The Thorns played the Chicago Red Stars to a 1–0 win in Bridgeview, Illinois last night; Morgan Weaver, fresh off a cleared red card that probably should’ve only been downgraded to a yellow, scored the lone goal of the match off Portland’s only shot on target.
About 30 minutes into the game, my roommate came into my room and asked who I thought would win. I said Portland, 1–0, and that it was going to be an otherwise unexciting game. For the most part, I was right.
1. We did watch a first half of soccer
I was pleasantly surprised by how the Thorns played for most of last Friday’s match. They looked sharp and energized and direct and not like a team playing their first game since October; having Riveters in the stands for the first time in over a year probably helped. Which made last night’s performance—full of sloppy passes and a lack of offensive… anything in the first half—stand out a little more than it would have as the second game in any other season.
After the match, Kelli Hubly said the field was bumpy and made the Thorns “a little bit weary of [our] passes and our touches.”
Portland ended the first half with a 64.2% passing accuracy, which, in my mind, sums up the overarching feeling of those 45 minutes pretty well.
2. Marissa Everett-Tyler Lussi
“Second half, we really went out there and proved to everyone that we had the energy and we were going to win this game,” Weaver said, and Tyler Lussi’s 52nd minute shot was the first hint of just that.
On its own, it was a great run from Lussi. She did well to make the most of her opportunity and hit a left-footed shot. Red Stars goalkeeper Cassie Miller was caught watching as the chance—unfortunately for Lussi and fortunately for Miller—deflected off the crossbar.
But I also want us to take a second to sit back, relax, and (re)watch this absolutely wild curled ball in from Marissa Everett to set up Lussi’s strike:
More of this, please!#BAONPDX | #CHIvPOR pic.twitter.com/dmw7IB1J0A
— Portland Thorns FC (@ThornsFC) April 16, 2021
3. Honorable mention: Natalia Kuikka
I’m not sure that I took all that much away from watching this game live, aside from the aforementioned points. Not that the rest of the match was uninteresting: the Meghan Klingenberg as a No. 8 experiment continued, we got to see Emily Menges take the field for the first time this year, and Meaghan Nally made her Thorns debut (at forward!).
But—while I don’t know that I have anything to say beyond what Katelyn’s already written on her—the 20 minutes we saw of Natalia Kuikka at right back were incredibly fun, and I’m excited to watch her play out wide as Portland’s defense returns to full strength.
4. A note on the pre-game proceedings
The Red Stars didn’t play the national anthem before the match. Even if it only happened this time because fans weren’t in attendance, I hope the organization makes note of the support they’re getting for doing that, acknowledges the song’s racist history, and chooses not to bring it back when people are allowed to return to the stands.
