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Conversation: Nikita Taparia Talks Tennis with Gabby Seiler

Photo by Nikita Taparia

Seattle-based photographer and Rose City Review contributor Nikita Taparia has something in common with Thorns midfielder Gabby Seiler: they’re both huge tennis fans. Taparia sat down (via Zoom) with Seiler for a wide-ranging conversation touching on female athletes, tennis fashion, and the similarities between the two sports. The conversation below has been edited for length and clarity; the full audio is available on our Patreon for $10 subscribers.

Nikita Taparia: What is your tennis origin story? Like, how did you become a fan, and at this point, how hardcore do you think you are?

Gabby Seiler: So, it actually started with my boyfriend. He played tennis at Florida, and I met him at Florida, and I remember going to my first tennis match and being like, what the hell is going on? I knew absolutely nothing, and I never watched tennis growing up. So I went to my boyfriend’s, McClain’s, tennis match at Florida, and I was just like flabbergasted, like I was obsessed. I would go to his tennis tournaments or his matches. I just started to love it, and then I started watching majors.

NT: Do you have a favorite player that you absolutely love watching? 

GS: So since I started playing tennis, I think the player that I would like to play like is probably someone who mimics me too, kind of on the soccer field, is [Angie] Kerber. 

NT: Ooh, yes!

GS: We have similar body types, and I feel like she’s super powerful, muscular, and she’s super quick, agile, athletic, can kind of cover all the bases on the court. Obviously, I love Serena. I mean, how can you not? She’s an absolute legend and I mean, she’s amazing. Those two are probably my favorite players. Obviously, Osaka is really talented and so fun to watch, and she’s amazing. I feel like there’s just a lot of women that I just love to watch.

NT: I’m right there with you. So of those players and of women’s tennis, if you could take one attribute from them, like strength, or flexibility, or mentality, or endurance, or whatever, and use it towards soccer, what would it be?

GS: Honestly, so I never was the biggest fan of Azarenka—like she’s amazing, but I didn’t really know her that well since I’m new to tennis—so once I knew her background, and hearing her story, I think she has a really cool story. I really like her energy. I think she has this mentality about her, and like, nothing really phases her and she stays really composed. I said that to McClain, and he said, Gabby, you haven’t seen her in previous matches. 

NT: Yeah, I feel like there definitely has been an evolution in her game. 

GS: And one thing I really like is how calm Osaka is, like even in the final, I was really amazed with her composure, and I think with soccer you need that. And I think, for me, I have a lot of energy, but I think adding that composure and just being able to settle things down, or just like not let things affect you, is really amazing and kind of compartmentalized.

Photo by Nikita Taparia

NT: Yeah, we saw that on the women’s side for the US Open, where it was first Vika who was coming back after that first set [against Serena], and then we saw Naomi do literally the same scoreline to Vika, but it was this idea that, I think she literally said, I didn’t want to lose this way. It was like a switch that turned on all of a sudden. 

GS: Yeah, and I think that’s so cool, and I really appreciate that. What was cool about Vika is that she went straight to play the next tournament like nothing [happened], and she was absolutely crushing it. I think that’s so cool!

I think I have grown to like her and kind of root for her, just from hearing her story. And I think whenever you hear someone’s background and story, it kind of changes, too. I think that’s the cool thing about tennis in the sense of, it’s not a team sport, so everyone has this really unique story. 

NT: You are hitting it right on the nail. I feel like in the beginning, I was pretty equal in my watching of men’s and women’s tennis, but over the years, I have very much gravitated towards women’s tennis because I just love the way all of them play. They all have their different styles, strategies, and whatnot. And I mean, that’s not to say that the men’s side doesn’t have that, but—I don’t know, I just haven’t had as much inspiration. 

GS: Yeah, I agree with you, and I think we can kind of relate to them a little bit more. I just have so much respect for them. I have respect, you know, for the fact that they get paid the same and things like that. I just think that’s cool for the women who did that before them, so that they have what they have now. I think for me too, I just relate to their stories, like you said. Not that I don’t really like the men’s—I just feel more connected to it.

And you know, sorry, but females also have babies! So I have a lot of respect for people like Serena, and girls who are moms, and Vika. I think that’s so cool, and I can’t even imagine what’s that like, but even for soccer players who do that, that is actually amazing. And those women are superheroes.

NT: Absolutely. I feel like we’ve been gravitating towards this: on the women’s side of the game, what lessons do you think NWSL can learn from tennis?

GS: Ooh, that’s a good question! I think that something we can learn from tennis is obviously what Billie Jean King did—she took a huge risk, and that’s definitely not easy, and she kept pushing for more and pushing for more. I think like we as women shouldn’t have to do that, but I think we keep having to do the same, whether that’s us supporting the WNBA, or whether that’s the WNBA supporting NWSL.

I just think we have a unique opportunity as females and as athletes to use our platform, and I think even like, what Osaka did in the US Open, I think that’s something we can all continue to learn from. I think that NWSL’s definitely getting there. I know at least on our team, we’re having those conversations and we’re trying to push for more. But I think there’s always room for improvement.

And then secondly, I think we as players, the thing I love about tennis is I feel like all those women are so unique and they use their strengths, and I think sometimes when you’re on a team you can become a little bit monotonous, or kind of be a robot. I think we all have unique abilities, and I think the more that we can bring that to the women’s game and  show those unique qualities in games, it’ll make the women’s game more fun.

NT: Yeah, for me that’s a number one thing, and it’s interesting because I think on my side, as a photographer, I start to kind of pick up on habits of players while they’re playing. Like I was having this discussion earlier about how I’ve noticed how players run.

GS: Oh, yeah, I believe it!

NT: Literally how they run. And in terms of, because I photograph it so often, and I edit it so often that I’ve picked up on how they run and when they’ll run where. And I think, again, that uniqueness does come out, but, yeah, I’m all for everybody doing whatever trick shots you want to do, any tricks you want to pull off!

GS: Yes, it’s true! No, I think one thing that I know like, our coaches try to—they want you to do, obviously, what’s best for the team, but we obviously are all here for a unique reason and we all have different strengths, and I think like, you want to try to bring those out too within the team environment. Even today when we were watching the Reign game, when Sofia Huerta let it go through her legs for Bethany [Balcer]. I think the more we can do things like that—because the women’s game is really fun to watch, and I think people don’t realize that, because, one, it’s not on TV, but. I think the more we can do that, the better, and the more people will want to watch.

NT: One aspect that I often think about as a tennis fan, and it’s part of football culture as well, is fashion is a big thing. I’m wondering, are there any particular tennis looks that you’ve started to notice and that you’ve liked?

Photo provided by Gabby Seiler

GS: Yeah! I, one, fell in love with tennis because of my boyfriend, but then, the outfits are really what drew me in. Because I love the cute tennis skirt, the cute tennis dress. You know, there’s been some unique ones. The US Open ones, I didn’t particularly love them this year. I think you have to find a balance, but I’m also not into, I know it’s been a tradition and I think it’s kind of cool, but—

NT: The white?

