Tag: Houston Dash

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ICC Soccer Thorns

Game Notes: ICC Day 1

Photo by Matthew Wolfe

In the opening games of the WICC at Providence Park yesterday, Lyon played beat Barcelona 3–2 in an exciting, high-quality match. Later in the evening, the Portland Thorns played the Houston Dash to a 2-2 tie. The match went to penalties, and the Thorns came out on top, beating Houston 3–1 in the shootout.

But I come to you bringing observations of the 90+ minutes of each game, whether you were cheering for Lyonnais, Barcelona, the Thorns, or the Dash.

FC Barcelona vs Olympique Lyonnais

1. Olympique Lyonnais made the most of their back line while countering. With Barça disorganized defensively after attacking, and some of their players spread out to follow their marks, OL opened up to find space immediately, and their back line sent passes up wide or through the middle. This tactic was used in one of Lyon’s attempts on goal late in the first half, which nearly succeeded. Barça’s defense was often unprepared and didn’t anticipate the sudden switch of speed.

2. Barça used their midfield and attacking third to send crosses through Lyon’s defensive line whenever they were caught flat, which happened often during the first half. Lyon was slow to counter at times, allowing Barça to move in for crosses and runs. Because Lyon’s defensive line was often so flat, they were caught having to rush back on defense to adjust for an incoming shot or pass.

3. The two teams’ ball movement differed visibly. Lyon used fluid movement switching from one side to the other and using passes and runs up the sidelines, while Barça attacked more centrally, sending passes straight through the middle, as well as using many more crosses. That difference was pivotal to the result of the game. Lyon’s passes and runs from wide areas helped spread out Barça’s defense and created gaps to allow Lyon players through their lines. On the other end, Barça’s crosses helped them move the ball efficiently when Lyon’s own defense was slow to recover and drop back.

Photo by Matthew Wolfe

Portland Thorns vs Houston Dash

1. Early on, Portland’s starters struggled with their movement around the field, but gradually settled in as the game continued. The beginning of the match was a little messy, and it took me longer than usual to analyze the teams’ formations and movement, and to gain an understanding of how the two teams were approaching their opponent. As the game progressed, however, the Thorns’ movement improved. Some players started to switch sides to get into more comfortable positions and to confuse any defenders marking them. Forwards Sophia Smith and Taylor Porter, for example, often switched sides. After some of the chaos settled, the Thorns worked their way into the game.

2. The Houston Dash used the width of the field to pressure the Thorns centrally. The Thorns’ 4-1-2-1-2 formation meant they had a lot of players in the central midfield and were able to push several players forward when needed. With the center crowded with Thorns players, Houston had to find an alternative to breaking Portland’s defensive lines. They used the wings on offense, but used their own defensive line to pressure the center of the field and prevent Thorns attackers from getting chances centrally and in Houston’s box.

3. Subs from the Thorns at the beginning of the second half changed things up. With the Dash leading 2–0, a change was needed to at least catch up to the Dash. When Emily Menges, Simone Charley, and Hannah Betfort joined the fray, Charley’s speed meant counter attacks were in order. Bringing the ball forward for attacks more often led to more and more scoring opportunities, including corners—one of which gave the Thorns their first goal.

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ICC Soccer Thorns

My Favorite Things

Photo by Matthew Wolfe

A lot of good things that I liked happened last night. Here is a list of the best things that happened, in my opinion:

1. Seven total hype reels throughout the evening

2. Barcelona playing in a super-organized possession-based style, which I would bet not a huge amount of money, but some money, that no team has ever done in Providence Park before

3. Wendie Renard (tall)

4. Mariona goals (two)

5. When Amandine Henry scored in the North End

Photo by Matthew Wolfe

6. Melvine Malard goal

7. The ideal combo of sophistication and technical prowess, on the one hand, and yakety sax defensive errors on the other; maybe the best soccer game I’ve ever seen in person

8. Captain Hubly

9. When the Thorns rotated as much of the team as possible because the same 15ish players have been doing everything for like a month and a half, they’ve been on the road two weeks in a row, and the team has four games in the space of 12 days, so a bunch of players got their first starts and minutes

