31 and Portland 2.96. On Saturday, Racing had an xG of 0.83 compared to Portland’s 1.44. That’s significantly better. Although Portland was able to get 20 shots on Saturday only six were on target. Again, that’s much better than the 29 they had in 2022 with 14 on target. Racing, comparatively, had only seven shots with a single shot on target in 2022 but managed 12 on Saturday with four on target. That’s obviously not good enough, but it is an improvement.

These improvements are apparent elsewhere as well. Last season, Racing had 68% passing accuracy and 43% possession. On Saturday, they had 78% accuracy and 51% possession. Even if you can argue that Portland sat back to a degree and yielded some possession due to holding a lead, that at least means they felt threatened enough by Racing to do so. Last year, the Thorns absolutely dominated possession in the second half, never took their foot off the pedal, and held over 60% of possession in the second half.

During last week’s match against Angel City, Racing panicked in the second half when Angel City started pressing aggressively. They couldn’t figure out how to counteract that and couldn’t ever hold possession enough to earn corner kicks or set pieces. Racing did a much better job under an even more relentless press in the second half against Portland. In the second half against Angel City, they only earned a single corner kick, got off four crosses, and only won possession in the final third once. In the second half against Portland, they earned three corners, got 11 crosses off, and won possession in the final third five times.

In short, this loss to Portland wasn’t a dire loss. Racing absolutely needs to improve their offensive output. The team ranks 11th out of 12 teams in shots for target with 24 or six per 90 minutes. Still, with Uchenna Kanu, Nadia Nadim, and Thembi Kgatlana out with injuries, there’s still room for improvement as they begin to return.

Key TakeawaysHigh Risk, Not Always High RewardRacing wants to play an aggressive high press. This is a very high-risk/high-reward strategy which has been illustrated in Racing’s progress so far. They’ve scored incredible goals as a result of the press and quick transition, like Davis’ goal against Angel City last week. But this week, they gave up both goals in transition.

Racing needs to figure out how to defend better in transition or transition faster to make sure attackers get marked. Time after time against Portland, major players like Christine Sinclair or Crystal Dunn were left standing completely unmarked at the top of the box. Noticeably, no midfielders except Howell got back to help defend against the first goal despite the fact Ary Borges had been in-step with goal-scorer Sinclair further up the field when the ball was turned over. Racing’s defenders were outnumbered regularly so the midfield needs to get back and help with defense more if they’re going to be successful.

Image courtesy Taylor VincentA Tough RoadRacing has had a particularly hard schedule where they play four top-six teams in their first five games. In fact, NWSL Field of Vision rates Racing’s schedule as the second toughest in the league. In addition to playing the number one Thorns who were last year’s champions, they opened away in Houston and play number two OL Reign next week. Although the Spirit did poorly last season, they were champions in 2021 and so far 2022 seems to have been more of a fluke than the rule and they currently sit in fifth place.

2023 Schedule Difficulty Scores – Week 4

Houston have had the toughest schedule so far facing Portland and Washington in their first 4 matches. Despite this difficult beginning, they are in the top 6. pic.twitter.com/rrgmwaMIaT

— Field Of Vision (@Field0fVision) April 24, 2023

Racing has also been almost entirely on the road with three of their four games away. This not only takes away the home-field advantage, but it’s also exhausting. They were gone for the better part of 10 days for the Los Angeles to Portland stint.

This, of course, isn’t a complete excuse. They need to be able to win both home and away regardless of conditions. Even so, there’s no question this has been a particularly rough opening schedule for Racing and it can, hopefully, help toughen them up a bit as the season moves on.

Looking AheadRacing’s schedule won’t get any easier despite the fact they’re home for Saturday’s match. As mentioned, they’ll be playing last year’s shield winners OL Reign who are always a tough team to beat. Most recently, they beat Orlando 5-2, so their offense will punish you if you’re not on top of your game. Racing will have to clean up their transition because if Portland presses hard, OL Reign presses even harder.

Racing has never beaten OL Reign in the regular season, but they did draw them twice in 2022 and beat them 2-0 in the preseason. There’s no question that OL Reign will want to correct that so Racing should expect a very hard game. Hopefully, the anger over losing to Portland will fuel the team to correct their costly mistakes and put together a full, consistent match.

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In a preseason match that never feels like it’s only preseason; it was a tale of two halves Saturday night in Portland, with OL dominating the first half, and the Thorns launching a significantly more cohesive attack in the second half. The Reign still walked away with a 1-0 win thanks to the 18th minute goal by Jess Fishlock.

