Whistle while you whistle
The Thorns somehow emerge with a 3-3 draw in an unsatisfying, ref-focused contest
Game #7: Portland Thorns 3 - Racing Louisville 3
2 wins - 3 draws - 2 losses
9 points | 6th place
The opening act of this game saw Louisville and Portland each exchange fantastic early goals. On a free kick for Racing, USWNT World Cup veteran Savannah Demelo crafted herself a patch of open space in the penalty box, and fired off a nearly unstoppable shot. A few minutes later, and Thorns defender Jayden Perry sends an absolute moonball of a pass that travels nearly half the field. The pass finds Perry’s teammate from both college and the pros, Reilyn Turner, who triumphantly skies up over two Louisville defenders to win the header, and equalize for the Thorns.
I appreciated the observation from Jill Loyden, on the broadcast, that playing the left-footed Perry at left defender opens up some creative angles for long passes, like her half-field assist:
Goal kicks: not supposed to be a punishment
With the score tied 1-1, it was pretty much bloopers and frustrating officiating moments the rest of the way. Louisville jumped up to a 2-1 lead when they pounced on a really painful blunder between Perry and Mackenzie Arnold after a Thorns goal kick. You can check the tapes: even during the Thorns’ phenomenal 4-1 win over Gotham a few days ago, it was clear that goal kicks are a red-alert, must-be-addressed area for Portland. Against Gotham, the Thorns allowed the only score of the game on a goal kick that at least got near to midfield, before it was stolen and fast-breaked all the way into the net. Here, against Louisville, the goal kick doesn’t even get out of the penalty box before Racing collects, and sends the mistaken ball home.
Goal kicks are, for the time being, the most important area for coaches to strategize on, and for players to practice. Louisville, like every other NWSL team, has studied the tape, and know that they can and should press their forwards high when the Thorns have a goal kick. In this picture, you can see how Louisville has two forwards positioned on the top of the penalty box, creating pressure on the Portland possession before it has started:
Contrast that to when Louisville has a goal kick. Portland, knowing that the goal kick will go long, concede the entire final third of the field:
Part of the reason Louisville can kick the ball so long is they can send those long balls to Taylor Flint in their midfield. The imposing Flint is the league-leader in aerial battles won, with 28, and has won a commanding 80% of total aerial battles.
However: the Thorns also have Reilyn Turner. Turner is third-best in the entire league with 20 aerial battles won, and also has an 80% win rate. (Reyna Reyes is also a strong 14th overall in battles won.) Is targeting Turner on every goal-kick a total fix to the Thorns’ goal kick problem? Maybe, maybe not — but, the team does need to create a new plan of attack here. Or, more frustrating giveaway goals are on their way.
WhistleFest 2025
That gets us into the meat of the game, which would go on to set the NWSL record for total number of fouls. In the 39th minute, Louisville — buzzing with confidence after the goal kick blunder — executes a beautiful move for a goal. However, on the replay, it was obvious that Louisville’s Kayla Fischer inadvertently, but clearly, steps on Isabella Obaze’s ankle in the immediate build-up. Initially, there was a flood of relief, as the referee really did go to examine the play on the VAR monitor. That was followed by a flood of disbelief, when the goal was ultimately allowed anyway, making the score 3-1 for Louisville.
This isn’t really how the accounts are supposed to balance out, but, a few minutes later, in first-half stoppage time, the Thorns get a make-up call to go their way. Olivia Moultrie goes down in the penalty box after receiving some slight, slight contact from Racing’s Taylor Flint, and Portland is given a penalty kick. Even though Perry, who had buried the last game’s penalty kick, was on the field, it’s midfielder Jessie Fleming who comes up to take this one. And, Fleming executes a great penalty, just on the inside of the goalpost, for her first score as a Thorn.
