The Portland Thorns earned a draw against the OL Reign with a 0-0 score line Sunday afternoon. This was Portland’s last match of the 2023 NWSL Challenge Cup. The Thorns had been eliminated from playoff contention after their loss on the road to Angel City FC on July 29th. With this result, Portland finishes the group stage with an overall record of 2-3-1. The Thorns placed 3rd overall in the West Division, one point behind Angel City FC.
The first half at Lumen Field saw lots of action and high-quality chances for both teams. The first few early chances belonged to OL Reign. At 2:44, the Reign would get their first breakaway chance. Veronica Latsko would race to a free ball near midfield. Reaching the ball first, she then immediately sent a low ball into the attacking third. The ball was perfectly placed, just outside of everyone’s reach. However, Tziarra King saw her opportunity and was able to catch up to the ball just inside the penalty area. King’s shot was a powerful left-footed strike that stayed low to the ground. Shelby Hogan, Portland Thorns goalkeeper, was able to cut down the angle and make a kick save that would redirect the ball out wide to safety.
The Thorns would get their first high-quality chance of the match 6:31 into the game. After a blocked shot, Olivia Moultrie would corral the rebound outside the box from a wide angle. Moultrie would then make a move inside, and send a shot towards goal from just beyond and left of the penalty arch. Her shot would go between the posts. However, the ball stayed too high and would veer over the crossbar.
OL Reign responded with two golden chances just a few minutes later. At 12:35, Latsko would send a ball high across the box. Bethany Balcer would connect on a header at the back post. However, her shot was high over the crossbar. Then, the woodwork would come up clutch for Portland nearly 10 minutes later. Latsko again would be buying space for herself as the ball bounced towards the corner. Latsko would then cut back right towards the angle she came from, and enter the box. Taking a few more steps, with the ball rolling towards the top of the box, Latsko would send a left-footed shot towards the far post. Her shot would stay out of reach of the diving Shelby Hogan, and curl back towards the net. However, her shot would ring off the post and the rebound would ricochet past the nearest OL attacker.
The second half held a similar story to the first half. Despite Portland holding the majority time of possession, it was OL Reign who were finding high-quality chances. Roughly 15 minutes into the second half, OL Reign found themselves deep in the attacking third. King would send a low ball inside the box from an outside angle. Her pass would be deflected by a defender, then stopped by Latsko on her way across the box. Latsko would fall after making contact with a sliding defender, and the ball would be left bouncing for Elyse Bennett. Bennett’s shot would redirect off the back of Thorns defender Emily Menges, and bounce out of reach of goalkeeper Hogan. Luckily for Hogan and Portland, the deflection forced the ball off the outside of the post and kept the game scoreless with 61:10 on the game clock.
Despite a late push from the OL Reign, the Thorns’ defense would hold strong, and the game would remain a stalemate through stoppage time. By the end of the match, Portland had possessed the ball for 60.9% of the match but was outshot 11-8 offensively. The Reign also had 3 shots on goal to Portland’s 1. However, Shelby Hogan and Reign netminder Laurel Ivory were up to the task, making sure the game ended in a 0-0 draw.
The Thorns resume their regular season on Aug. 20, when they host the North Carolina Courage at Providence Park with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m.
Northwest Sports Desk 