BoldTogether 18' Jess Fishlock goal + celebration. Reign ended the half up 1-0 against the Thorns pic.twitter.com/g7zATXbWEB

— Taylor Vincent (@tayvincent6) March 19, 2023

Portland Thorns TakeawaysThe first half of the match, the Reign was very much on the offensive. The Reign outshot the Thorns 7 to 3 in the first half. Portland was not taking the time to build up the attack and instead sending through balls behind the backline like Sophia Smith was on the pitch, she was not (out sick). Of the three shots, two were on frame, but right at Reign goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce, who handled them easily.

The first half defensively was not bad for the Thorns. Natalia Kuikka did a phenomenal job of containing Elyse Bennett on the Thorns right flank, and Sam Coffey held the center of the midfield down, limiting the influence of Rose Lavelle and forcing the Reign out wide for a majority of the match.

The second half, the Thorns made some great adjustments, head coach Mike Norris said after the match that it was less of a structural change and more the fact that the players started trusting each other on the ball and believing in one another.

Rocky RodriguezWhen Rocky Rodriguez and Crystal Dunn were subbed in midway through the second half, there was a noticeable pickup in the attack and Rodriguez had a few shots that were just wide of the goal. Portland finished the match with 10 shots, but was unable to find the netting to get the equalizer.

Of the match Norris said, “Disappointed with the results. Really, really happy with the second half, totally different performance. That’s probably what we want to be this year, and that’s what I told the group at the end… That is a second half that we’re proud of and that we’ll be looking to reproduce on a more consistent basis.”

Michele Vasconcelos and Rose LavelleOne big thing from the preseason tournament has been the emergence of Michele Vasconcelos up top for the Thorns. Vasconcelos signed with the Thorns in July 2022 as a national team replacement player and only played 14 minutes for the Thorns last year. After re-signing during the offseason, it appears Vasconcelos is going to play a big part in the Thorns attack. Norris spoke of Vasconcelos’s impact this preseason, “She’s looked more comfortable and settled… she’s had an impact, particularly in the tight [spaces], [she’s] a different type of wide forward.” It will be interesting to see how Vasconcelos’s role continues to evolve in the regular season.

The Thorns open the regular season on Sunday, March 26th against the Orlando Pride at Providence Park. With Seb Hines at the helm, the Pride have had quite an impressive preseason and it will be a good test for the Thorns.

OL Reign TakeawaysThe Reign came out on the attack in the first half, once again implementing their impressive high press led by Jordyn Huitema and Bethany Balcer. The persistence of the pressure caused some problems for the Portland defense, but OL was just unable to capitalize.

Jordyn HuitemaIn the second half, the Thorns definitely held more possession than in the first half, but to their credit, the Reign defense held up against the attacks and was able to close out the match with a clean sheet.

Emily Sonnett once again played the defensive midfielder for the Reign. When asked whether to expect Sonnett to be seen more in that position head coach Laura Harvey said, “[expect] multiple spots on the field for Sonnett… I think she adds something really different to our team. In fairness, I think everyone who’s competing with her in those spots has stepped up too, which is great. It just adds a different dimension to us.”

Shae HolmesAlthough they weren’t seen in the Portland game, the two draftees, Shae Holmes and Natalie Viggiano did see time during the tournament. On what she’s seen from them Harvey said, “I’ve worked with Shae a lot, and the best thing about her was after the game she was so devastated with the goals because she blamed herself for them. Immediately Alana and Lu and Pinoe and Jess, they’re all like, ‘no, you’ll learn from it. You wont do it again.’ Natalie as a fourth round draft pick just comes in… The growth she’s had throughout the preseason is exactly what you would hope for a rookie. Obviously in a World Cup year, having people like that around are gonna be really important for us in the summer, so we’ve got to develop them, [and] make them better. This tournament was a really good eye-opener from them of what it’s actually like to play in the league.”

Emily Sonnett and Crystal DunnThe Reign will head east next weekend to open up the regular season against the Washington Spirit at Audi field, Sunday, March 26th. With the amount of changeover for the Spirit roster, and the lack of depth in the Spirit backline, the Reign should have a good opportunity to bring home a win. It will also mark the return of Emily Sonnett to Audi Field for the first time since being traded to the Reign in January.