GS: Yes. The whole white thing. I don’t know, I personally like the uniqueness too. But I’m trying to think—I don’t know how you feel about Sharapova, but I do kind of like her outfits. I actually really liked Serena’s US Open outfit. But I think I definitely like the dresses. I wore one once for tennis and it’s so comfortable and so great. But I think the cool thing about tennis is they’re all unique and all different, and you can kind of show your fashion sense through whatever brand you’re wearing.

I love team sports, but I love the individuality within tennis, you know? Obviously there’s a lot of pros to team sports, too, like I have a million best friends.

NT: I also think individuality, we see this in the WNBA, where they’ll have different shoes on, and a lot of it is because they want to share a message with the world. So I feel like there is room where you can have players bring out whatever it is. I forget who it was, but there was actually a tennis player that, if I remember, was wearing rainbow laces, and I thought that was a pretty cool thing, because when it comes to tennis I don’t normally see a lot of outspokenness.

GS: Activism, yeah. It’s very true.

NT: So even the gesture of wearing rainbow laces, I appreciated. 

GS: Yeah, I agree with that, and you don’t see that as much within tennis. I think that’s why it’s cool what Naomi Osaka did. I think she’s kind of been the leader in that and I think that’s been really cool, and it’s been unique to tennis. Some of the announcers during the tennis were kind of killing me, but—you know, she started a conversation and I think that’s the first step sometimes. But I love that the WNBA and NBA—I love the shoes! I think that is so cool, and I know like Adidas did, they had a Black Lives Matter cleat, but it wasn’t so much a unique—like it would be cool having your own message. That would be really neat. I feel like we’ll start to see that more, though. 

NT: Yeah, I think it will grow as the women’s game grows, you’ll see more unique kits, you’ll see more individuality.

GS: Yeah, I love our kits.

NT: I can’t wait to photograph it.

GS: They’re really, really amazing. The detailing’s really amazing. I’m like, blown away. I can’t wait for you to photograph them.

NT: From afar, but it’ll happen. So, you mention you’ve played tennis, and I’m wondering, is there anyone else on the Thorns that have played tennis? Have you played tennis with them?

GS: Yes, so we’ve given—a lot of my teammates are very interested. Emily Menges is very interested. She wants to get some lessons. But actually, McClain’s given Britt a few lessons, and she’s actually, like, really good. She’s just super athletic, and she’s amazing, so it’s not shocking. But it was funny because McClain served to her a few times, like actually served to her, and she was like, “oh my GOSH!” She couldn’t believe how fast it was! I think it’s cool when us as soccer athletes can appreciate other sports. I even think after that lesson, she had a new fascination for [tennis].

I played a little tennis when I was coming back from my ACL, and it kind of helped me get my cutting back. I didn’t do anything super reactive, but just kind of getting that cutting and that agility down, I would do some drills with McClain, and it was really nice, because it kind of gave me the confidence to cut again, and it was a good stepping stone into getting into reactive cutting in soccer. My boyfriend says I would have been a really good tennis player because I have really good footwork, and I didn’t realize how important that was in tennis either. He’s like, sometimes amazed at how good I can move with my feet, and I’m like, see, there’s benefits to playing multiple sports! So that was cool, seeing the difference and kind of the crossover.

NT: Yeah, I think footwork is actually one of my favorite things to watch for a tennis player and a soccer player.

GS: Same here.

NT: I never share these a lot, but I’ll often end up photographing [soccer players’] footwork when you’re doing something. Especially in one-v-one situations, because it’s fun to watch you like, problem solve out of it. And I get a front view of it.

GS: Yeah, it’s really cool, and I think like, a lot more goes into footwork than what you would think from the outside. For example, Kling, she has the best feet I’ve ever seen when it comes to her one-v-one defending and just how good she is with her feet, defending. She’s amazing and I have such an appreciation for it. 

NT: I feel like I’ve heard that people play ping pong, so I would love—

GS: Oh, yes, Britt is amazing at ping pong! So, her hand-eye coordination obviously is so good. She’s so good at ping pong.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9AeIVyhGM2/

NT: So I don’t know where I came up with this idea but I’m really excited for it. I’m going to present you with a tennis situation, and I want you to give me the soccer equivalent. I’ll do an easy one: an ace on match point. 

GS: Ooh, an ace on match point. What’s the score? Is it like 6–0, 5–0? Like, I need to know the score, because then—

NT: Okay, let’s say it was a long deuce point, at like, 5–4 where the person serving is trying to finish the set, and the receiver is trying to level it, and then suddenly ace, match point, boom, it’s over.  

GS: Ooh, that would be a goal in like the 92nd minute. Don’t you think? But like, not just a goal—like I feel like, if it was off a corner kick or something.

NT:  Ooh, set piece goal in the 92nd minute, and the score is tied and you finish it. 

GS: Yes, and you put it away. It’s a header. 

NT: Okay, here’s one. So my friend often calls this, in tennis, a golazo: having a dropshot followed by a lob winner in tennis. And really it could just be the lob winner. 

GS: I love this. What would I—hmm, okay. I feel like that would equate to like, a really good possession by [one] team, and they almost score, but then the other team counters and scores. 

NT: And I feel like it would have to be a lob goal, like a chip—chip the goalkeeper. 

GS: Yeah, like you win it, and chip the keeper or something, right?

NT: Yeah, that feels right. Well, okay, on a similar idea, netcord winner. We saw a bunch of them [at the US Open]. I like to call it the tennis gods at the net. 

GS: Ok, ok, I have a good one. I have a good one. I know what you’re going to say. And yes, I agree with that, but I think about when you are up 1–0, and somebody ties the game in the 89th or 90th minute. But you absolutely dominated them, the score could have been [2–0] or 3–0, but then they score to tie it, and then you don’t get three points. I think that’s what I would feel with a netcord. 

NT: What! That’s pretty extreme. I mean, usually netcord winners are just random winners….

GS: I know! But that’s how I feel when that happens sometimes, especially if it is against me.

NT: Netcord winner on match point, I guess that would make sense.

GS: I feel some type of way though. I’m like, you gotta be kidding me. Especially when the netcord winner is a very, very huge winner.

NT: Okay, this is the complete opposite thing now: it’s a 40-shot rally, a crazy rally that ends with both players diving to the ground to keep the ball in play, and of course, one fails in the end and one prevails.

GS: Ooh, that’s a little bit harder. That one has me a little stumped. You know what actually, I feel like those kind of remind me of a lot of the games that we have with Reign. In the sense that it’s a battle, and it can be so back and forth, you know, it kind of can be a bloodbath sometimes. Super physical and really exciting, but it’s tough and a grind, but then someone pulls through. That’s kind of what I would compare it to, NWSL speaking. What do you think?

NT: I like that comparison. I was thinking, it’s this battle that is in the midfield that’s constantly in the midfield, and then eventually, someone breaks through.

GS: Yes. I like that. That is good too. I totally see it. I feel like a lot of times that happens in are games with Reign too. It’s like very much a midfield battle. Like, there’s a bunch of headers. The ball’s in the air a lot more than it should be. It’s physical and it is a grind, but someone pulls through in the end. I like that. 

NT: Okay, this will be a simple one: a failed smash winner. Like you’re going for the smash winner—

GS: Like you’re pissed?

NT: No, like you are going for the winner and you smash it, and have you ever watched Djokovic play, where he tries to smash it and it actually goes into the net?

