Thorns FC: Quick Turnaround

Last Saturday the Thorns played their fourth match of year and their third match in seven days.

On Matchday 4, less than three weeks (actually barely more than two; fifteen days after Opening Day in D.C.) into the 2026 season.

Let’s stop and think about that for a moment.

I don’t recall an NWSL season where midweek matches arrived this early. Ever. That’s a big ask for bodies just settling in to match fitness after the offseason, a big ask for squads just finding – or still searching for – form, many with new faces, some with new coaches, all with a long, demanding season ahead.

That this demand might find some players, some squads, some managers wanting isn’t, or at least shouldn’t be, surprising. That it might produce some troubling results isn’t, and probably shouldn’t be, shocking.

But one of the most difficult parts of soccer fandom is accepting that shit happens, that short-rest matches can produce one-off results, that not every loss is a disaster, so it can be hard not to stress when your club drops a clanger like the loss to San Diego last Wednesday.

Fortunately for Thorns fans (and the club), the final round of the Late March Match Barrage was 1) at home 2) against the Kansas City Current.

Because 1) home is where the heart is, and 2) holy shit are the Current fucking awful this season.

I was surprised out of a full-on laugh at the subhead to the Stumptown match recap: “The Thorns bounce back to defeat the defending NWSL Shield winners” because whatever else the Teal are this season, any resemblance to the “defending 2025 NWSL Shield winners”, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

On Matchday 4 2025 the Current went to San Diego standing in second; 3-0-0, 8GF, 1GA and left 4-0-0, 10GF, 1GA. The following match Kansas City whipped Houston 2-nil to go top and never left it; the squad clinched on Matchday 21 – the quickest Shield as a proportion of matches scheduled in league history – and finished with 21 wins and 2 draws of 26 games played, their 2.5 points per game topping the 2018 Damned’s 2.38ppg, a record I thought might stand for a decade or more.

This season?

The Current shambled into the Civic in 11th, 1-0-2, 3GF, 6GA. coming off two successive losses, their only win a home opener over Utah.

In other words, a tire fire.

In other other words, just the exact sort of opponent that a team coming home on short rest off a tough road loss wants to find waiting.

Both sides needed a statement, and it showed from the opening whistle; both went after each other like berserkers.

The difference?

Portland finally put together a coherent, connected, consistently dangerous attack while remaining fairly disciplined in back.

Kansas City was utterly adrift, unable to figure out how to use the players that had been such lethal weapons the previous season – missing Temwa Chawinga might have had something to do with that, mind – while coming apart under attacking pressure.

Portland was firing bullets, Kansas City lobbing cotton balls.

Here’s the xG plots; Henderson’s first:

And now Carlisle:

That’s punitive, but not unfair.

In the scoreless first half the Current got only three shots on goal; a 3rd minute Ally Sentnor roller that Macca Arnold hoovered up, a 13th minute Michelle Cooper knuckle ball that also went straight to Arnold, and finally the best of the three, another Sentnor effort, this one hard and high but that Arnold got up well to box over her crossbar.

At the north end, meanwhile;
10′ – Sophia Wilson’s hard shot was blocked to Olivia Moultrie, who rocketed a blast off Lorena’s right post; Wilson pounced on the rebound and rifled a putback that Lorena had to lunge to kick away. The ball ran to Reilyn Turner, but Turner’s pass was off-target and ran over the byline.
13′ – M.A. Vignola put Wilson through the Current backline; Wilson’s pointblank shot somehow came off the inside of Lorena’s right post and back out. This time it was Moultrie with the putback that was blocked.
20′ – Moultrie shimmied out of the press to find Wilson; Wilson’s square pass served Mimi Alidou an opportunity, but Alidou’s shot was blocked.
20′ – Wilson again, but this time right at Lorena.

At this point the Current began to figure out the midfield lanes the Thorns were exploiting and adjusted to shut them down. The final 25 minutes or so were more even, if unproductive, and the two clubs ran off at halftime with Portland, I’m sure, feeling the harder done by.