LineupsPOR: GK Bixby, D Kuikka, D Hubly, D Sauerbrunn (Menges, 46), D Klingenberg (Reyes, 83), M Coffey, M Moultrie (Rodríguez, 74), M Sinclair ©, F Sugita, F D’Aquila (Dunn, 62), F Weaver (Vasconcelos, 46)

OLR: GK Tullis-Joyce, D Huerta, D Cook, D Hiatt, D Barnes ©, M Sonnett, M Lavelle, M Fishlock (Stanton, 90+), F Balcer (Van der Jagt, 64), F Huitema (Latsko, 87), F Bennett (King, 46)

GalleryMore tournament coveragePortland Thorns vs. U23s recap

Portland Thorns vs. Racing Louisville recap

Racing Louisville vs. U23s recap

OL Reign vs. U23s recap

OL Reign vs. Racing Louisville recap

US Soccer release

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The United States U-23 squad fell 4-1 to the Portland Thorns on Wednesday evening.

In a surprising turn of events, the U-23s got on the board first in the 13th minute off a goal by Sarah Weber of Nebraska. They held that lead through the first half, but Portland began to sub in an increasing number of starters in the second half. Finally, in the 74th minute, Thorns’ draftee Izzy D’Aquila found an equalizer.

After that, it was the Thorns in the driver’s seat as they scored three more goals in just eight minutes. The ultimate game-winner came in the 84th minute via forward Sophia Smith, followed by another in the 90th by forward Morgan Weaver, and in the first minute of stoppage time, the final goal from Japan international Hina Sugita.

Izzy D’Aquila goal celebration – Image courtesy Taylor VincentPortland’s TakeawaysIt was obvious Portland wasn’t going to accept a loss to the U23s, so it’s not surprising they started bringing out the big guns around the 70th minute with Sophia Smith, Crystal Dunn, and Morgan Weaver clocking. Even so, it was rookie Izzy D’Aquila that ultimately broke through and put the Thorns on the board. The fact that D’Aquila had signed with Portland through 2025 with an option for 2026 had been announced only a few hours prior to the start of the match, so it’s definitely a good feeling for Thorns fans to know one of their newest players is already producing results.

Speaking of D’Aquila, she was subbed on in only the 20th minute due to a very worrisome injury to Canadian national team member Janine Beckie. In the 18th minute or so she attempted to toe-poke the ball away from a U-23 player but got her leg tangled. She was eventually stretchered off the pitch and was on crutches at the end of the match. This is an awful development for both the Thorns and the Canadian national team – especially in a World Cup year – but, hopefully, it’s not as serious as it immediately seems.

All in all, the Thorns are using this tournament to demonstrate that they’re the same championship-winning club as last year. Despite yet another off-season coaching change, they seem like they’re going to continue to be one of the more formidable teams in the league. The first goal was given up with almost no starters on the pitch. Their performance against Racing previously was also strong and if they failed to score earlier, that’s probably as much due to Racing’s improvement in the off-season as anything. The bottom line is that Portland was still able to pull out both these wins when they had to and that’s the sign of a team that’s going to continue to win throughout the regular season.

Sarah Weber – Image courtesy Taylor VincentU.S. U23’s Takeaways PreseasonREUltimately, the scoreline of this match makes the game seem rougher for the U23s than it was. They were able to score first on last year’s league champions (even if they were heavily rotated) and hold them off through three-quarters of the entire match. That’s a great accomplishment.

In addition to Weber who scored the goal, goalkeeper Ryan Campbell also had a very strong performance in goal and made some critical saves to keep her squad ahead as long as it was.

After losing to OL Reign 3-0 and now Portland 4-1, it’ll be interesting to see if they’re able to rally and make additional progress against Racing Louisville. Even if they don’t win against Racing, scoring more than one goal and/or holding a lead for a substantial period of time would be a sign of success. Unlike the NWSL teams, the U23s don’t play together consistently at all, so even the heavily rotated NWSL squads have more time to build chemistry together than the U23s. It’s also worth noting that none of the players who might regularly be called into the U23 squad from NWSL teams were eligible for this tournament. So there was no Emily Madril or Tarryn Torres to round them out. Therefore, the fact they were able to put together strong games at all is a positive sign for their future success.

