Well!
Finally we can stop farkling about with all these international matches and get back to what counts – the Thorns, and our predictions for their next match.
The last match was a bit of a half-full/half-empty sort of thing. On the “good enough” side the club got a road point – in Cary, where we’ve historically struggled – and scored twice.
On the “but…” side, the defense broke down twice, and it could have been worse; The Damned had an open goal within seconds of the final whistle. Luckily Peyton Linnehan still couldn’t hit water if she fell out of a boat, so perhaps we should be happy to scamper away with even the single point.
It was a tough week here, too; none of our punters got the result or, obviously, the score, and almost everyone had way more confidence in Sophia Wilson than Wilson had herself. Several got Turner as a scorer, and since it was Carolina those who had Courage goals got either Sanchez or Matsukubo since, well, Carolina. Dave nicked the story points with the current trend of soccer hair-tugging…
Here’s the league table before Matchday 6:
| Player | Latest Round | Cumulative Score |
| PTFC Dave | 4 | 26 |
| Ken | 2 | 16 |
| DanXP2 | 0 | 4 |
| Barcasiempre | 1 | 4 |
| Daniel Stratton | 1 | 6 |
How all this works:
Before the upcoming Thorns match add a comment to this post. As your first line, put your predicted result, for example 1-3 Thorns.
In the body of your comment, start with the goals and assists, like so:
Wilson (Fleming)
Reyes (Free kick)
Moultrie (Unassisted)
Rodman (PK)
Next, name the first yellow card recipient: Sophia Wilson
Then a red card. (NOTE: no points awarded for correctly calling a red-card-free match, so take a guess.) Trinity Rodman for mimicking mooning the referee after getting an undeserved yellow.
Make your fun prediction,and give a “thumbs up” to anybody else’s prediction that tickles your fancy: “Ryan gets the start against her former club. She gets through 70 minutes without fouling her former teammates until she can’t take it anymore. She pushes over Perry, gives Muller a wedgie, gives Arnold a noogie, then flips off the Riveters and runs out of Providence Park, never to be seen again. The ref issues a red card, which she later contests, and loses.” (h/t to ABell4)
Scoring:
· Correct score: 5 points
· Correct result (draw/win/loss): 3 points
· Each clean sheet: 2 points
· Each goal-scorer: 1 point
· Each FK/PK/assist/lack of assist: 1 point
· Goal/assist bonus: 1 point
· Player with the first yellow card of the match: 1 point
· A player with a red card: 1 point
· Most liked/most outrageously accurate prediction: 2 points
Some ground rules and explanations/clarifications (the fine print):
Comments must be posted before kickoff, but you can edit or amend an earlier prediction right up to the starting whistle.
Keep your scoreline predictions realistic. No crazy scores just to pad out your odds of getting goals and assists.
The goal/assist bonus is an additional point if you predict the correct scorer and assistant on the same goal, for example, you say Castellanos scores from a Moultrie assist and that is exactly what happens.
Be clear whether you think a goal will be unassisted, assisted, or from a PK/FK. Unassisted = no assist, run of play; Assisted = player who got the assist; PK/FK = dead ball, not in run of play. FK includes olimpicos from corners. No entry means unassisted.
Next up? Angel City FC away.
This might just be the most telling match of the season to date.
The Thorns three wins are, in order, over Washington (currently 8th, 1-3-1, 6pts), Seattle (3rd, 3-1-1, 10pts…but an utterly freakish match, so.), and Kansas City (11th, 2-0-3, 6pts). So basically two cans and a “wtf?”. The draw was also a bit random, given that Carolina is also a can (12th, 1-2-1, 4pts) but in Cary has always been tough for us.
The loss, though, was at San Diego (1st, 4-0-1, 12pts)…so the only Thorns loss has been to another top team on the road.
Which is what ACFC is this coming weekend (4th, 3-0-1, 9pts with a game in hand).
The Angels 10GF is the best in the league, but is fluffed by the four-goal whipping they laid on Chicago on MD 1 and three more at Bay FC on MD 2. Since then, only three goals in two games, including a 2-1 loss in Orlando on MD 4.
Jonsdottir is their top gun so far, three goals including a brace at BFC. Gisele Thompson has two singles including the lone goal in Orlando. Five players with one goal each.
Defensively it’s been a slow slide; after the Opening Day sheet the Angels leaked a goal in each of their next two games and then shipped two in Orlando. Here’s Carlisle-sensei on the Orlando match:
“Orlando’s overloading of Angel City’s left side kept the ball away from Gisele Thompson and Kennedy Fuller, and lured Sveindís Jónsdóttir over to try and combine with Riley Tiernan. Gisele managed to score, but she and Fuller were kept to a low numbers of touches.
I gotta give a shoutout to Sarah Gorden though. Her work defending Barbra Banda was incredible. I’m sure she’s sore af right now, but she put in a hell of a shift and is the only defender I’ve seen make up ground on Banda in a foot race.”
Can Portland do the same? We’ll see Sunday!
- The Thorns Prediction Game: MD 6 ACFC v POR - April 21, 2026
- Thorns FC: The Curse of Cary - April 8, 2026
- The Thorns Prediction Game: MD 5 NCC v POR - April 3, 2026
