Win – Rose City Review

The Thorns had yet another resounding win against Gotham FC on Saturday, beating New Jersey/New York 5-0 with five different goal scorers. At the halfway point through the season, Portland has five wins, six ties, and one loss and sits second on the table. All five of the Thorns’ wins have been shutouts, and they have scored at least three goals in each. While the Thorns have had trouble holding onto a lead if the other team scores, they have proven time and time again to be lucrative in front of goal when their defense is solid.

Credit: Matt Wolfe

Portland came out of the gates firing against Gotham. From the moment the whistle blew, the Thorns were hungry for a goal. The first came courtesy of Taylor Porter—filling in for Sam Coffey after Coffey’s sudden call-up to the full national team—in the fifth minute. Olivia Moultrie hit an absolute worldie from the top of the 18-yard box in the seventh minute, and Marissa “Dangerous” Everett tapped in a third goal in the 11th. These first three goals were the fastest an NWSL team has scored three in the regular season, beating the record previously set by the Thorns (15 minutes). The second half saw two more unique scorers, with Hannah Betfort scoring her first career NWSL goal in her first touch of the match off her head, and Morgan Weaver ruthlessly pressing and intercepting a pass from Gotham keeper Ashlyn Harris and slotting the ball home on an open net.

Exactly half of the Thorns’ 20 shots were on target—a very strong ratio. The game against Gotham marked the third game without the Thorns’ seven international players. Head coach Rhian Wilkinson said that she was “proud of the two previous performances [both ties], but they wanted to put a stamp on this game and on this three-game series. And my goodness, they did that.”

Now, the Thorns feel as though they have multiple players in each position that can come in and deliver, according to Wilkinson, which is crucial to work towards a deep playoff run.

Credit: Matt Wolfe

With a goal differential of +19, over two times the next highest team’s goal differential, the Thorns are on track to set a new record for goals scored in the NWSL. Portland has scored twice as many goals as eight of eleven other teams, and four times as many as Gotham this season so far. The Thorns have more individual goal scorers (12) than some teams have scored goals.

These stats highlight the depth of the team and the creation of a strong team mentality. Each and every player, regardless of where they play or whether they start in the XI or on the bench, knows the job they need to do and how to execute it. Last season, the players reiterated the strong culture they were building under Mark Parsons. Now, with a new head coach, the players are still maintaining the strength and intensity of their connections with one another, showing that they believe in one another and hold each other to high standards.

Credit: Matt Wolfe

“The team’s biggest strength is that they like one another,” Wilkinson said.

Against Gotham, the Thorns looked like they were having an absolute blast. Each player was playing with swagger and joy and complete confidence in themselves. It was infectious to watch. Seeing the over 16,000 people at Providence Park cheer and wave flags felt incredible. The players deserve the support of the fans, and are showing how well they can play when they are hyped up.

One player who has stepped up to the plate in a big way during the international tournament window is Moultrie. She had gotten limited minutes in the beginning of the season, starting the vast majority of games on the bench. With Coffey, Christine Sinclair, and Rocky Rodríguez all out with their respective countries, midfield spots are open for the taking, and Moultrie is trying to set her name in stone in that starting XI.

Moultrie completed nine passes in the final third, and half of her shots were on target. With 10 recoveries as well, Moultrie showed her box-to-box skills and that she is able to take shots as well as prevent them.

Credit: Matt Wolfe

When asked about her goal, Moultrie said: “as soon as I got the ball, I was like, ‘I’m gonna rip this. I’m gonna touch it out and I’m gonna hit it.’ And it went exactly where I wanted it to, and I got very excited, I’m sure as the video shows for itself. I’ve never scored in a regular-season match at Providence Park, so to get a rose and go through that was a really awesome moment for me.”

Being aggressive in front of goal was a goal for the Thorns, and their dominating 5-0 scoreline was a testament to the competition of their goal.

It took a while for the Timbers to break through against the LA Galaxy Saturday afternoon, but once they did it became a field day at Providence Park.