The second half was really a nonstop parade of whistles, one foul after another. In my opinion, the fouls were getting called both ways — not really favoring either team, but certainly chopping up the flow of the game. Ironically, both coaching staffs ended up receiving cards from the referee, while only one player on the field actually got a yellow card after everything. That player was Reyna Reyes, who got the card while she was up-field in a desperate offensive attack, deep in second-half stoppage time. And then, unbelievably, right after Reyes is given the card, the referee is summoned to the VAR monitor, to examine a moment where Reyes is getting fouled.
Sure enough, Reyes’ foot is inadvertently getting stepped on in the penalty box. What changed from the first half, when Louisville’s first foot-step was considered inconsequential? I don’t know. But, this time, the Thorns are given the penalty kick. This time, it’s Perry at the spot again, quickly establishing herself as a weapon on penalties, forcing another wrong-way lunge, and sending home the game-tying goal in the game’s last moments.
Aside from Perry’s phenomenal composure and execution — this was an incredibly unsatisfying end to a game. Both teams are walking away from the game with legitimate refereeing gripes. But, neither coaching staff covered themselves in glory with how they addressed the referee in the middle of the game. And, same goes for Jessie Fleming and Louisville’s Ary Borges, who have since traded some barbs about the game in the media and on social media.
Everybody can probably agree on this: this isn’t what we want to see out of the NWSL.
Li’l Notes
On the broadcast, Loyden and the veteran JP Dellacamera noted that Louisville defender Lauren Milliet holds an NWSL record with 100 straight appearances. Incredibly, that is: every regular season game played by Louisville in their history, which started in 2021. Also incredibly: Milliet has gotten the start in every game since August of 2021.
Just to show how hard that is: with the compact schedule, the Thorns rested Sam Coffey in this game, her first absence of the year. Coffey has never missed more than three games in a season, and she does feel omnipresent for the Thorns. Still, Coffey has 71 career games played, with about 10 games off in the mix — just to show how far out there Milliet is with her consistency. Oh, and: the Thorns will absolutely be relieved Coffey back in the next game.
This week, Mallie McKenzie received the first two starts of her career, playing at each outside defender position. Entering the season, there were no expectations for McKenzie to be a regular rotation player, after she played all of 13 minutes in 2024 as a rookie. A few weeks ago, the Amazon Prime broadcast noted that McKenzie was actually a non-scholarship, walk-on player at the University of Georgia. Just to do some quick math: in the NCAA, there are 351 Division I women’s soccer teams, each with 14 scholarships, or about 4,900 scholarship players in the country at any time. Those 4,900 players are competing for about 250 NWSL roster spots given to American players. McKenzie walked on to Georgia, and then essentially walked on to the Thorns, as a 2024 training camp invitee — and then switched positions, from midfielder to defender. And, she’s giving real, valuable minutes to the team, and should be a mainstay in the rotation for the rest of the year, both as a substitute and occasional starter. Credit to the Thorns’ front office and coaching staff for identifying McKenzie as a talent. And, of course, even more credit to McKenzie herself, for going on a years-long run of defying the odds.
Up next: No rest for the weary
Game #8: Orlando Pride at Portland Thorns
Saturday, May 3 | 4:30 PM
Broadcast: ION Network
The Thorns emerge out of a three-games-in-ten-days stretch with one win, one draw, and one loss. They also managed to finally turn the faucet on their scoring: after combining for three total goals in the first five games of the season, the Thorns get seven goals in their last two games. The reward, after emerging from that gauntlet: facing one of the most skilled NWSL teams of all time.
The Orlando Pride are on an absolutely elite title defense: their cumulative scoreline for the season is a dominant 14-4. A few weeks ago, Orlando did suffer their first loss, while playing first-string players, since 2023. That was a 1-0 loss to 3rd-place Washington Spirit. But, let’s call it the exception that proves the rule: Orlando is so good, that losing a single game feels noteworthy. The Pride put out coaching-clinic tape virtually every week, incredibly fundamentally and strategically sound in every part of the game. MVP candidate Barbra Banda will look at the Thorns’ goal kick tape and come into the game expecting to poach a goal. Keeping the scoreline respectable is going to count as a moral victory for Portland in this one.