By Amelia Hirtle
The Portland Thorns were coming off a bye as the second seed, while the San Diego Wave played 120 minutes the week prior to move on to the semifinals.
Even with playing as many minutes as they did, the Wave looked sharp and got on the board within the first 10 minutes of the match. Alex Morgan had beaten Becky Sauerbrunn on the endline and cut back in to send a cross toward the goal. Taylor Kornieck went uncovered and headed it past Bella Bixby. It was poor defense from the Thorns, especially knowing Kornieck’s height and her ability to find the ball in the air.
Portland did not give up and found an equalizer from Rocky Rodriguez. With the game tied, it allowed the home team to play a little more freely, rather than on edge. The game was evenly matched after that, with both teams having a few shots on goal, but neither being able to go ahead.
In fact, the visitors had more chances to go up a goal towards the end of the second half, but they were unable to capitalize. Instead, it was a Crystal Dunn goal in stoppage time that got the job done. San Diego had trouble clearing the ball and Dunn stepped in on a broken play to fire a rocket past Kailen Sheridan.
The Waves inaugural season was a successful one. They finished third in the regular season standings and have multiple players in Morgan, Naomi Girma, and Sheridan up for awards.
The Thorns will now travel to Washington D.C. to face the Kansas City Current who beat OL Reign in the second semifinal match. The championship match will take place on Saturday, October 29th at 8:00 PM ET.