It’s impossible to run away from tired legs. And with six games in the month of August, exhaustion caught up to the Portland Thorns against San Diego Wave FC on Saturday night at Providence Park.
The Thorns (7-3-7, 28 points) lost 2-0 to San Diego in a game they simply ran out of gas in, going down a pair of goals in the first half and never recovering.
With their second straight loss, the Thorns drop from first to third in the NWSL standings. The Wave (9-5-4, 31 points) take over the top spot with the win, and the Houston Dash (8-5-5, 29 points) are in second place.
OL Reign (27 points), the Chicago Red Stars (26 points) and the Kansas City Current (26 points) are all nipping at Portland’s heels in a tight playoff race.
Morgan Weaver was aggressive early against San Diego, intercepting a pass and taking an open shot within the first 15 seconds of the match. San Diego was active on the other end from the jump as well, as Alex Morgan collided with Portland goalkeeper Bella Bixby in the fourth minute on a run in.
San Diego got on the board in the 17th minute. Natalia Kuikka made a critical error on her mark in the box, allowing a pass to be made to a wide open Kristen McNabb for the rocketed shot and score. Bixby had no chance at the ball given its pace.
The first half was filled with missed connections for the Thorns. One of the most prominent came in the 26th minute as Weaver made a nice run in, but her pass back to Christine Sinclair was about a foot off. The Thorns had something cooking in the 30th minute as chaos ensued in the box, but they weren’t able to get a shot out of it despite San Diego’s scrambling defense.
Portland’s best chance of the first half came in the 34th minute from Sophia Smith, whose left-footed take on the feed from Hina Sugita missed by mere inches above the crossbar.
San Diego doubled its lead on a perfect piece of counterattacking play in the 42nd minute. A backwards header from Taylor Kornieck found the sprinting Morgan in stride, and the league’s leading goal-scorer made it 13 on the season with a strike that got past Bixby.
San Diego led 2-0 at the half, relatively unfamiliar territory for a Thorns team that has either dominated or stayed close with opponents in every match this season. Connecting play was the bugaboo for Portland throughout the first 45 minutes.
The Thorns’ tired legs continued to set in as the second half progressed, and their attempts at goal largely consisted of long crosses into the box seeking leaping heads. Otherwise, there was not much in the way of chance creation for the home side throughout much of the second 45.
San Diego made a handful of solid runs, including one in the 66th minute that ended with a shot from Morgan that was saved by Bixby.
Portland brought on Yazmeen Ryan and Janine Beckie as substitutes in the 79th minute, hoping to spark its attack.
Smith had a shot hit the side netting in the 81st minute, and she sailed one into the stands in the 85th on the feed from Beckie. Beyond that, Portland didn’t do much down the stretch beyond breathe heavily.
After a busy August, the Thorns finally have some extra time to rest before their next match. Portland heads out on the road to face the Orlando Pride at 4 p.m. PT on Sept. 9 (streaming on Paramount+).
-- Ryan Clarke, [email protected]