The Thorns took an early 2-0 lead in which they looked almost unbeatable. However, their defense started to look shaky as the visiting North Carolina Courage ended up clawing back throughout the match, for a final score of 3-3.
Sophia Smith barreled down the field with the ball in the eighth minute, making her way through the defenders and putting it past the goalkeeper. In the 24th minute, Morgan Weaver cleaned up a rebound for an easy goal to make it 2-0 in favor of Portland.
The Thorns held a positive lead going into halftime and everything was going their way. The Courage came out of the half with more consistent pressure which caused Portland to be more defensive.
Diana Ordóñez capitalized on the pressure in the 61st minute, by heading the ball past Bella Bixby for North Carolina’s first goal on the night. She scored again in a similar fashion in the 72nd minute.
With the game tied, it didn’t take long for Sophia Smith to score again. She completed her brace after going one on one with the keeper in front of the net and winning that matchup.
In the 85th minute, Jaelene Daniels scored for the Courage, tying the game at 3-3.
While there were stellar individual performances, Portland struggled to play cohesively. The home team hadn’t been scored on in their previous 3 home games prior to playing North Carolina. Also, the Courage was in last place going into this match.
If anything, the Thorns should be frustrated that they were not able to secure this victory. They will travel to play the Washington Spirit on Wednesday at 4:30 PM PT (7:30 PM ET).