LineupsUSA U-23: 1-Ryan Campbell; 9-Quincy McMahon (10-Ayo Oke, 68), 19-Eva Gaetino (8-Lauren Flynn, 46), 20-Talia Staude (Capt.), 6-Kate Wiesner (15-Peyton Linnehan 74); 17-Sarah Weber (11-Jillian Shimkin, 57), 22-Annie Karich (21-Sunshine Fontes 46), 18-Felicia Knox (16-Lexi Missimo 68); 24-Brittany Raphino (3-Reilyn Turner,46), 13-Taylor Huff (7-Ellie Wheeler, 46), 2-Avery Patterson (14-Simone Jackson, 68)

Subs not used: 12-Neeku Purcell

Head Coach: Margueritte Aosaza

Portland Thorns: 18-Shelby Hogan; 45-Natalie Beckman (14-Natalia Kuikka, 62), 44-Gabby Provenzano, 5-Emily Menges, 39-Meaghan Nally (2-Reyna Reyes, 72); 46-Taylor Porter (9-Sophia Smith, 72), 11-Rocky Rodriguez (17-Sam Coffey, 62), 12-Christine Sinclair (Capt.) (19-Crystal Dunn, 71); 16-Janine Beckie (24-Izzy D’Aquila, 20), 33-Hannah Betfort (22-Morgan Weaver, 72), 15-Michele Vasconcelos (8-Hina Sugita, 46)

Subs not used: 1-Bella Bixby, 4-Becky Sauerbrunn, 13-Olivia Moultrie, 20-Kelli Hubly, 25-Meghan Klingenberg

Head Coach: Mike Norris

Next MatchesBoth teams are back on Saturday, March 18th when Racing will take on the U.S. U-23s at 8 PM ET /5 pm PT while OL Reign will play the Portland Thorns at 10:30 PM ET /7:30 pm PT. Preseason

Tournament Schedule

GalleryAll photos courtesy of Taylor Vincent

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It was a blustery Sunday night in Portland as the Thorns and Racing faced off in a hard fought preseason match. A headed ball by Portland’s Meaghan Nally in the 87th minute was the decider in this close 1-nil matchup.

There were lots of new faces on the Racing side compared to their starting lineup the last time they played Portland in 2022 including: Carson Pickett, Abby Erceg, Elli Pikkujämsä, Ary Borges, Paige Monaghan, and Wang Shuang. The Portland starting 11 included all returning players from last year’s squad.

Racing’s TakeawaysPortland came out aggressive in the first half, with six shots to Racing’s one, but were unable to make the solid connection to find the netting, mostly due to the apt defense by centerback due Abby Erceg and Elli Pikkujämsä. Of the duo, Racing head coach Kim Björkegren said, “Abby, she’s a leader that we need there, Elli is still young and [this] is the first year for her in this league. It goes a bit quicker with all the transition here. She missed it once when Smith was alone with the goalkeeper, but overall she did good as well.”

Abby Erceg heads away a pass trying to find Sophia Smith. Taylor VincentRacing had more corners than Portland in the first half and likely more crosses, but were unable to get that final touch in the box to redirect on frame. “Both Carson [Pickett] and Lauren Milliet, they’re doing a fantastic game, top quality outside the box by both of them,” said Björkegren after the match. “We had many crosses inside of the box, again, we need to be a little bit more hungry inside it. We need to take the opportunity that is there inside the box. We maybe had five, six half chances and you need to take one of those to have a point or have a chance to win.”

Katie Lund coming up with the block, she would go on to kick clear the ball from this position on the ground. Taylor VincentLouisville goalkeeper Katie Lund had quite a few saves to keep them in the match including a one-on-one in the first half, a kick clearance while half on the ground, and a diving save in the final ten minutes. Björkegren called Lund’s diving save as “World Class.” “She’s great, and the funny thing with her, she still has a much higher potential because there are more things to learn … In three, four, years, I don’t know how good she will be because in my opinion she’s already now one of the best goalkeepers in the league.

Portland’s TakeawaysWith a team largely similar to last year’s championship roster, Portland had fewer questions heading into the preseason in terms of team cohesion, shape, and player’s positional responsibilities compared to Racing.

Michele Vasconcelos dribbles toward the box. Taylor VincentThe biggest surprise for Portland fans was Michele Vasconcelos in the starting lineup as a forward. Vasconcelos was a free agent during the offseason and re-signed with Portland on January 27th but a he only saw 14 regular season minutes last season with the Thorns. She had some good moments of pressure in the first half and definitely dropped back at times to help defensively.