GS: Yes! A failed smash winner. 

NT:  We call it Djokosmash sometimes. 

GS: That is actually the worst. Ooh, what would I compare that too? I feel like it could be someone has like, a one-v-one with the goalkeeper, and you did all this hard work, and all you have to do is just place it into the goal, and you miss like crazy over the bar, or wide or something insane.

Photo by Nikita Taparia

NT: Another fun question: if you could pick five tennis players for a five-a-side soccer game, who would it be, and what positions would they play?

GS: Ooh. So I would definitely would pick Serena. Position, a striker, because I feel like I would compare someone who could strike the ball well, [with her] amazing serve.

We need some defenders. Ooh, this could get kind of crazy! Obviously I would pick Kerber, because I love her as a player, but I would pick her as a midfielder, because I feel like she would cover a lot of ground. Let’s see, who else? Definitely Osaka, because I just need her calmness and composure, so I would actually pick her as a midfielder too, so that’s three. And then I would pick myself—no I’m just kidding.

NT: No, you could put yourself in this!

GS: No, no. Okay, and then, I would need a goalie. Who would you pick as a goalie? That’s kind of hard. I feel like they would all have good strengths, because they can see the ball well. 

NT: Who has the quickest reflexes maybe?

GS: Yeah, what are we thinking here? 

NT: Or who strikes the ball early, I guess. 

GS: True. That one’s up for debate. I’m not sure who I would choose, actually. I feel like you need a good goalie for your five-a-side team. Let me tell you, it’s a game changer. I’m trying to think! You know what, I don’t know. I need to think about that one. 

NT: Okay, who would you have as a defender then, because you have a striker, two midfielders—would you have a defender? 

GS: I don’t know. You know what, I would maybe pick Wozniacki. Only because I feel like she is a fighter to the end of time. And she will, no matter how tired she is, she will literally go to the end and like you need that person on your five-v-five team. 

NT: I like that! I see it. 

GS: That’s a ballin’ five-v-five team if you ask me. 

NT: Well you picked four! You need one more!

GS: Yeah, but then myself. 

NT: Oh okay, you’re in this. How about you play goalkeeper? 

GS: Yeah, that would be the best actually. Actually five-v-five is my favorite thing ever, so I’m really glad you asked that. We’re going to win the tennis NWSL cup!

Graphic by Nikita Taparia
Categories
Soccer Thorns

Where in the World is Christine Sinclair?

Photo by Matt Wolfe

After shellacking the Reign 4–1 midweek, the Thorns headed to Utah on three days’ rest and managed to grind out a 1–1 draw against the Royals. It’s been a fun week for the Thorns; some of my takeaways from both matches are below.

1. How does this keep happening?

Below I have made some helpful visuals showing how the Thorns scored their first goal on Wednesday:

Somehow Allie Long—2019 World Cup champion Allie Long—just… didn’t notice Christine Sinclair behind her? And then by the time she did, she just thought, “Ah, well! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯”

Long isn’t the only one who’s been doing this, though. Here is a similar thing happening in Utah on Saturday. Every single person in this photo except Mallory Weber seems to have their eyes fixed on Lindsey Horan:

Crucial to note here that Sinc did score this, although Abby Smith got a hand on it and the sideline ref didn’t see it go over the line, so it didn’t count. Later on, when it happened again, it did count, to bring the score to 1–1:

So: one way of looking at this is that these teams are defending poorly, and that’s undoubtedly true. If you know the first thing about Christine Sinclair, you have to know not to let her get an open shot on goal like this. You have to know that a loose ball in the box, like that third example, is a huge liability. This is her whole thing! She’s been doing it since she was 16!

On the other hand, I think it’s also fair to look at these as examples of the Thorns offense working the way it’s supposed to. In the Reign example, as hilarious as it is seeing Sinc just tiptoe right behind Long and into that big gaping hole, the hole itself is there because Tyler Lussi’s done an excellent (arguably equally hilarious) job pulling a center back, Amber Brooks, out of position, whereupon Horan easily sprints past her and Taylor Smith to send in a cross.

The second incident seems to be largely Katie Bowen’s fault. She’s marking Sinc on the corner preceding this goal/not-goal, and loses track of her completely as Christen Westphal sends the ball in toward Horan. But! This is also a smart, well-worked play that relies on a great service from Westphal; Horan then bamboozles everybody in using her aerial ability to create a chance rather than go for goal.

The third example, again, is easy to dismiss as sloppy defending from a group of players who should know that this type of situation is Sinclair’s bread and butter (along with some sloppy goalkeeping by Abby Smith), and that’s certainly true—but it’s also true that to create this chance, Horan had to send a cross past Bowen, and Simone Charley had to be in the right place and have the wherewithal to win the 50/50 ball and knock it over to Sinc.

2. But Katelyn what about Lindsey Horan

Stop yelling at me! Obviously, there’s another common denominator here, one that my pandemic-addled brain, increasingly poor at spotting patterns, didn’t process until after I drew all over those screenshots: Lindsey “h*cking” Horan.

We’ve spoken about this before, during and in the wake of the Challenge Cup. Having lost Hayley Raso, Caitlin Foord, and (temporarily) Tobin Heath, the Thorns found themselves thin on natural wide threats. They also needed a midfield scheme that would get all of their best players on the field. The solution was a diamond midfield where Horan and Rocky Rodríguez spend a lot of time out wide, both to help mark opposing outside backs and in the attack.

In different games, Horan has spent varying amounts of time attacking from wide areas, but she’s been surprisingly effective in that kind-of winger role. She attempted four crosses in each of the last two games, just one less than Meghan Klingenberg did against the Reign. (Kling had to sit out over the weekend due to a ludicrous special Fall Series yellow card accumulation rule.) She’s not nearly as accurate a crosser as Kling, but even when those crosses don’t find targets, she’s still creating chances with the help of onrushing forwards ready to scoop up loose balls.

She also, crucially, tends to draw defenders toward her, opening up space for teammates—something that’s been especially effective for Sinc, whose deeper-lying role relies on those spaces when it comes to scoring.

Photo by Matt Wolfe
3. Ok, but

The thing I just said is true, but I would be remiss if I didn’t take a moment to bask in Sinc’s third goal on Wednesday. Aged 37 and showing no regard for the law, she dribbled effortlessly and cruelly past four (4) Reign defenders. She had just been dunked on by Bethany Balcer and decided to show the damned kids on her lawn who they were messing with. I found the exact spot in the highlights for you :).

4. An ordered list of my favorite things that have happened since last Wednesday
  1. Rocky Rodríguez goal
  2. Christine Sinclair goal (third one)
  3. Christine Sinclair goal (first one)
  4. Rocky Rodríguez yelling “golazo” after scoring
  5. Simone Charley cross to Rocky Rodríguez
  6. Meghan Klingenberg delivering a pregame speech via Bluetooth speaker
  7. Becky Sauerbrunn making a run all the way into the box and almost getting on the end of another Simone Charley cross
  8. Tziarra King (I’m sorry but she’s a star) (I’m not sorry)
Categories
Soccer Thorns

What a Beautiful Day for a Ballgame

Photo by Kris Lattimore

When I went to watch minor league baseball as a kid (let’s go Ems) they used to play this very corny song before the games which, for some reason, came to me vividly today as I waited for the Thorns to kick off. I think I had the thought, “wow, what a beautiful day for soccer,” and it took hold from there.