Part of the Current’s problems was that Armas set them up in a low-midfield block, seeming more worried about conceding than using his stable of gifted umasumume to take the game to Portland’s up-to-that-point-unreliable-backline…but his midfield seemed unable to anticipate a surprisingly quick-and-accurate passing attack that moved the ball quickly through midfield.

Kansas City had gone from the sturdiest defense in the league in 2025 to the second-worst in 2026, so I kind of get that. But to set that up, and then fail..? Well…

What made this failure even more brutal was that after the break when the Thorns finally broke through and scored? Both goals were on hero-ball efforts that succeeded because of appalling individual blunders.

In the 51st minute Marie Muller’s throw-in went over Moultrie’s head to Current defender and former Thorn Elizabeth Ball, who proceeded to 1) pass directly to Wilson barely two yards in front of her and then, when Wilson deked around her…

…stuck out her back leg and hacked Wilson down for an obvious penalty.

Ouch.

Moultrie gently passed the PK into the left side of the goal for the matchwinner.

Ten minutes later Jaden Perry lofted a long rainbow to Reilyn Turner, well-marked and with her back to goal. For some unfathomable reason Lorena boltered off her line – the replay made it clear that had she stayed put Turner’s tame little header would have bounced right into her hands – and instead of going in hard and high to get over Turner’s head and box away, cringed at the last moment, using her hands to protect herself…

…instead of going for the ball.

I get it; if Lorena boxes away she’s likely to get Turner’s skull square in the face. That hurts! But that’s a keeper’s bargain. Sometimes you make the play knowing it will hurt.

Ouch.

That was pretty much that. Kansas City; rolled up like a barrel, beaten like a taiko drum.

Tidy win, happy days, Thorns back up into the top four (Kansas City dropped into the Hell of 13th) and a week to rest tired legs and recover bruised spirits for the coming weekend when, speaking of Hell, the Women in Fizzy Pink go to the Village of the Damned.

Now there’s a good place to unleash some real hellfire.

Short Passes

The reversal of fortune from last Wednesday was reflected in the passing numbers (Portland 82% completion of 474 passes, Kansas City 72% of 320) and on the Sofascore “momentum” plot:

Here’s Carlisle-sensei with the passing. First, Portland:

The problem with this “Lowdon-is-the-Hidden-Master” theory is that 1) I watched the Indio tune-ups and the backline was still in full-on KenBall Mode with Lowdon as the interim boss, and 2) Vytas is still here and he’s supposed to be the Defense Guru (or whatever you call the coach in Lithuanian) for both Lowdon and Vilahamn.

Plus there’s the “let’s-all-meet-at-the-center-circle” thing in midfield, which is also a KenBall feature.

I agree that this isn’t a Vilahamn adjustment; neither his c.v. nor his timeline here suggest that he can have yet made any serious correction to the backline troubles we had last season.

But I’d also mirror Stumptown’s own ag167; it’s only freaking Matchday 4! Let’s see how things look by June. If we’re a 5GA, +24GD by then? I won’t care whodunnit, I’ll just lie back and bask in the defensive goodness.

Here’s Kansas City

A big part of this that I think Carlisle-sensei doesn’t hit on enough is that the other big factor is Armas’ sit-in-a-low-mid-block-and-don’t-press-until-the-Thorns-try-a-move. So the Thorns half looked a lot like this for a lot of the match:

But unlike the previous match where the Thorns movement was slow and the passes out of the back often mishit, against the Current Portland’s passing was more precise and their movement to space crisper and quicker. So, since KCC was lingering about waiting to be triggered to press by a move…

Well, you see the result.

Turnover and over.

Here’s how things are going;

Opponent – Venue (Result)	Turnovers
Washington – Away (W)	26
Seattle – Home (W)	11
San Diego – Away (L)	29
Kansas City – Home (W)	23

This is one of those “I don’t have to run faster than the bear; I just have to run faster than you” jokes.