Penalty kick to Portland is overturned with VAR. Taylor VincentNWSL VAR made it’s Providence Park debut in the first half, when a called penalty kick off a foul on Sophia Smith in the box was called back after video review. From the video replay in the stadium it looked like there was definite contact coming from more than one Racing player, but the replay must’ve shown the referee something else to overturn the call on the field. Compared to the Angel City use of VAR which was quick and painless, there was a lot of waiting around, and then just when you thought that the referee was going to say take it, then he went to the video board and started watching replays. Hopefully, the quickness is something that is addressed sooner rather than later.

Portland head coach Mike Norris spoke to press after the match on his overall thoughts of the performance, “[I’m] a bit frustrated. To be honest, we struggled defensively just to deal with their midfield movement. Probably took longer than ideally to fix that… Much happier with [the] second half. We just never got close to them defensively how we wanted to, but we felt that we did much better.”

Izzy D’Aquila makes her preseason debut for the Thorns. Taylor VincentIn the 62nd minute, Izzy D’Aquila entered the match, and made her preseason debut for the Thorns. The forward was the 12th overall draft pick in the 2023 NWSL draft, and was quite impactful the entire time she was on the pitch. Norris spoke of her performance, “Izzy’s a threat, she’s a fighter, she’s a fighter, she puts everything out there. She’s got great habits in the box.”

Meaghan Nally’s 87th minute game-winning header. Taylor VincentThe 87th minute goal came from a set piece for the Thorns. The corner kick went long aiming for the head of Kelli Hubly who was waiting just past the goal. Hubly headed the ball back into the chaos in front of goal, where Meaghan Nally got her head on it and sent it right between the goalkeeper and the defender marking that near post.

LineupsRacing Louisville (4-3-3): 1 – Katie Lund; 16 – Carson Pickett, 20 – Abby Erceg, 4 – Elli Pikkujämsä (56’ 25 – Rebecca Holloway), 2 – Lauren Milliet; 6 – Jaelin Howell (c), 7 – Savannah DeMelo, 8 – Ary Borges (64’ 9 – Kayla Fischer); 5 – Paige Monaghan (64’ 14 – Jess McDonald), 22 – Kirsten Davis (85’ 21 – Parker Goins), 77 – Wang Shuang (64’ 27 – Alex Chidiac)

Portland Thorns (4-3-3): Bella Bixby (c); 25 – Meghan Klingenburg (72’ 45 – Natalie Beckman), 5 – Emily Menges (46’ 44 – Gabby Provenzano), 20 – Kelly Hubly, 14 – Natalie Kuikka (62’ 39 – Meaghan Nally); 17 – Sam Coffey (72’ 46 – Taylor Porter) 11 – Rocky Rodriguez (62’ 12 – Christine Sinclair), 13 – Olivia Moultrie; 8 – Hina Sugita (72’ 33 – Hannah Betfort), 9 – Sophia Smith (62’ Izzy D’Aquila), 15 – Michele Vasconcelos (62’ 16 – Janine Beckie)

Next MatchesRacing will take on the OL Reign Wednesday March 15th at 5pm PT while Portland plays the USWNT U23’s at 7:30pm PT.

Tournament Schedule

GalleryPortland Thorns pre-tournament look

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Stopped by the Portland Thorns practice on Friday as the team preps for their preseason tournament which kicks-off on Sunday, March 12th and quickly talked to head coach Mike Norris.

The Thorns had a closed-door scrimmage against Washington State March 5th, of which head coach Mike Norris said, “Spent quite a bit of time in the attacking moment of the game. Probably would’ve been good to spend a bit more defending time, but it was a good run out. We got some people, some good minutes, got everybody on the field. Happy with the technicality.”

As far as injuries for the Thorns, Sophia Smith was practicing fully today. Reyna Reyes is in her return to play, and is touch and go for playing at the backend of the tournament. Lauren DeBeau picked up an injury on Tuesday, which shouldn’t keep her out too long. Tegan McGrady will miss the tournament and likely the season opener (the Thorns are hosting the Orlando Pride, March 26th).

The big goal for the Thorns over the tournament is to build through gaining minutes for players. The snowstorm that hit Portland a few weeks ago did cause the team to have to cancel a closed-door exhibition.

2023 Thorns Preseason Tournament ScheduleSunday, March 12OL Reign vs. U.S. U-23 WNT at 2:30 pm PT
Thorns FC vs. Louisville at 5 pm PT

Wednesday, March 15Louisville vs. OL Reign at 5 pm PT
Thorns FC vs. U.S. U-23 WNT at 7:30 pm PT

Saturday, March 18U.S. U-23 WNT vs. Louisville at 5 pm PT
Thorns FC vs. OL Reign at 7:30 pm PT

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2023 NWSL Draft Discussion – Portland ThornsAfter the massive trade that saw Yazmeen Ryan traded in a four-team deal, Portland acquired the #5 overall pick from Angel City.