It was, honestly, perfect. It was the ideal temperature, the sun was shining off the turf, Prince was blaring from the speakers. I think the ball game song also captures the kind of borderline-unstable giddiness that results from going to do one relatively normal thing after six months of not doing anything normal. The singers sound faintly like someone is physically forcing them to enjoy things as much as they are, but believe me when I say the fun feels just as good regardless of whether it’s being forced upon you. First takeaway: soccer games are really great and I can’t wait for you guys to get to go to them again. Some of my other takeaways are below.

1. Say her name

The Thorns made a powerful statement as they filed onto the field before the game, which I assume they’d been planning for what was supposed to be a nationally televised game against the Reign last weekend:

“[159] days ago, Breonna Taylor, a Black woman, was fatally shot by police officers of the Louisville Metro Police Department. There has not been an arrest of her killers.”

The three Black players on the Thorns roster wore shirts reading “I am Breonna Taylor,” and the last two players onto the field wore the words “please vote.” The display echoed statements by WNBA players.

2. Really good day for the Thorns, really bad day for the Royals

Two Thursdays ago when the Thorns held what was supposed to be their pre-OL Reign press conference, Emily Menges mentioned that one positive of the Fall Series is that the team gets to address some of the issues they had during the Challenge Cup right away. One of those issues was goal scoring. In Utah, the Thorns had just three goals in six games—the same number they scored in 90 minutes today. After today’s win, Mark Parsons noted that this swing isn’t quite as extreme as it looks on the surface: in Utah, the offense was better than that number made it look, and today, the attack improved, but not as drastically as you’d think from the scoreline.

For the most part, a lot of what worked well at the Challenge Cup worked well today, too. Except for a couple moments in the second half where they almost got caught in transition, the defense stayed organized. The basic concept of the midfield diamond is still a good fit for the available players. But Utah, spending much of the game defending low, was mostly able to limit Portland through the middle of the field, forcing them to play wide through Meghan Klingenberg (who was excellent), with Lindsey Horan and Christine Sinclair often popping up in wide areas, too. They didn’t often succeed in attacking centrally.

This is fine if it works, which it did today. It has to be said, though, that this is a tough time for the Royals. We learned on the broadcast today that head coach Craig Harrington had been placed on “a leave of absence” after the ongoing investigation in the wake of Dell Loy Hansen’s departure from the club turned up evidence he had made inappropriate comments to staff members. Amy LePeilbet has been serving as interim coach. Dealing with that, on top of the existing fallout around a reportedly racist, sexist team culture, has to have affected this team, and I’m not convinced this Thorns offense would pull the same thing off against a more organized opponent.

3. Simone!

When I talk about being subjected to fun, this is what I mean:

Hook this straight into my fucking veins. This is what I need to survive the winter.

On a more serious note: first, let’s just appreciate how much Simone Charley has grown in the last three years. She’s always had the guts and the desire to dribble, but she’s finally at the point where she can do this in a game and get away with it. As Parsons pointed out postgame, that’s all down to two seasons of relentless hard work, one of them unpaid.

Second, let’s step back and think about what this means for the team. The mythical goalscoring forward has long been prophesied for the Thorns, but never quite seems to materialize. Caitlin Foord and Ana Crnogorčević both disappointed in that sense. In Charley, they now have a player who’s just as hard-working as her predecessors but also capable of taking defenders on the dribble, both to open up space and take shots herself. Crucially, she also has a nose for goal. She’s still building consistency, but she just keeps getting better.

4. Sophia!

Speaking of goalscoring forwards: Sophia Smith!

It took six months longer than it should have, but the rookie finally made her professional debut, and she lived up to the hype. She scored just three minutes after subbing in for Charley, a gorgeous header off a recycled corner kick.

Everything I just said about Charley applies to Smith too, except at age 20 she’s already a polished professional-level player with a gorgeous touch and exceptional vision and decision-making. Smith could turn out to be the best Thorns acquisition since Lindsey Horan. Get excited.

 

Categories
Not Soccer Thorns

“I Have to Turn This Shame into Something Better”

Photo by Lucas Muller

Last weekend, Thorns defender Kelli Hubly took to Twitter to voice her support for Black lives and her opposition to racism.

She’s in the minority—most white NWSL players have not spoken up on their Black teammates’ behalf. I was curious to hear how Hubly got to this place. As much as we should all focus on listening to and elevating Black voices, I also think it’s crucial for white people to talk to each other about race, because at the end of the day, white supremacy is our problem. Our conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity; the full audio version is available on our Patreon for supporters at the $10 level.

Katelyn Best: You said in that first tweet that you had been trying to find the right words to say. What was going through your head, and what was the thing that finally pushed you to say, “I’m going to say something even if it’s not perfect”?

Kelli Hubly: I have a lot of close people to me in my life who are Black, so I’ve had a lot of harder conversations where I’ve felt uncomfortable, they’ve felt uncomfortable, but afterwards it ended up being a great talk that I think has helped me grow, and they grow. Before Utah, I had a couple good talks, and then in Utah, I got that picture [from the tweet] and I was like, “I really want to post this.” And at that point, I know—back and forth people on Twitter, some people say, “I don’t want a white person saying stuff,” and some are like, “I would love white people to be saying stuff.” And my thought process was, I didn’t want to say something that drew too much attention to me versus the real issue, which is Black Lives Matter. So I was in a dilemma of what to say that would make it all about Black Lives Matter and not just like, an Instagram post where I look like a good person.

So I actually have a note in my phone of like, all different thoughts that came into my head, because this was over a month where I would be like, “okay, I want to say something, but it needs to be the right wording.” Finally I condensed it, and it kind of came after—our team does these talks. Like, we do them every week or so, usually on a recovery day, and we either read something, or watch something, and we come back and talk about it as a team, our coaches are there, everybody’s there, and everyone’s engaged. We’ll do a big team talk and then we’ll go into like, smaller groups. So we’ve been bringing more attention to just, everyone educating together and educating each other.

We just had one last Sunday, and it just like, really made me feel like I should post. We haven’t had games, we haven’t had really anything that we could be showing the world, like, this is how we feel. We had Utah and we kneeled, we wore the shirts, we were doing that. But we haven’t really done anything since. So it just felt like the right time for me to post, and I confronted one of my really good friends from home and asked her, “hey, how do you feel about this? Be honest with me. Do you think this is the right message getting across?” And she was like, “Kelli, I love this, this is amazing, I love seeing you use your platform.” So I ended up posting it and I got like, a lot of close friends of mine in the Black community who were like, “thank you so much, you don’t understand how much we love hearing a white person use their platform.” So it was just nice to kind of get my view on things out, because I have a lot bottled up and I haven’t known what to say or when to say it.

Take me back—you said that you guys had a bunch of conversations in Utah, and I know that some of that started even before Utah, but where were you at on these issues going into those conversations, and what did you learn?

So, yeah, we started these conversations before Utah, and I actually started the education process even before those conversations with my team. Like, watching the Meek Mill documentary or 13th before 13th kind of like, really blew up recently.

