The Portland Thorns earned themselves a 4-1 victory over the San Diego Wave Friday night. This match against San Diego was part of the 2023 NWSL Challenge Cup, a tournament that runs concurrently to the NWSL regular season. With the win Friday, the Thorns are now 2-2-0 in the group stage with two matches remaining.
With the FIFA Women’s World Cup underway, both the Thorns and the Wave were looking for players to step up in this match. Just 8:35 into the action, Portland found their step-up striker. First, Morgan Weaver would work her way inside the box while gaining a slight outside edge on her defender. Weaver would then send a low bouncing pass toward the middle of the goal area box. Her pass would get past the goaltender, and deflect off the heel of a retreating defender. The ball would stop on a dime, and Hannah Betfort would seize her opportunity to strike the ball into the back of the net and give Portland the first goal of the game.
Betfort’s goal would be the only one scored in the first half, despite a handful of chances for both teams. By halftime, the Thorns were outshooting the Wave FC 11-7. However, they did trail 47% to 53% in time of possession.
The next goal came roughly eight minutes into the second half. As the Thorns started their march forward, Michele Vasconcelos would start the play with an outside foot pass to Olivia Moultrie. Moultrie would receive the pass at the corner of the penalty box, and with a step on her defender, take one dribble and work the ball back towards the center of the box. At the penalty dot, Betfort would one touch Moultrie’s pass down low to Morgan Weaver. Weaver quickly then redirected Betfort’s pass on goal, with a shot to the near post that the Wave defense couldn’t get in front of. Weaver’s shot would score, and the Thorns would take a 2-0 lead at 53:23.
Portland’s offense would strike again while the iron was hot. Just 4:27 later, Meghan Klingenberg would center a ball in from a low and wide angle on the penalty box line. Hannah Betfort would make a run inside the box, win the race to a header over two defenders, and beat San Deigo goalkeeper Shae Yanez high to the near post. Betfort’s first career brace would give Portland a 3-0 lead.
However, the Thorns’ offense wasn’t done yet. In the 61st minute, a pass from the sideline would again spring Portland’s offense into motion. Betfort would keep her run outside the box, then cross the ball high and back towards the opposite side of the field as she approached the goal line extended. Klingenberg would catch up to the pass inside the box, and send a low center ball back to the middle. Reyna Reyes who had moved up into open space, connected on Klingenberg’s pass, and beat Yanez left side to make it 4-0 Thorns.
San Diego would get one back in the 81st minute. A corner kick by Jaedyn Shaw would soar across the box, curl away from the goal, and line up for a contested header on the Goal Area line. Taylor Kornieck would win the battle for the header, and her redirect would beat Portland goalkeeper Bella Bixby to the far post. The Wave would score once, but it wouldn’t be enough to start a comeback. The Thorns’ defense ensured that the score at the end of the match would remain at 4-1.
Betfort spoke on the team’s performance postgame.
“Well, it was definitely a game I think we needed. I think the last few games have been really difficult for us in the sense that we were very close to getting everything that we wanted but were just missing that 10 to 20% to get us there,” Betfort said. “But I think that’s also part of the game and the nature of this time, where a lot of people are stepping into new roles or roles they haven’t had before. So, I think this was very needed and also well-deserved and well-earned.”
Reyes expanded on what Betfort said.
“Just watching everybody, I could see the difference in everybody having the confidence we needed. It just seemed like everybody believed in each other and trusted each other,” Reyes said. “It was just flowing today.”
The Thorns’ next match is a road game in the NWSL Challenge Cup against Angel City FC on July 29 with kickoff set for 7 p.m.
Northwest Sports Desk 