Newly appointed Head Coach Mike Norris and second-year General Manager Karina Leblanc head into today’s draft with 5 selections: 5,12, 24, 36, 48.

With the Portland Thorns being one of the teams most effected by the Women’s World Cup, they are in need of depth.

Each NWSL team has made big trades and signings to overtake the reigning champions. Leblanc will need a strong draft to replenish their talent.

This NWSL draft has over 250 registered players available for selection, and is the deepest draft in the league’s history. There will be players who are drafted late, or go undrafted that will be absolute steals for teams.

In this draft, but particularly the first round, the Portland Thorns need immediate contributors as they are in their championship window.

5 Players to consider with Portland’s #5 pick (in no particular order) Jenna Nighswonger, MF, FSU*
The 2022 MAC Hermann Trophy Finalist led Florida State to the championship in 2021, and a final four appearance this year. Nighswonger is a magician with the ball and a world class creator. She constantly picks out passes that find her teammates for goals, and is dangerous as a finisher too. She is projected to be picked in the top 5.

Finito.

Just two players from the last update made the final Big Board Top 60:

1. Jenna Nighswonger
2. Erin Healy

— Chris Henderson (@chris_awk) January 11, 2023

• Penelope Hocking, FW, Penn State
  Before heading to Penn State, she broke the record for most goals at USC, which stood for 21 years. She led the Nittany Lions to a Sweet 16 appearance in the NCAA tournament. Hocking’s collegiate dominance is unheard of which consisted of 61 goals and 33 assists.
  She is able to play across the frontline. Her consistency makes her a perfect fit for any team and there aren’t more players who command the attention that she does. There aren’t any glaring weaknesses to her game. Hocking is a top player on each team’s draft board. “2022-2023 @NWSL Draft-Midfield Assist & xA”

Penelope Hocking (11 A, 8 xA, 23 MP)
Michelle Cooper (11 A, 5.4 xA, 22 MP)
*Riley Tanner (8 A, 10 xA, 27 MP)

Final Registrants “https://t.co/a6F5j74E9I…”
Horizontal view is best on phone.

More info #nwsldraft2023 pic.twitter.com/hpvw7ablqW

— Devin Zvosec (He/Him/His) (@CoachZvosec) January 11, 2023

• Emily Madril, DF, NWSL/BK Häcken FF
  Madril opted to forgo her remaining year of eligibility to sign with the NWSL and play a year with BK Häcken FF in Sweden. Her ability to anchor a defense is second to none. She led a FSU defense near the top in least goals allowed. Madril’s ability to dribble, attack, and read the game makes her the top CB on every team’s draft board. She will go in the top 5 of the draft with her floor being #4 to Racing Louisville. Here is Emily Madril subbing in and scoring on her first touch of the game, resulting in her first professional goal! Super excited and happy for you, ⁦@emilymadril⁩! #damallsvenskan #bkhäcken pic.twitter.com/QCFC80RxXg

— LO Monaghan (@LO_Monaghan) October 31, 2022

• Reyna Reyes, LB, Alabama
  The Mexico Women’s National Team has found their left back for the next decade in Reyes. In today’s modern game, she can do it all: superb defender, passer, and attacker. This season for the Alabama Crimson Tide, she scored 8 goals with an assist, and led her team to the NCAA Final Four. Reyes is dangerous on set pieces and in front of goal. Could be the best LB available in the NWSL draft ever. Reyna Reyes could go as high #3 to Orlando. ATX's Jimena Lopez and Garland's Reyna Reyes start for Mexico vs USWNT! #ElTriEng #TexasYouthSoccer

Yes, that's right Texas. This is your teamhttps://t.co/Pa9iLj4dh5 https://t.co/RzgjHKQWYZ

— Theo Lloyd-Hughes (@theolloydhughes) July 5, 2021

• Izzy D’Aquila, FW, Santa ClaraD’Aquila is one of the best pure goal scorers available in this draft. She came up huge for the Santa Clara Broncos on countless occasions. Her ability to come up clutch makes her one of the best players in the draft. She scored 50 goals and recorded 16 assists in 78 career games; with 19 goals and 5 assists this past season representing her career highs, respectively. There aren’t many that can score in the variety of ways, she can. In any other year, she would be a lock for the top 3, but in this deep class, her draft range will be top 3-12.

