WWWWWW
The Thorns continue rolling on a franchise-best winning streak with a drama-free 2-0 win in Houston
Game #10: Thorns 2 - Dash 0
6 wins - 1 tie - 3 losses
19 points | +9 goal differential
4th place out of 14
Even though the Thorns defeated Houston, 2-0, without a whole lot of drama to it — I actually do feel like the best player in this game was Dash goalkeeper Jane Campbell. With an unbelievably cool demeanor, Campbell ended up saving an incredible eight shots on target. That boosts Campbell’s 2024 total up to 54 saved shots — which is nearly double second-place, at 29 saves. It’s not even a new level of performance for Campbell, who also led the league in both total saves (91) and save percentage (85.2%) in 2023. I frequently wondered: will Campbell’s turn between the sticks for the USWNT come soon — or, come ever, given America’s immense goalkeeper depth?
But, well, yes — Houston’s most dangerous player was their goalkeeper. While Campbell singlehandedly prevented this game from becoming a total blowout, the Thorns cruised through yet another game without receiving much of a challenge from the opposition. It all felt quite routine. Of course, wins in the NWSL are never routine, and a moment like this — completely shutting down a team on the road — should never be taken for granted. The Thorns’ franchise-best six-game winning streak is starting to make a massive dent in the franchise record books.
The team had 112 total victories in club history heading into this season. Six wins out of 118 total feels, to me, like a surprisingly pretty big chunk.
Each of the past two years, including the championship 2022 season, saw Portland win 10 games apiece.
The franchise’s best-ever statistical season, 2017, saw the team win a total of 14 games (in a 24-game season).
The Thorns are churning out wins like a factory right now, it’s a truly phenomenal moment.
Despite Houston’s relatively low place in the standings, this game turned into quite a test of mental fortitude, which the Thorns passed with flying colors. In 2023, the Thorns stumbled to a loss during their only visit to Houston, the start of what was a season-long trend of sputtering in second halves in hot, humid conditions. In this game, a lightning storm right at kickoff delayed the start of the game for about 2.5 hours, pushing the start all the way until about 9:30 pm, Houston time. That meant both teams had to anxiously twiddle their thumbs down in the locker rooms, before warming back up all over again. It also meant that the half-empty stadium in Houston cleared out even more than normal, creating a bizarre, alone-in-the-middle-of-the-night atmosphere for the game.
It seemed like it took both teams the entire first half to warm up back to full capacity. Portland had four shots on target in the half, but only one of them was dangerous for Campbell — while Houston had none. Houston then began the second half by dominating possession, including clanging a shot off the woodwork. However, the Thorns pounced shortly after, scoring both of their goals in quick succession, taking advantage of two short mental lapses by the Dash.
The first goal was instigated by a throw-in so quick from Reyna Reyes that the broadcast missed it as well. The Houston defense seemed to relax alongside the TV production truck, and a second later, Hina Sugita crafted an assist to Ana Dias. In her first career NWSL start, Dias gets her first NWSL goal, an awesome moment for the new Thorn:
The second goal, coming just a few minutes later, involved different players — Janine Beckie to Olivia Moultrie — but felt incredibly similar: Houston didn’t feel a threat until a player was ripping a wide-open shot in the penalty box.
Scoring the goals only seemed to accelerate the Portland offense. In the last 20 minutes of the game, after Moultrie’s goal, Portland got off four shots on target, compared to two by Houston. Given that it was a 2-0 game at that time, it felt like Houston was simply running out the minutes. Meanwhile, the Thorns were awesomely continuing their offensive attack, instead of engaging in time-wasting with the lead.
Li’l Notes
Sophia Smith Minutes Watch: 89. Yup, a whole lot, once again. It can’t happen absolutely every game of the season! I think?
In 22 minutes as a substitute, Payton Linnehan got off two shots on target. Neither were very dangerous, but it does continue Linnehan’s elite per-minute production. Among all players in the league with at least 100 minutes played, Linnehan is second overall in shots on target per minute, trailing only Orlando’s MVP candidate, Barbra Banda. (More on Banda in just a minute.)
Houston actually held the advantage in this game in possession (51% to 49%) and passing accuracy (78% to 74%). However, the Dash rarely did anything dangerous with the ball, since the Thorns had an overwhelming advantage in total shots (22 to 11) and shots on target (10 to 3). This is becoming the trend across several of the Thorns’ recent victories — the opponent usually has the ball, but rarely in dangerous places. This combination of events might be happening because Portland is now second-best in the league in intercepting passes on defense (trailing only Louisville).