After a frustrating, scoreless first half, Portland found the opening goal they so desperately craved in the 47th minute. Forward Felipe Mora, who subbed on after Andy Polo left the game in first-half stoppage time due to a hard, unnecessary tackle, read the space and got on the end of a well-placed cross from outside back Josecarlos Van Rankin. From there, the Timbers scored two more times and cruised to a 3–0 victory against Los Angeles.

“The commitment to perform what we work on during the week is what coaches always want,” coach Giovanni Savarese said. “It shows what this team is all about. A united group that will fight. It doesn’t matter who goes out on the field, everybody’s going to try and perform for each other and today was another very good performance.”

Los Angeles provided a tough test for a Timbers team looking to build on their 2–0 win at San Jose a week ago. Coach Greg Vanney’s team entered the match on a two-game winning streak and took 12 of their first 18 possible points. Talented players such as Chicharito, Jonathan Dos Santos, Efrain Alvarez, and Julian Araujo dotted the visitors’ starting 11. Despite the talent on paper, however, they struggled to find any sort of rhythm against the hosts.

While it took Portland a while to grow into the match, the team looked solid defensively and did enough to prevent the Galaxy from finding too many dangerous opportunities. Still, for as solid as the Timbers looked, they struggled to find a decisive goal or opportunity of their own throughout the first half.

A lot of those squandered chances stemmed from trying for the jugular. Multiple times throughout the first half, Portland pushed the ball into the attacking third in transition before settling for a half chance. A ball into the box turned into an attempted bicycle kick by forward Dairon Asprilla. In another transition moment, outside back Claudio Bravo found himself with time and space and tried to laser the shot in from deep. Those opportunities came dangerously close both times, but were both still low-percentage chances.

Photo by Kris Lattimore

Near the end of the first half, the Timbers went a man up after Los Angeles forward Derrick Williams received a straight red for his brutal aerial challenge on Polo. The Peruvian watched the second half on crutches and Savarese’s immediate update did not sound good.

“When there’s a tackle like that, you don’t want to see that on the field,” Savarese said. “Especially having players that then have to come out because of that situation. Right now, the most important part is hopefully Polo can come back.”

The reckless challenge quelled the crowd at Providence Park for a few minutes, but Portland eventually made the most they could of the man advantage. Mora said that the game changed once the red card was issued. Spaces between the Galaxy’s center backs opened up, which the team relentlessly exploited in the second half.

“It was very hard to find spaces, but after the red card we spoke at halftime,” Mora said through a translator. “We knew that we needed to be calm, patient, and wait for the right opportunities. Thankfully after the first goal, the game opened up more for all of us and we were able to get two more goals.”

Mora took advantage of the newly found space with his header to open the second half, then 13 minutes later, netted a brace. Once again, the Chilean forward showcased his movement in the box, but this time by reading a second ball. In a moment of chaos, Van Rankin’s floated shot hit the top post, Mora reacted first, and he powered another opportunistic header past goalkeeper Jonathan Bond.

To cap off the high-scoring second half, the Timbers received an opportunity from the penalty spot after Los Angeles defender Daniel Steres brought Van Rankin down in the box. Midfielder Diego Valeri, who missed a pair of penalties in Portland’s 2–1 loss against Seattle, once again stepped to the spot. This time, he left little doubt as he confidently blasted the ball past Bond for the 3–0 lead.

“I needed to score that goal,” Valeri said. “After missing those two PKs against Seattle, it was important for me to score that third goal and keep lifting the team. Anyone can miss a PK, but for me it was important to put the ball in the net and keep looking forward.”

Photo by Kris Lattimore

Just as sweet as the win, the Timbers put together their second-consecutive clean sheet against a team that entered Saturday with 10 goals. The center back tandem of Dario Zuparic and Bill Tuiloma came up big, while loanee goalkeeper Logan Keterrer put together another impressive performance.

“I think that has come because of the discipline of the group in the way that the guys have performed, in the way that the guys have executed the plan that we put together,” Savarese said. “We have players that are sacrificing for others in order to make sure that we cover every space, and that’s what we’ve seen in the last two games.”

With the three points, Portland wrapped up their home schedule before the three-week international break on a strong note. The Timbers now travel to Philadelphia high on confidence for one final match before the break, playing with house money and a roster getting healthier by the day.