BRONCOS ARE CHAMPIONS ONCE AGAIN!@SCUWomensSoccer Izzy D'Aquila nails her PK defeating @FSUSoccer for the National Championship Title!#CollegeCup pic.twitter.com/RnYRdT3kyG

— NCAA Soccer (@NCAASoccer) May 18, 2021

Best Fit: Reyna Reyes

Likely Pick: Jenna Nighswonger

Highest Ceiling/Potential: Izzy D’Aquila

Could one of them drop to Portland’s first round pick at #12? Yes, but not likely.

Final Important Notes:– This Draft will truly begin when the Orlando Pride is on the clock at #3 overall. They could go several directions that will have ripple effects the rest of the first round.

BREAKING: Sources have confirmed to @equalizersoccer that Racing Louisville has traded the 4th overall pick to Gotham FC in exchange for Paige Monaghan, $150k, and a 2023 international slot. #NWSL #nwsldraft

— Bekki Morgan (@bekki_morgan) January 12, 2023

– Racing Louisville traded the #4 pick to Gotham for Paige Monaghan and $150k in allocation money. RL has been a lock to take Madril at that pick if they thought she would be available. It looks like she’ll be going top 3. The post 5 Players for Portland Thorns: 2023 Draft Discussion appeared first on Beautiful Game Network.

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2022 NWSL ChampionshipIn the 2022 NWSL Championship, Portland Thorns and Kansas City Current face off in this winner takes all final.

Audi Field is expected to have a near sellout crowd which will make this atmosphere raucous and memorable.

Jessica Berman confirms that the #NWSL Championship is 1,000 tickets away from being sold out.

Audi Field has a 20,000 stadium seating capacity.

— womenkickballs (@womenkickballs) October 28, 2022

Path to NWSL FinalKansas City

• Quarterfinals: @Houston Dash 2-1
• Semi-finals: @OL Reign 2-0

Portland

• Quarterfinals: #2 Seed (Bye)
• Semi-finals: vs San Diego Wave 2-1

Previous Meetings

• 4-30: Portland vs Kansas City 3-0
• 9-18: Portland @ Kansas City 1-1

Projected Starting XIsPortland

• Could we see Janine Beckie or Christine Sinclair start?
  • Thorns will likely stick with this lineup in order to maximize speed to stop the Current’s counterattack.

Leave it all on the field today

Let’s do this Rose City! #BAONPDX pic.twitter.com/nSE7YyIJ61

— Portland Thorns FC (@ThornsFC) October 23, 2022

Kansas City: No changes expected

Our Semi Starting XI #CurrentRising | #RGNvKC pic.twitter.com/bWB8n3p9iv

— KC Current (@thekccurrent) October 23, 2022

Advantage:Defense: Tie

• Backline – Thorns: Portland have a solid backline led by 2nd team NWSL Best XI, Becky Sauerbrunn and Kelli Hubly.
  • Portland’s backline has only conceded 24 goals which is 3rd best in the league.
  • Kansas City’s backline has conceded 29 goals which is 7th best in the league.
• Goalkeeper – Current: AD Franch was selected on the 2nd team NWSL Best XI and was 2nd in saves.
  • Bella Bixby is tied for the league lead in clean sheets and 2nd in GAA (goals against average).

Midfield: Portland

• Thorns are led by the trio of Sam Coffey (1st team NWSL Best XI), Rocky Rodriquez, and Hina Sugita.
• Current are led by superstar Lo’eau LaBonta, a 1st team NWSL Best XI selection and one of the most underrated players in NWSL.
  • Kansas City lost key contributor Claire Lavogez due to injury.
  • Desiree Scott does a ton of work that goes unrecognized and is not listed in the box score

Attack: Portland

• Portland led the league in goals scored with 49 and goal differential of +25.
  • Thorns had 14 different goal scorers
    • 4 players had 5 goals or more (Smith, Weaver, Sinclair, Sugita)
  • Yazmeen Ryan is third in NWSL with 5 assists.
• Sophia Smith was named NWSL MVP after having a career year with 14 goals and 3 assists.
  • Smith also has 10 goals with the USWNT this year.
• Kansas City are led by Cece Kizer, Lo’eau LaBonta, and Kristin Hamilton
  • This trio combined for over 20 goals
  • Current scored 29 goals which is 7th most in NWSL
  • Against Houston Dash and OL Reign, KC scored 2 goals each.