I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, in a white area. So a lot of that was so new to me, and I had no idea. I was kind of just like, shocked that this was actually going on. And I felt a lot of shame for a very long time, because as the white person, I’m like, “how are we doing this to other people?” So yeah, a lot of shame, and I kind of just realized like, I have to turn this shame into something better and like, do better, and have conversations with people. When I went home after Utah, I had amazing conversations with my parents about it, because they also weren’t as educated, either. Like, defunding the police, what that truly means—it doesn’t [mean exactly what it sounds like], there’s deeper meaning to it. And just bringing attention to what actually has been going on, because I’ve been so sheltered.

The conversations have been great, because we’re hearing different stories from different players who have had different experiences, and we’ve been super open with each other, and no one’s really judging, everyone’s taking everybody in, and we’re growing together. I’m learning a lot. I’ve read two books about it, and it’s just very eye-opening, and it’s sad that it took me this long to know what truly has been going on.

If it’s taken me, who, I’m a pretty open person—[I’m] open to learning, I want to do what’s best, I want everything to be right in this world. After hearing and seeing, even in Utah, like, us kneeling,  people writing comments, these comments are unreal to me! My bubble is so like, “Black Lives Matter!” and then I go onto Instagram or Twitter and these comments are like, insane! I’m shocked that people are still thinking this way, and it’s like, what can we do to change these people’s minds, just get them to educate themselves a little bit? It’s just crazy.

Yeah, that’s interesting, and I think that I am kind of in a similar bubble to you in that everybody I know sort of is on the same page: kneeling is good, Black lives matter, we agree something needs to happen about police brutality, and then you see people on Twitter or whatever, disagreeing with that, and it’s hard to wrap your head around.

I get furious. I’m like, I need to say something! But I can’t just be replying to all of these people!

I don’t know how much of this you saw or heard about, but during the Challenge Cup there was a lot of discourse around the kneeling. And it’s striking to me that the Thorns are the only team that every single player and every single staff member kneeled that whole time, and—I don’t want to make it about a soccer team—but to me, that seems to say something about the conversations that you had within the team, that were maybe not happening in the same way on other teams. I’m just wondering if you have any insight as to why things might have gone different for [the Thorns].

Yeah, so we, in Utah, had talked about kneeling, and basically said like, how do we feel? Because we kind of wanted it to be us unified together. And basically, we’re a very close team, like I’m sure you’ve heard through people’s interviews. We’re very close and we all really trust each other, so we can have these hard conversations, and if someone felt uncomfortable, we can have that conversation.

So we kind of all decided together. Our coaching staff has been amazing, because they’re supportive of everything we’re doing, and through this whole process they’re learning so much, because a lot of them are foreign, so this is different because they’re not even from America. They’re learning about all of our history, and they’re trying to figure out, “ok, what are we doing, what do you need us to help with?”

So basically, we made a decision, like, if we’re all going to do this, we’re all going to do it, so we decided that we all were going to kneel, and we also decided after the first game, that we were all going to do it in a line together. I feel like we’ve just been really unified, and we have a really good culture, and it’s nice to see and be a part of.

I don’t want to pry into any conversations, but was there any reluctance, were there folks on the team who were like, “ah, I don’t know, I want to respect the anthem and respect the flag,” or whatever? Was there any of that kind of conversation happening?

Yes and no. Some people, it’s family, or just having people, veterans, in their family, so I think that was the hard part, but then when we talked about it, they knew this was the best thing for us to do and they felt good about it. They were able to, say, if their family member said something to them, they were able to have that conversation and express how they were feeling. It’s just been, like, a crazy time, and people from different parts of the country, it’s interesting to see different parents’ views versus like, my parents’ views. So for the most part, I think we were all pretty much on board and felt comfortable doing that.

I don’t know if you watch the WNBA, but they’ve done a series of pretty impressive, very unified, strong statements on these issues. It’s been striking to me how much more unified and I think, frankly, more effective they’ve been as a league, than the NWSL was during the Challenge Cup. I’d love to get your thoughts on this, but I think about the whiteness of the sport of soccer. Do you think that plays a role in how some of these conversations go down?

Definitely. We’ve actually talked about this in our last talk, last week. Basically, soccer’s a super white, privileged sport. It’s expensive to play growing up. You’re traveling, you need support, you need money, basically, to play soccer at a high level. So that’s why I think you see a lot more white soccer players.

But still, it doesn’t give us an excuse for not doing as much as the WNBA. I think what they’re doing is great, and I think looking at what they’re doing, I think it’s sparked a lot of conversations within our team to see what can we do with these games coming up. We’re on CBS our first game. What can we be doing? Can the announcers be giving out facts during our game? Could we like, think of something to put on pregame instead of when the anthem’s playing, we have something else playing, like players talking about stuff going on in the world? What can we be doing to do our part? Because they’re definitely doing way more than us, and it’s been effective. There’s a picture that I saw of the players in the shirts with the seven bullet holes, and I was like, “wow, that is really powerful.” So it like, makes us want to do more when it’s our turn to be on TV.

When you say that you want to continue to support your Black friends and your Black teammates, what does that mean to you? 

So, just knowing that they can come to me whenever there’s something going on, because I know times are hard and it’s frustrating, and it’s exhausting, and I just want to be able to support. Not pry, but just know that I’m always here. And to just pay attention more. I think everyone needs to pay attention more. And everyone just needs to be more kind! Like, I don’t know, the world is just crazy right now. It really bothers me, because I just see so much hate going on, and I’m just the total opposite. I have so much love to give to people.

So, support, educate, and be able to spread knowledge to people. When I went home, being able to talk to my parents more and give them a deeper meaning to things that I’m going through here. My parents are like, “oh, you’re so liberal! It must be Portland!” I don’t even think that way, I’m like, this is what’s right! This is, you know, human rights here. So just being able to support and be the best person I can be and do what I need to do to help. If it’s posting more, if it’s donating, whatever I need to be doing to make things better.

Do you have any highlights from the stuff that the team has been reading, or the stuff you guys have been listening to that you might recommend to people?

I think a great place to start is [Ijeoma Oluo’s] So You Want to Talk about Race, the book. That was the first book I read. A couple of my other teammates have read it because we were going to do a book club type thing, so a bunch of people got the book. So we’ve talked about it, and that’s a great place, I think, for people to start, because it touches on a lot of different subjects, and then basically if you want to know more about that subject then you know, like, this is what I want to zoom in on next time I read a book or something. And it gives facts, which you can’t, like—facts are facts.

It gives great stories, which are sad at times. Like she talks about being pulled over, and like, last year I got pulled over. And not once did it cross my mind that I would be scared. I’m just like, “oh my god, no, I’m caught!” My biggest thing is like, is my dad going to be mad at me? That’s what’s going through my head, but when I read this, I’m like, oh my god, people are scared for their life, where like, they’re tweeting that they got [pulled over]. Like that is so crazy to me, because that’s never once crossed my head. I’m so privileged. So that’s a great book.

13th is great because it’s just eye-opening. I really recommend the Meek Mill documentary [Free Meek], especially if you follow Meek Mill, he’s a rapper. So his story is unbelievable. I watched that and my jaw was just like, dropped. I think it’s six episodes and I watched them all in a day and I was just like, there’s no way this is real.