The turnover number isn’t great. Better than San Diego by a bit…but context is everything. Because 1) KCC was a shitshow; 31 giveaways, 15 first half, 16 second, while 2) Portland tightened up after the wild first half (18 turnovers) with a stingy second (only 5). So it helped that while Kansas City was a dumpster in flames Portland tossing away paper matches didn’t serve to light their own pitch on fire.

Perry, Hiatt, and Vignola tied for Biggest Loser with four each; Cass Bogere lost three. Most of Perry’s were long downfield lobs, and one that connected counted as an assist, so that kinda pays for all, dunnit?

The only real hairball was a Vignola pass to Debinha right in front of the 18 with less than six minutes to play. But Vignola then got stuck in and tackled the ball back. No blood, no foul, eh?

Press!

Fourth match tracking the press. I counted either a 1) turnover (either from a tackle-for-loss or a mishit forced pass), or a 2) forced retreat or drop-pass that killed off a progressive action, as a pressing “win”.

As noted above, KCC was in a defensive crouch most of the match; they pressed only 26 times total; 14 in the first half, winning 9; 12 in the second, winning six. The second half presses were more selective; only two of the nine first half wins also won ball possession, but five of the six second half wins turned Portland over.

Portland came out fast and furious; 27 first half presses (15 wins, including 5 ball-winning turnovers). As the match settled down so did Portland’s press; 16 in the second half (8 wins, 4 of them also winning the ball).

Match time	KCC presses (wins)(%)	Thorns presses (wins)(%)
0-48′	14(9) (64.3%)	27(15) (55.5%)
45-95′	12(6) (50%)	16(8) (50%)
Match Total	26(15) (57.6%)	43(23) (53.4%)

My thoughts:
1) The Portland squad confidence level seems to have come in smashingly high, and the savage first half press, combined with the wild twenty-minute melee in front of the Kansas City goal, feels to me like it knocked the Current – not a composed group to begin with and, given their record and form, not an unreasonably worried state of mind for them to be in – back on their heels.
2) On the other hand, Armas’ troops feel like they came in playing not to lose.
3) That’s pretty deadly, and so when they did concede – in shockingly poor fashion – the air just went out of them.
4) Portland, work done, then took the rest of the afternoon off from pressing.
5) That said, there’s one moment of pressing-related beauty we’ll talk about when we get to the Tordin comment.

Here’s the running tally:

Match (Result)	Opponent Press (Success)	Thorns Press (Success)
Washington Away (W)	40(27) (67.5%)	69(41) (59.4%)
Seattle Home (W)	61(30) (49.1%)	35(20) (57.1%)
San Diego Away (L)	33(22) (66.6%)	88(40) (45.4%)
Kansas City Home (W)	26(15) (57.6%)	43(23) (53.4%)

Looks to me like pressing was a factor, but only as part of a larger Portland effort.

Corner Kicks

Three, all long, two in the first half, one in the second.

Time	Taker	Short/Long?	Result
12′	Moultrie	Long	Continuing the theme we’ve seen so far this season, played long to the back post. Turner got a head to it, but nothing dangerous. Cleared away.
16′	Moultrie	Long	Onto Turner’s head, but Turner headed wide right, as usual.
47′	Moultrie	Long	Went into the scrum and cleared away.

Turner seems like a favored target for these deliveries; if so, she needs to work on her heading. Or Vilahamn needs to find another target.

Player Ratings and Comments

Wilson (69′ – +8/-2 : +6/-0 : +14/-2) Much as we remember her; active, clever, creative. Came within a post of an opening goal, and was still driving forward in time to sucker Liz Ball. Welcome back, mom. Good to see ya.

Tordin (22′ – +8/-1) This is just. Fucking. Filthy.

