The first Cascadia rivalry of the year was played in Lumen Field, and the hosts got the win.
Coming off their first victory of the year, spirits were high as the Portland Thorns hit the road to play Laura Harvey’s team. Even though the Seattle Reign had a rough start to the year with an aged roster, the seasoned coach has found a way to give to reinvent the Reign.
Seattle’s goal
Not even five minutes into the game, Lynn Biyendolo found an opening between Portland’s lines. The forward sent a horizontal pass to Maddie Dahlien on the left, where she faced Thorns defender Kaitlyn Torpey. The rookie beat the Matilda, but the tally wouldn’t have been possible if not for the complicity of Nérilia Mondésir.
As you can see in the image below, Mondésir occupies the space between Torpey and Sam Hiatt at centerback. She then steps back to leave the space open for her teammate.
It was an excellent off-the-ball job by the Haitian, but Portland’s backline was also to blame. Look at the acres of space between the center-backs and the Reign players available to make a run if Dahlien had chosen to pass instead of shooting.
Seattle’s plan in the first half: Long balls
It was clear that one of coach Harvey’s plans had to do with long balls to either Dahlien or Biyendolo. The rookie was Torpey’s nightmare, and she and Hiatt had to double-mark to stop the winger.
It was key, then, not only for the back four to be very attentive to any long balls and runs, but also for Bella Bixby to do the same and to intervene when necessary. And that’s exactly what she did several times during the match.
No doubt, Bixby’s interventions were pivotal and stopped Seattle from extending the lead. We can see that clearly in Biyendolo’s shot, where Bixby comes out of her line to shrink the striker’s angle.
Portland’s plan
Reilyn Turner had found the back of the net for Portland in two consecutive games, but she couldn’t do so for a third time. But she was still the player who stepped the most on Seattle’s box (five touches) and hit the crossbar in the second half.
As you could see in the video above, Hina Sugita was once again the most unpredictable player. She was successful the times she went through the wings and tried to make a pass or send a pass into the box.
If we talk about things the Thorns need to improve on, one of them is the players’ positioning inside the box. As you can see in the video above, the ball played by Sugita was good enough but Turner’s body angle wasn’t the best, knowing that she wasn’t going to have enough time to receive, accommodate her body, and shoot.
But there were still other areas of success, like Payton Linnehan with crosses. Even though she didn’t have much weight on the field, she was the player with the most crosses completed.
On the other hand, Portland also need to improve on their passing. Let’s take this play, where Olivia Moultrie carries the ball, as an example:
Turner does an excellent job at receiving the ball with her chest and passing it with that sole movement, wasting no time making the pass in that way to Moultrie. Caiya Hanks sees the space in front of her and signals where she wants the ball, but instead of a vertical pass, Moultrie decides to continue with the carry. That gives Seattle time to close the space, and Moultrie can’t find an open teammate to pass to after that. As a result, she goes for a horizontal pass, and the opportunity gets lost.
So, we can see the Thorns didn’t play badly against the Reign, but there are important details they need to improve to maximize their chances and be able to take them.
Also, it would be good not to have to depend on only one player to score. Before Sophia Wilson, one of the Thorns’ main characteristics was the fact that pretty much anyone could score. And since they don’t have a clear striker nowadays, it’d be great if they could go back to being that kind of team.