Then I read another book, it was a memoir of Mychal Denzel [Smith], The Invisible Man. It was interesting reading a memoir, and with voting all going on right now, it was really interesting, because in the book he talks about how when he was able to vote, him and his dad woke up at like five a.m. so that they could go wait in line for two or three hours, to make sure they could vote. And to go through like, those depths of waking up, waiting in line for two hours, to just be able to vote? I was shocked because I don’t think my parents have ever waited that long, I don’t think I would ever have to wait that long if I was at home voting—because I vote by mail-in ballot—but I was like, that’s crazy! I don’t know. It’s just really eye-opening and the memoir was really cool to read, because it’s in his shoes, and it’s just a totally different perspective, because it’s also a male perspective. It’s just been really interesting to read and just know more about.

I think the last thing I want to ask you is, how do you approach conversations with people who you feel are less aware of what’s going on, or a little bit less open to learning? Do you have a strategy that you’ve used?

Well, I haven’t really come across that many people that have not been open to it. I think, because yeah, even with my parents, if they weren’t sure about stuff, like, my mom didn’t know the term “defund the police.” And so she’s like, “Kelli, but like, we’re still going to need police officers!” And I’m like mom, that’s not the point! So like, bless her heart, she’s so cute, and then once I told her, she’s like, oh, that makes so much sense.

So I think not like, attacking people for not knowing, and not making fun of them or not thinking they’re a bad person because they didn’t know. It’s more if they’re willing to be open and learn, you just have to start wherever they’re at, and then build from there, but you have to do it in a growing way. You can’t be negative, because then they could feel bad about it, or go into a shell. We’ve talked about this on our team. And Gabby actually said, “I would give them the book So You Want to Talk about Race.” And I think that’s a great starting point for people. And she was like, there’s facts. You read those facts, like, you can’t really argue them. So I think that’s a great way to start, and then it kind of sparks the conversation.

It’s definitely hard, and you don’t want to start an argument over it. But you also need to have the conversation. So, yeah. It’s interesting, but I try to, you know, just be nice about it. Start slow and then get into it. Like I had a couple conversations with my parents, and then I told them to watch 13th. They didn’t understand like, the war on drugs and stuff. And I mean, I wouldn’t probably, either, if I didn’t watch this.

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Soccer Thorns

Do the Thorns Have a Scoring Problem?

Photo by Lucas Muller
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Pack It up and Call It a Season

Photo by Lucas Muller

The soccer has come and gone for the Thorns, and for the rest of us, all that’s left to do is stare into the abyss and hope everything else might get slightly less bad at some point.

But first, let’s reflect on some of the big-picture takeaways from Portland’s Challenge Cup experience.

A War of Attrition

No summary of Portland’s Challenge Cup experience would be complete without noting the single overarching theme of the whole tournament, for all the teams involved, which is that the whole thing was very exhausting. The Thorns started the tournament without AD Franch and Sophia Smith, immediately lost Becky Sauerbrunn, and hung on to Lindsey Horan until she sat down in a defeated-looking heap ten minutes after the half in the quarterfinal. I do not know how Raquel Rodríguez or the 37-year-old Christine Sinclair were still ambulatory by the end of the tournament.

More striking than the impact on any particular player, though, was how fatigue shaped outcomes for Portland twice: first when they took down a North Carolina team that had started basically the same lineup throughout the preliminary round, and again when they limped out of that game and into their semifinal against Houston. Keeping up with even a tired Courage side is an extraordinary athletic feat, and the Thorns paid for it.

Diamonds Are(n’t) Forever

Portland played a new formation in this tournament, a 4-4-2 diamond. This made sense for the players they had available: with Tobin Heath sitting out and Midge Purce and Hayley Raso long gone, the Thorns were left with no real wide attacking threats. They did, however, have an excess of quality central midfielders of various shapes and sizes: Horan and Sinclair, of course, plus Rodríguez, Angela Salem, Celeste Boureille, Gabby Seiler, and Emily Ogle.

What was striking about this particular diamond was where the width came from—namely, in large part, from Rodríguez and Horan. In the team’s first outing against North Carolina, that was largely visible as both of them provided defensive muscle out wide, putting early pressure on runs by Jaelene Daniels or Lynn Williams to ease some of the burden off Portland’s outside backs.

That system is an interesting interpretation of what’s usually thought of as quite a narrow formation, and it went a long way toward containing the Courage; what looked weirder was when Horan and Rodríguez attacked from wide areas. The intent here seems to be to keep Sinclair (mostly) central and have her connect play both into the box and to whoever’s out wide, whether that’s Horan, Rodríguez, or one of the forwards. The problem is that lacking both players like Heath or Raso, who can stretch defenses out of shape and beat wide defenders one on one, and a reliable target striker, teams were able to focus their pressure on Sinclair and force her into sideways passes. What the Thorns were left with was a lot of very hopeful crosses and no one to put on the end of them.

Of course, attacking from out wide paid off one very important time, when Rodríguez sent a pass under Denise O’Sullivan to Morgan Weaver, who bodied past her mark to score the go-ahead goal. This is to say the system kind of worked. You could see how it was supposed to work in that moment. But they just couldn’t generate enough chances this way. Weaver, who looks extremely promising but still raw, can’t reliably beat defenders at this level; more important, it’s not the best use of Horan, Rodríguez, or especially Sinclair, who looked stranded a lot of the time.

In short, this was an interesting experiment while it lasted, and it helped the team find some notable success against North Carolina, but it would be hard to justify for a Thorns roster that included Heath, Sophia Smith, and one or more Rumored International Forwards.

Photo by Lucas Muller
Some Success Stories

The pandemic has meant that the Thorns, like several other NWSL teams, never got the chance to finish building their roster—after having purged half of last year’s starting lineup, no less. Kadidiatou Diani, rumored to be headed to Portland for $445,000 a year, would (assuming she could have adapted to the physicality and competitiveness of the NWSL) have provided exactly the kind of creativity out wide the Thorns are currently lacking. Making matters worse, Ellie Carpenter, another key piece both defensively and going forward—and once thought to be the only Aussie who would survive the exodus—left shortly before the tournament.

On the other hand, the players Portland did acquire are all excellent additions. Rodríguez, arguably the most important piece, is the midfield partner to Horan—a second box-to-box player with the right combination of creativity, work rate, and defensive grit—that Parsons has been looking for since the 2017 season ended. Weaver is physically strong enough to body defenders and gutsy enough to take them on the dribble; with a little more experience under her belt, she looks like she could turn into the mythical goal-scoring forward Portland has lacked for years.

But the team made the most progress on the defensive side. Surprisingly for a team that picked up Becky Sauerbrunn in the offseason, that progress doesn’t just boil down to new signings. Christen Westphal was excellent, but the revelation this tournament was Kelli Hubly, who impressed at right back in the opener, then stepped up to fill the vacancy left by the injured Sauerbrunn centrally. She saved the Thorns more than once, and her willingness to step to opposing forwards made her a great partner for the more conservative Emily Menges. Finally, sitting deep in midfield, the team has an absolute bulldog in Salem, who’s been sidelined by injury for a good chunk of her time with the Thorns. All in all, the roster still looks incomplete, but it’s deeper than it looked heading into the tournament.