Coaching: Tie

• Rhian Wilkinson reshaped Portland’s midfield and turned it into the league’s best.
  • Rotated lineups to keep players fresh for the duration of the season
  • Led Thorns to most goals scored and best goal differential in club history
  • Team had unbeaten streak of 11 in regular season
• Matt Potter was nominated for coach of the year for Kansas City
  • Led a team that finished last in NWSL last year to 5th
  • Team had league best unbeaten streak of 13 in regular season

Players to Watch Sophia Smith: The NWSL MVP has scored over 20 goals this year for club and country. + There is no defender on Kansas City that can contain her. - They’ll have to put multiple defenders on her which will open it up for Weaver, Ryan, and the rest of the team. * Morgan Weaver: Every team needs a player who works their tail off each game and willing to do whatever it takes to win. + She was second on the team with 7 goals. * Sam Coffey: In her rookie year, she was called up to the USWNT, a ROY finalist, and selected to NWSL Best XI while playing a secondary position. + Kansas City Current are willing to concede position as they have speed all over the pitch. + Coffey will need to control the tempo while tracking back to snuff out their attacks. * Lo’eau LaBonta: Enjoying a career year with 7 goals and 4 assists. + Has yet to miss a penalty kick when called upon this year + Tied for 5th in NWSL in assists * Hailie Mace: The former #2 overall pick has been brilliant for the Current + Mace had 4 goals and 2 assists + One of the best attacking defenders in the league * Officiating:* + The Current have been awarded the most penalties in NWSL

PredictionPortland Thorns: 2-0

Goals: Sophia Smith, Hina Sugita
Assists: Morgan Weaver, Yazmeen Ryan

Elite Bench:
Portland has the best options off the bench in NWSL history and it will come into play once again
Head Coach Rhian Wilkinson has the option to bring Janine Beckie, Crystal Dunn, Christine Sinclair, Emily Menges, Tegan McGrady and Olivia Moultrie off the bench. That is an abundant of riches that allows her to wear out the defense of KC.

DK Sportsbook Odds:

• Portland Thorns -120
• KC Current +275

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Portland Thorns – A True Team Sports has the ability to heal and bring people together. It can make you

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Portland Thorns Hold First Press Conference Since Sally Yates Report If you’ve seen the Portland Thorns in the headlines the

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“We Can Only Go Up” After beating the Orlando Pride last Friday, Racing Louisville headed west for their final road

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“An Unfortunate Result” Racing Louisville’s winless streak extended to seven when they were edged out 2-1 by the Portland Thorns

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In episode #330 of the Mixxed Zone, Jen “The Keeper” Cooper tries to process the breakdown of NWSL that began

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It was a disappointing night for Racing Louisville as they fell to the visiting Portland Thorns 0-2 on Saturday night.

The post Disappointing Night: Racing Louisville falls 0-2 to the Portland Thorns appeared first on Beautiful Game Network.

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For Racing Louisville’s players, the opening of the club’s new 30,000 square foot training center is more than just a

The post Promises Kept: Racing Louisville Raises the Bar with Their New Training Center appeared first on Beautiful Game Network.

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Racing Louisville fell 0-3 to the Portland Thorns at Providence Park on Saturday. While it’s not the outcome Racing wanted,

The post Baby Steps: Racing Louisville v Portland Thorns Recap – June 6, 2021 appeared first on Beautiful Game Network.

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Match Details Who: Portland Thorns (2-2-0) hosts Racing Louisville (1-1-1) When: Saturday, June 5 at 10:30 PM ET Where: Providence

The post Racing Louisville vs. Portland Thorns Preview – June 5, 2021 appeared first on Beautiful Game Network.

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Marissa Everett’s professional career began in 2019 when she was signed by the Portland Thorns as a national team replacement

The post Marissa Everett’s development is guided by belief in herself and from her teammates appeared first on Beautiful Game Network.

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In episode #324 of the Mixxed Zone, Jen “The Keeper” Cooper talks with longtime Equalizer Soccer contributor Dan Lauletta about the

The post NWSL Season #9 appeared first on Beautiful Game Network.

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In episode #323 of the Mixxed Zone, Jen “The Keeper” Cooper talks with Equalizer Soccer founder and managing editor Jeff

The post The Challenge Cup Finale appeared first on Beautiful Game Network.

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In episode #320 of the Mixxed Zone, Jen “The Keeper” Cooper catches up with two NWSL reporters about their respective

The post NWSL Northwest appeared first on Beautiful Game Network.