10. When Natalia Kuikka scored with her head after telling her roommate Angela Salem she was going to score with her head

11. When Olivia Moultrie did a direct free kick and it went in the goal, it was still cool even though the Houston keeper should have been able to save it

12. When Rachel Daly got mad

13. When it went to penalties

14. The sky

15. Shelby Hogan’s first penalty save

16. Shelby Hogan’s second penalty save

17. You can guess what this one is

18. When Simone Charley scored the winning penalty

19. That lineup, doing That

Categories
Soccer Thorns

Takeaways: Thorns 1, Dash 0

Photo by Nikita Taparia

From the second the whistle blew, the Thorns looked like they were going to dominate the Dash, with Sophia Smith scoring the fastest Thorns goal ever 32 seconds into the match. However, Smith’s goal would be the only one that Portland scored that night, holding the Dash to a 1–0 win on the road.

As a team who has “struggled with scoring,” said Kelli Hubly after the match,” it was really special to score early on the road.” Putting themselves on the board early was a needed confidence boost. However, the Thorns struggled to add to that tally, despite playing a great defensive game. 

Here are a couple of my takeaways from the match:

1. 90-minute defensive mentality

The Thorns were dominant against the Pride last week, holding a 2–0 lead for 93 minutes. Then, in the last minute of stoppage time, they conceded on a strike from outside the box. This week against the Dash, the Thorns immediately worked on correcting their mistakes, remaining committed to defense until the very end of stoppage time.

The Thorns led the Dash on duels won, interceptions, tackles, and aerial duels, spread not just across the defense but the midfield and forwards as well. One area of defense where the Thorns did particularly well was tracking back on wide balls that Houston would attempt to play. By preventing players like Jasmyne Spencer and Makamae Gomera-Stevens from getting crosses or passes off inside the 18-yard box after quick turnovers, the Thorns successfully shut down most of the Dash’s shooting angles, giving Bella Bixby an easy job that night. The cohesion between Natalia Kuikka, Hubly, Emily Menges, and Meghan Klingenberg was evident.

After the match, Rocky Rodríguez spoke about the team’s defensive mentality, saying that they “had a lot to lose” and the Thorns “need to get better at closing out games, especially if [they] are winning.” Those last twenty minutes of the game are crucial to securing three points, and players have to keep working hard even as they are beginning to tire. Parsons’s substitutions, which slotted defensive players like Christen Westphal and Meaghan Nally into the midfield to help overwhelm Houston’s offensive-minded substitutions, worked. The Thorns’ game changers came in and locked down the win, bringing accurate passes and high pressure and holding Houston to only 13 shots. Rodríguez’s statement is true—the Thorns do need to work on closing out games—but they’re already showing improvement from last week. 

2. Defense wins games, but scoring helps too

When Sophia Smith set the new club record for fastest goal, it seemed as though Portland was going to have another performance à la the season opener against Chicago, where they went  up 4–0 in the first half.

Unfortunately, Smith’s goal was the only one for a Thorns side that has struggled to score in recent games. The Thorns have had no problem getting the ball into their attacking third. Last night, they had 50 more accurate passes in their attacking half than the Dash had on them, even without their midfield of international stars. Rodríguez, Angela Salem, and Celeste Boureille link up in the diamond well, and are able to control the ball and distribute to Smith, Simone Charley, and Marissa Everett, but where the Thorns are struggling is getting off that final cross or shot on goal. All players are rising to the occasion of getting more time than they had been seeing prior to the Olympics, and are beginning to find their groove and consistency with this new starting lineup. 

While typically the Thorns outshoot their opponents two to one, against Houston they only registered 14 shots to the Dash’s 13. To the eye, that decrease was clear, with Charley and Smith often taking one too many touches before getting a cross blocked, or a defender crashing on them, neither one of them making an accurate cross on the night. With a team full of talented attackers and a midfield with good rates of distribution and control, there should be more shots on goal. Being able to set themselves up with a wider margin of goals will only complement the Thorns’ defense as they work on closing games without conceding more consistently.