“The Culture”

If you ask anyone on the team, they’ll likely say their biggest achievement this month was a return to the Thorns’ vaunted team culture, something both the players and Parsons say had slipped by the end of 2019. For all the talent on any given Thorns roster, this is an attitude-first coaching staff, and whether or not players have a certain personality and work ethic often guides both who gets signed and who gets traded away.

Parsons’ focus on building a team-first, relentlessly hard-working culture, and the unexpected results it sometimes produces, is underappreciated—at least outside Portland. This is a team that often excels when the odds are stacked against them, as they did during the World Cup last year, or during the Olympics in 2016. Even when they won the championship in 2017, they were using a (different) formation they had adopted to make up for Heath’s absence earlier that season, and they gritted and ground and, frankly, punched their way past the top team in the league.

They couldn’t figure out how to win that way this time around; the basic concept was a little too makeshift and the bench a little too shallow as the tournament wore on and injuries took out player after player. But if a strong team culture is the foundational variable Parsons and his players say it is, this is a significant step in the right direction.

The state of the culture is basically something we have to take the team’s word for, especially at a moment when no one is allowed to even speak to them in person. But that, plus an organized defense, have been the foundation for Portland’s success in the past, and if they stay focused on those two things, they’re in good shape looking toward 2021.

Photo by Lucas Muller
And Beyond

That’s the good news. The other news is that a wholesale rebuild is still looming for the Thorns, probably sooner rather than later. They have to expect to take some losses with two expansion teams entering, and then, on some unknown date, comes the real inevitable truth: Christine Sinclair cannot play professional soccer forever. It’s said that mileage matters more than years, so this truncated “season” may wind up extending her career, but she’s nonetheless nearing 40.

At that point, it’s anyone’s guess what direction this team goes in. They’ve built their midfield around Sinclair and Horan for the last five years, and one thing that became clear in Utah is that while Sinclair is still quality, she also needs certain types of players around her to succeed. When she departs, the club changes completely, the way things do when realities so long-lasting they feel like laws of physics change. The only certainty seems to be that the Thorns become, fully, Horan’s club. Beyond that? We’ll have to wait and see.

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Soccer Thorns

Timbers Win Group F with 2-2 Draw Against LAFC

Courtesy of MLS

The Portland Timbers scored early and late in Thursday night’s 2-2 draw against Los Angeles FC, clinching the top spot in the Group F of the MLS is Back Tournament with the point over their recent rivals.

Continue reading “Timbers Win Group F with 2-2 Draw Against LAFC”
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Soccer Thorns

Three Takeaways from Portland’s Semifinal Exit from the NWSL Challenge Cup

Photo by Kris Lattimore

The Portland Thorns depart the NWSL Challenge Cup in the semifinals after losing 1–0 to the Houston Dash on a Rachel Daly header. The Thorns defense, excellent all tournament, could only be breached after Sophie Schmidt’s header hit the bar and left Britt Eckerstrom stranded.

Lindsey Horan was listed as an available sub but was dressed in street clothes on the bench. Horan recorded the second most minutes of the team through the opening stages (aside from Christine Sinclair, of course) and Celeste Boureille took her place.

After the game, Mark Parsons said that the team had left it all on the field against North Carolina to get the win, and they played their worst game of the tournament today. The Dash kept Portland under constant pressure in midfield that they couldn’t play their way out of, and despite how well the Thorns defended, they can’t have too many complaints about being sent home at this stage.

The Thorns have defended well all tournament, but just couldn’t make their attack work 

The Thorns stuck with the diamond this game, with Morgan Weaver and Simone Charley, their best available strike partnership, up top. With Boureille bogged down deep in midfield trying to handle Houston’s strikers dropping deep, those two had very little in the way of support, and were often tasked with chasing down balls over the top just to try to stretch play at all. Raquel Rodríguez had too much to do to offer much support either. In fact, the brightest attacking spark came from substitute Emily Ogle, who in her role as a deep playmaker provided some of the best service from deep the Thorns were able to manage all game.

That’s telling. The Thorns are a team that like to work their way into shooting opportunities on a second or third pass to maximize the expected goal average of any given attack, and get into the position to make those decisive passes with incisive running. Rodríguez, one of the Thorns’ best attacking players this tournament, couldn’t get forward to do what she does best, and the team was too slow to recognize that they needed more quality passing from deep to unlock the Dash.

On the other end, however, Kelli Hubly and Emily Menges were both excellent, with Menges making several decisive tackles to break up counterattacks, most memorably to stop a Nichelle Prince run where it looked like she would be in on goal.

Houston had plenty of attacks this game despite having a minimal amount of possession. They went on the break quickly whenever they forced a turnover. But despite all that, the Thorns restricted them to very few good chances. They just turned one of their two into a goal.

Attacks from out wide look as bad as ever

Crosses are always a low percentage attack. See Portland’s efforts late on in the opening stages of the tournament, and North Carolina’s efforts against Portland. They looked particularly pointless here, with Houston connecting on only two of fourteen crosses and Portland only three of twelve. In part, it’s down to timely defensive interventions in the middle of the park from the Thorns, but they also mostly just let Houston have that space. Of course, it doesn’t matter how inefficient a team’s attack is sometimes: all it takes is a moment of chaos for a team to score, and Houston produced more of those than Portland.

Houston’s pressure in midfield was about the only thing that was working anyone

The Dash had many of the best attacks of the game, but couldn’t create many shooting opportunities. The Thorns had most of the possession, but couldn’t do anything with it. Just about the only effective play happening anywhere for most of the game was Houston’s midfield pressure. Rachel Daly and Nichelle Prince are two extremely active forwards: one or two would almost always be putting pressure on the Thorns backline while they were trying to play from deep, which meant that most of the Thorns possession in the game took place well away from goal.

Houston’s back line played very high to compress the space available to Thorns midfielders, and in that space, they were able to bring a ton of bodies in to break up any attempt by Salem or Boureille to play forward. Whenever Sinclair had the ball, they were quick to close her down. Ogle and Gabby Seiler came on in midfield after halftime and improved the situation by getting better passing from that area, but even though Weaver and Charley are fast, neither of them are really strikers that thrive on balls over the top. They like to play to their feet and attack their defender, and Houston didn’t let anyone on the Thorns have that.

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Soccer Thorns

Four Takeaways from Portland’s Quarterfinal Victory over North Carolina

Photo by Lucas Muller.

After wrapping up the preliminary round of the Challenge Cup winless in last place, the Portland Thorns pulled out a thrilling 1–0 win over the North Carolina Courage with a 68th-minute goal from rookie Morgan Weaver.

The match marks the first playoff game that the Courage have lost since the 2017 NWSL Final, and the first time North Carolina has been shut out since last May.

1. Injuries didn’t bode well for Portland early on

Beyond the tournament-ending injuries for AD Franch, Becky Sauerbrunn, and Sophia Smith, Bella Bixby, Lindsey Horan, and Emily Menges were also listed as questionable ahead of today’s match. While both Horan and Menges started the game, Bixby’s right knee injury paved the way for Britt Eckerstrom’s first start since August of last year.

