Pound the rock
The Thorns continue a defensively dominant run with a 1-0 victory over San Diego
In the 2000s, the San Antonio Spurs methodically worked their way to a fistful of NBA Championships thanks to tireless, boring, ruthlessly effective defense. The Spurs took on the mantra of “Pound the Rock,” which has to have the most obscure origin story of all time. The full quote was written by Jacob Riis, a newspaper reporter at the beginning of the 20th century. If you dust off the microfiche, it goes like this:
When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it — but all that had gone before.
It is hard to imagine this quote getting a group of dudes all pumped up to go and take the floor in an NBA game. But, shoot, it worked.
And the Thorns’ 1-0 victory over the San Diego Wave was an absolute Pounding the Rock-type of victory. Izzy D’Aquila delivered the blow to split the rock in two, if you will, deep in the 85th minute. The goal felt like the rightful accumulation of the pressure the Thorns put on San Diego for the entire game. D’Aquila’s goal was Portland’s eighth shot on goal across the entire game, forcing several phenomenal saves out of Wave goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan. In the meantime, San Diego only got off two shots on goal, including none from Olympian Jaedyn Shaw, or pricey trade acquisition María Sánchez.
The Thorns gave up two or more goals in three out of their first four games of the season. It looked like the team’s only hope for contention was to frantically outscore the opposition in wide-open games. But, now: the Thorns have shut out six of their last eight opponents. While Portland’s offense has mysteriously slowed to a crawl, the team has now evolved into winning in a completely different type of way. The challenge for the rest of the season will be to get those elite glimmers of offense and defense finally clicking at the same time.
The Hogan Renaissance
Four games into the season, the Thorns had given up 10 total goals, and it looked like it simply wasn’t going to work to have Hogan as the team’s starter across the entire season. The Portland front office seemed to feel the same way, acquiring Emily Alvarado from Houston on April 20 as a potential new option in goal.
Since then, Alvarado has not seen the field for a competitive minute, and Hogan has easily been the team’s most improved player since the start of the season. Some of Hogan’s full-season stats still aren’t in a great place, thanks to those early games. For instance, on the Thorns are now 10th out of 14 teams when it comes to save percentage over the entire season (69.7%). That number, however, is hiding that the Thorns’ defense is actually performing at a level way, way above that 10th place level. For example: Hogan is now tied for the league lead with seven shutouts. Hogan didn’t achieve a shutout in any of the first five games of the season. And now, shutouts have basically become a routine — again, six out of the last eight games.
While Hogan is clearly saving a much bigger percentage of shots, it almost feels like the bigger difference in her play is her approach to non-shot chances. If an opponent corner kick has slightly too much float to it, Hogan is now attacking that ball with confidence, snatching it out of the air and stopping a problem before it starts.
We are way, way past the question of if Hogan is the regular starter for 2024. She is absolutely locked in there, and Alvarado will probably only see one game at most. Instead, the new question is: is the Thorns defense better than its offense, even with Sophia Smith on the forward line?
Up next
We’ve got a long, long break for the Olympics, with the Thorns’ next regular season game coming all the way on August 24th. Until then, however, members of the squad are going to be split all around the world, playing in all sorts of competitions. The travel agenda is complicated enough that it will earn its own post from Thorn Town later this week.
One of the first things on the agenda is two tune-up exhibition games for Sophia Smith, Sam Coffey, and the USWNT, before departing for the Paris Olympics. Since coach Emma Hayes is still just a few weeks into the job, and with relatively few veterans picked for the squad, there is the feeling that America is desperately cramming the night before a test here.
USA vs. Mexico | Saturday, July 13 | 12:30 PM Pacific Time
Uh, the USWNT website legitimately lists six broadcast options for this game? (Are there just going to be a million cameras around this stadium?) That would be: TNT, truTV, Telemundo, NBC Universo, Max, and Peacock. Portland’s own Reyna Reyes will be going up against the Americans on the Mexican squad.
USA vs. Costa Rica | Tuesday, July 16 | 4:30 PM Pacific Time
Sorry if you were relying on Telemundo: only the other five broadcasting options listed above are carrying this one. In this game, America will go up against familiar Thorn Rocky Rodríguez. Coincidentally: Rocky’s Angel City team is the only NWSL squad that Portland hasn’t faced yet.