In a way it’s kind of heartwarming that, as dire as the Thorns recent results have been, our punters refuse to give up hope.
Even the least-optimistic of our predictors had a Thorns win instead of the 2-4 thumping that the visiting Boston Legacy dropped in our collective laps., so, needless to say no one got the score, either – although Irene did get the score right in terms of “number of goals for each team”…except that the team totals were precisely reversed.
Several punters got Tordin as one of the Thorns scorers. Ken was the only one to get Gutierres as one of the Boston scorers, and it was hardly surprising that a bunch of people had Wilson as one of ours, including Barcasiempre who remains insistent that Wilson will score multiple goals in a match, goddamn it!
Another tough week here all around. With the season coming down to the wire Ken and Dave are touch-tight to one another.
So here’s where we stand after Matchday 27:
| Player | Latest Round | Cumulative Score |
| PTFC Dave | 3 | 32 |
| Ken | 1 | 33 |
| Barcasiempre | 1 | 26 |
| Mi-So-Thorny | 0 | 4 |
| Irene | 1 | 8 |
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.
First yellow means just that: the player – the first player and only the first player – who receives a yellow. Not the first player on each team. If more than one player listed as “first yellow” all the punter’s predictions for that category will be voided.
After a weekend’s international break – during which, I should note, Sophia Wilson put up yet another zero playing for the Nats (though she did ring the crossbar and pot one that was called back for offside…) against Spain – the Thorns are back in action again Sunday without her.
This will be the return fixture against Bay FC in San Francisco.
Since their 2-nil loss here back in May BFC has thrashed feebly along near the bottom of the table. In late May the Baysians were 13th of 16, 3-2-3 (11pts), dropped as low as 15th before struggling back to 14th, 7-5-15 (26pts), 28GF, 42GA, -14GD.
This sorry outfit has problems at both ends of the pitch.
Scoring? Yeahhhhnope. Their top shooter is Karlie Lema with only 8. The usual scoring suspect, Rachel Kundananji, has started only 14 of Bay’s 27 and scored only twice, which is obviously a huge problem. Alex Pfeiffer has chipped in three goals and three assists (Kundananji has three “A”s, as well) but in only 18 starts. Claire Hutton, another of BFC’s supposed marquee signings, has started every match but contributed only 2G 2A.
Defending? Sorry. Although the orange-and-navy aren’t quite the total backline trashfires like Racing and Chicago their starting keeper, former US junior Jordan Silkowitz, has had a fairly awful season, shipping 39 goals, and the real problem is that her backline has given up 157 shots on target against her, the highest of any of the bottom five sides other than the league’s comedy act, Chicago.
PayPal Park isn’t a fortress, either. The Bay are only 4-2-7 at home (3-3-8 on the road), so it’s unlikely that they will be better than they were here. But…
(And with this season’s Thorns squad there’s always a “but”, isn’t there?)
…I’m not sure that the Thorns aren’t worse off now than they were in May. Losing Wilson can’t help, although Wilson didn’t score against them then, going 0 for 9 shots (three blocked, two misses), so the real question is whether, since in my writeup of the match I said that:
“…at the other end, for most of the match the Thorns “attack” consisted of:
1. Wilson hero-ball,
2. Buildups that fell apart before any real dangerous shot-creation, and
3. Direct play that was usually cooked by poor timing, from the run, the pass, or both.”
…without Wilson the Thorns can make either of the other two gimmicks work.
Well, I guess we’ll find out Sunday, eh?
Last meeting: May 20, 2026, Providence Park, Portland, Oregon. 2-nil win.
- The Thorns Prediction Game: MD28 – BFC v POR - October 11, 2026
- Thorns FC: Gone in 1,260 Seconds - October 8, 2026
- The Thorns Prediction Game: MD 27 – BOS v POR - October 1, 2026