Unfortunately, the knocks didn’t end there. The first half of the match saw both Horan and Katherine Reynolds go down—for Reynolds, in a head collision with Lynn Williams that saw both of them bleeding and Reynolds subbed off the pitch.

Horan was able to come out in the second half, but fell to the ground again in Portland’s defensive box. She was subbed out for Celeste Boureille in the 51st minute.

Especially given the fact that the Thorns have looked uninspired without Horan in this tournament, these early injuries were worrying.

2. Parsons made some interesting defensive choices, but it worked out alright

Portland started the game with Reynolds on the right, Meghan Klingenberg on the left, and an Emily Menges-Kelli Hubly centerback pairing. In her 40 minutes on the field, Reynolds was often left dealing with Williams up North Carolina’s left flank, and found herself burned by Williams a handful of times—including in the first minute of the match.

While Reynolds is a better defender when isolated one on one, the decision to start her over the faster Christen Westphal was questionable, and the Thorns were lucky that the Courage didn’t take advantage by overloading that side with Williams and Jaelene Daniels.

The other somewhat illogical choice, in the first 20 minutes at least, was the partnership between Menges and Hubly. At the beginning of the match, Menges was consistently the player stepping higher to win the ball while Hubly hung back, something that felt counterproductive given their respective strengths. However, the duo figured things out as the match went on, with Hubly more often pushing up to win the ball and Menges stepping to take on players.

3. Believe it or not, the Thorns scored a goal

After scoring a total of two goals in the preliminary rounds—with one of those goals coming off a Horan set-piece header—things didn’t look particularly promising for Portland’s attack heading into this one. On top of that, they’ve looked significantly worse without Horan.

Regardless, the Thorns broke through when Christen Westphal played a pass up the line Rocky Rodríguez. Rodríguez dribbled to the endline and squared her hips to send a low cross front of goal and beat her defender. Morgan Weaver peeled off Addisyn Merrick at the far post to tap the ball in, and the Thorns were up with their first game-winner of the tournament.

4. Britt Eckerstrom had the game of her life

Slipping down Portland’s goalkeeper depth chart to the third string, it was hard to know what to expect from Eckerstrom going into this game. Fortunately, she did really, really well.

If she had any nerves, Eckerstrom worked through them in the first half; her handling was a bit shaky, and she was lucky to catch her own rebound on two separate occasions. She was also fortunate in the fact that North Carolina struggled to put their shots on target, with a handful of sitters hit wide of goal or missed completely.

However, the Thorns ended the half 0–0, and Eckerstrom showed flashes of the fantastic positioning and ability off her line that she relied on heavily in the second part of the game.

And that second half was something to behold; Eckerstrom was everywhere across the face of goal. She came out several times to smother a through-ball in traffic—including blocking a Courage breakaway and deflecting the rebound wide—and got a strong punch to a brilliant Debinha free kick to preserve the Thorns’ lead.

Bonus: #FreeNadine

Eckerstrom was absolutely fantastic today, but it was kind of cool to see Nadine Angerer listed as a sub for the Thorns—even if it was the result of Portland’s first- and second-string keepers being injured. And, yeah, it was a great game, but can you honestly say it wouldn’t have been better if Angerer had gotten a couple minutes at the end?

Categories
Soccer Thorns

It’s Just Emilies All the Way Down

"Mengi" — Photo by Matthew Wolfe. Edited by Leo Baudhuin
emily armstrong (gk)

Was a non-roster invitee for the Thorns ahead of 2017. Never appeared for Portland, but ended up playing ten games in Norway that same year. According to Soccerway, is now affiliated with a second-tier club in Sweden (joined by a teammate of the name Emilie Brandt).

Emily kruger (gk)

Stuck around for two seasons as Portland’s third-string keeper in the pre-Bella Bixby days. Was called up as an amateur player for a bit in 2016—presenting us with the never-realized possibility of having an Emily in goal behind an Emily center back pairing—but didn’t get to take the field for the Thorns. Allegedly went to Cal, claimed the number 19 jersey in Portland, and is a Scorpio, but otherwise her identity is something of a mystery.

Emily Menges (D)

The Thorns’ longest-tenured center back. Drafted out of Georgetown in the third round in 2014, making her arguably the best value ever to emerge from the NWSL College Draft. Had a legendary block against Jess McDonald late in the 2017 championship. Coined the phrase “let’s make a constellation.”

Emily Sonnett (D)

The wildest ball of lightning to ever pull on a Thorns jersey. The number one overall pick in the 2016 draft. Incredible one moment, inexplicable the next, and an absolute content machine, on and off the field. The inaugural NWSL Most Online Player; hexed by Amy Rodriguez late in the 2019 season.

Emilee O’Neil (MF/D)

Made four appearances for the Thorns in 2013 after starting as a trialist. A 2004 Stanford graduate who stepped away from the game before joining the Bay Area Breeze of the now-defunct USL W-League. The rest is lost to history.

Emily Dickinson (MF)

The legendary poet out of Mount Holyoke Female Seminary. Refused to play if the Thorns weren’t in their white kits. After a playoff loss in the 1861 season, she was asked a generic question about the emotions in the locker room, and replied:

Success is counted sweetest

By those who ne’er succeed.

To comprehend a nectar

Requires sorest need.

 

Not one of all the purple Host

Who took the Flag today

Can tell the definition

So clear of victory

 

As he defeated – dying –

On whose forbidden ear

The distant strains of triumph

Burst agonized and clear!

emily ogle (mf)

Selected 24th overall as Portland’s only pick in the 2019 NWSL College Draft, the clear result of a need to maintain a plurality of Emilies in anticipation of losing Sonnett. Still young, usually strong on the ball, yet to be defined.

Emily Brönte (MF)

Unlike her sister Charlotte, a prolific goalscorer for England and the Chicago Red Stars, Brönte was a hard-working No. 6—a real shit-kicker of a midfielder. Some have called her a limited player, but what she did—namely, a calculated professional foul to stop a developing attack in its tracks—she did well. Both feared and respected by opposing midfields.

Emilie Zebulon (FW)

Portland’s first Martian-born player. A discovery player acquired in 2132 after she failed to impress for Paris Saint-Germain and had been playing in the Moon League, a gimmicky non-FIFA-sanctioned competition played on a giant field with goals that hovered several dozen feet off the ground. A manager who believed in her and a more constructive training environment did wonders, and she went on to score a team-leading 21 goals in 32 games in her first season.

emily rowie (fw)

Joined the Thorns midway through the 2024 season after completing a psychology degree at the University of Minnesota. Was fourth all-time in Gophers goals scored (38) and tied for seventh with assists (25), despite playing fullback for most of her sophomore year. Effective as a No. 9, but thrives as a Hayley Raso-esque wide forward.

3M1-lY (FW)

After waiting decades for an effective goal-scoring center forward to materialize, the 2079 Thorns decided to take advantage of the league’s new roster rule expanding the number of android player slots. The prototype, 3M1-LX, had played in preseason several seasons earlier but tended to have finishing problems; even when the service from Lindsey Horan 2 (a clone of her namesake) was perfect, it tended to sky the ball over the net. Training its ball trajectory algorithm on several billion additional data points didn’t work. Oddly, the turning point came when it was fed a dataset of human knock-knock jokes—all it needed, it seems, was to feel like part of the team.