Not Again!

(In which the Curse of Memorial Stadium continues) This is a short match report for this last of three games in eight days. The Thorns visited the Seattle Reign and once again came home with nothing, losing 2-0. All-time, Portland has taken one point from a possible fifteen there and been outscored 14-2 in the […]

Bouncing

(in which the Thorns bounce back and the house bounces with them) This is a short match report for this busy week of three games in eight days. FC Kansas City came to town in a matchup of the two best defenses in the league. The game was not the grinding affair everyone expected as […]

Where Did We Leave Our Keys?

(In which the Thorns cannot find the key, so Washington locks up three points) This is the first brief match report in this busy period of three games in eight days. For only the second time ever, the Washington Spirit defeated the Portland Thorns. The final score was 1-0 on a Francisca Ordega goal in […]

Providence Park Power Ratings

The Thorns may have lost to Sky Blue, but it wasn’t due to a lack of quality play or effort. My WOTM was (yet again) Lindsey Horan. Her “beast mode” may be permanent, as she was both controlling the midfield and leading much of the attack. By the numbers, her positive-to-negative meaningful touch count was […]

Tons of Pride

Providence Park was rocking all night! A crowd of 16,736 was on hand and it was Pride Night. The stands were filled with color. The early goal conceded did not dampen spirits as the fans sang and danced until the final whistle. Governor Kate Brown, wearing an old-school Thorns jersey, oversaw the coin toss. One […]

Still All Even

(In which the Thorns lose at home for the first time in a long time) The second leg of the Thorns’ home and home series versus Sky Blue took place at Providence Park during Pride Night on Saturday. The first leg held two weeks ago was a 2-0 win for Portland, so given the Thorns […]

Piscataway Power Rankings

My Woman-Of-The-Match award goes to Adrianna Franch for her outstanding performance. Start with her meaningful positive-to-negative touch ratio of 36:7. Five of those 7 negative touches were long balls not recovered by Portland – she only made two “mistakes” in the 90 minutes. Next, consider saving the penalty kick. This is AD’s second PK faced […]

Sky Blue, International Break and Pride Night (Among Other Things)

On a beautiful blue sky day, the Sky Blue match drew 2,418 spectators. At least eight of them were Riveters as the few crowd shots from the broadcast revealed. A contingent of four members of the East Coast Platoon regional sub-group were also planning to attend. The broadcast did not pick up much noise from Cloud […]

WE ♥ NJ

(in which Sky Blue prove to be generous hosts as the Thorns leave with their spoons and tea set) Things continue to come to the Thorns in pairs, as the team posted a 2-0 win on the road versus Sky Blue FC. Lindsey Horan got her first two goals of the year. A penalty kick […]

Can We Play You Every Week?

Attendance was 18,367 which was the high for the season so far and 7th highest all-time. For comparison, this fixture last season occurred later in the year as the playoffs loomed; Portland won 5-1 in front of 17,152. The Riveters were in fine voice all night, obviously aided by the early lead. But the possible […]