I wish I could embed it. It’s worth following the link from Carlisle’s “Vaudevillian Cane” site. But I can’t agree more with his assessment of both this move, and Tordin’s spring to date:

“Tordin has had a brilliant start to 2026, and a Sauce God high on confidence is a dangerous thing—as multiple Kansas City players found out. Filth, technique, audacity, and the sort of fluid body control and manipulation that’s more artistic expression than sport.”

Ohhellyeah.

Turner (+7/-1 : +9/-0 : +16/-1) Nicked a (sorta fluky) goal and did all her usual hard work, but also missed a couple of sitters. Given the attacking talent on this squad, and the reality that goals are a forward’s currency? Y’gotta start putting the biscuit in the basket from your own shots on frame, girlfriend. Good match, but that’s the bottom line.

Alidou (+3/-2 : +7/-1 : +10/-3) I’ll admit to being a kind of Alidou-hater; not that I actually hate on her – she works her tail off and I’ll always stand up for a player who does that – but she usually seems to just kind of be there. In the small-roster world of the NWSL she has seemed to me to be a passenger, and no NWSL squad can really support that.

This match, though, she had some genuinely nice touches in the second half and was an integral piece of the squad, both in attack and on defense.

Well played.

Moultrie (+11/-0 : +7/-3 : +18/-3) What? Jaden Perry isn’t the PK Assassin anymore?

Many players would be spun up by Moultrie’s rep, her numbers, her position as a leader of a high-flying side at a mere twenty years old. For Moultire?

Just another day at work.

Bogere (+6/-2 : +4/-1 : +10/-3) Solid match. Which, given we last saw her making the Walk of Shame? Good enough. Better to come? Let’s see…

Fleming (+7/-2 : +4/-0 : +11/-2) Another lockdown match from the current midfield general. I’m not saying we don’t miss Sam Coffey; no squad happily forgoes a talent like that.

But Fleming is doing a damn fine job so far helping us get through the “bargaining” stage.

Muller (68′ – +4/-2 : +5/-2 : +9/-4) Both fullbacks worked their asses off; KCC tried a lot of nonsense down the touchlines, but Muller and (as we’ll see) Vignola were up for pretty much all of it. It didn’t hurt that Croix Bethune is struggling this spring, but she’s still Croix Bethune, so hoch, hoch!

McKenzie (22′ – +8/-1) Excellent shift. Particularly the timing on stepping up to cut off passes; nicked three I saw and probably a couple more I didn’t. That’d be impressive for a veteran national team player. For a rook? Outstanding!

Hiatt (+6/-1 : +3/-1 : +9/-1) The Thorns backline and DMs (Bogere and Fleming – Vilahamn went with the 4-2-3-1 mostly) were a disciplined and compact unit, meaning that the centerbacks, in particular, were well protected. Hiatt and Perry didn’t put up huge numbers but not because they were loafing. They didn’t need to, which is a huge win for the defending. Well done, Hiatt, and well done, team.

Perry (+1/-2 : +2/-0 : +3/-2) See above.

Vignola (+12/-5 : +11/-1 : +23/-6) An utter monster. Get some, M.A., you da Woman. Woman of the Match, to be exact.

Now don’t take this the wrong way. I still, and always will, adore Hina-san. She’s made of 100% Awesome, and I miss her every match. But…

Given how much Vignola has done to help improve the backline, and with Sugita-senshu out for the season on a SEI…this trade looks a lot less like a loss than it did in 2025.

Arnold (+3/-1 : +0/-0 : +3/-1) Big save in the 36th minute, out well to take in the 31st and 46th minutes. Did have a bit of a headscratcher in the 43rd minute when she boxed away a looping ball it looked like she could have caught, but 1) she was there and I wasn’t, and 2) it wasn’t an obvious mistake like Lorena on Turner’s goal, so…

Having two starting keepers is a “good trouble” kind of problem…at least for a while.

Coach Vilahamn: So far, so good.

That said, still early days and, as the passing diagram shows, there’s still a lot of Ken in the tactics and roster. We’ll just have to be patient and see how the season progresses.

A win in Cary wouldn’t hurt, mind. Just sayin’, coach.