In Portland’s previous game against Seattle, it’s come out after a lot of online chatter that the Thorns were erroneously awarded the penalty kick for handball that moved their lead from 1-0 to 2-0. Although this isn’t quite how it works: the refs got Portland back in this one. In the 23rd minute, Houston’s Bárbara Olivieri absolutely tripped Moultrie in the penalty box, and the Thorns were initially awarded a penalty kick. Now, the trip almost certainly looked accidental, but — a trip in the box is a trip in the box. The referee immediately looked unsure of the call — which, you want to see some decisiveness out of a referee after every call they make — and the kick was called back after a long VAR check.
In 2023, there was barely any separation in the NWSL between first place all the way down to eleventh place. In 2024, it’s starting to look like the top four contenders are starting to separate themselves from the pack: Kansas City, Orlando, Portland, and Washington. This past weekend, all four teams scored at least three goals, and together had three wins and one tie. For the season, the four teams each have a cumulative goal differential between +8 and +10. No other team in the league is better than +2. Across the 40 total games these teams have played, they only have six losses. But, three of those six losses have come when one of these top four teams plays each other. Speaking of which:
Up next: Historically hot matchup
The Thorns stay on the road and travel to Orlando for a historically great NWSL regular season matchup. While the Thorns are in the middle of a franchise-best six-game winning streak, the Pride have just tied the all-time league record with a seven-game winning streak. After tying their first three games of the season, Orlando has since won seven in a row, including four shutouts. With Kansas City tying three out of their last four games, the Pride have jumped into first place in the standings.
Let’s take a look at the other two times in NWSL history that a team rattled off a seven-game winning streak:
2014 Seattle Reign
Who was there: That’s the crazy thing about the Reign. Even though the league looks so unrecognizable from a decade ago, this Seattle team still had coach Laura Harvey, as well as Jess Fishlock, Lauren Barnes, and Megan Rapinoe out on the field. In 2013, the first-ever NWSL season, the Reign finished next-to-last in the standings! And then immediately established their dominance in 2014, starting the year with this seven-game win streak out of the gate. Seattle’s +30 goal differential on the year is the third-best in league history.
How did it end: The team drew 1-1 to FC Kansas City, and still wouldn’t lose until their 17th game of the season. And then, in their very next game, Kansas City started their own piece of history:
2014 FC Kansas City
Who was there: Becky Sauerbrunn herself was holding things down in the center of defense, while Vlatko Andonovski was running the show from the sideline. (Keep in mind that FC Kansas City, which dissolved in 2017, is a completely different business entity from the Kansas City Current, which started as an expansion team in 2021.) Across the winning streak, the team allowed a total of one goal.
How did it end: Kansas City’s streak ended with an appearance in a much different section of the record books. They visited Portland and got obliterated, 7-1, which is tied for the biggest goal differential in any NWSL game. Nonetheless, about five weeks later, Kansas City defeated Portland in the playoffs before winning the NWSL championship over the historic Reign.
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Getting back to Orlando’s currently running winning streak: the Pride are establishing themselves as a defensive menace, allowing only nine goals total all year. The team’s total of 18 goals scored is the lowest among the top-four teams. But, they are the only one of the four teams who has not been shut out in 2024.
It is possible that a slightly tougher future schedule could prevent Orlando from completely running away with first place. After this game against Portland, the Pride will have played seven games at home, compared to four on the road. Also, out of their six total games against the other elite top-four teams, Orlando has only played one so far. Although, that was a solid 3-2 road victory over the Washington Spirit.
This week, Portland’s coaches and players will be laser-focused on: Barbra Banda. Orlando signed the Zambian forward from her former team in China, and she has immediately come into the NWSL as an MVP candidate. The Pride’s winning streak is absolutely coinciding with Banda’s availability: she has only played in the last six games, with Orlando winning all of them. The Orlando forward is one of only two players in the league with the edge over Sophia Smith in per-minute production:
Goals + assists per 90 minutes
Banda | Pride: 1.54
Bia Zaneratto | Current: 1.45
Smith | Thorns: 1.43
In 2023, MVP voters denied Smith the trophy, even though she was the league leader by a mile in this per-minute category, leading second-place by nearly double, 1.16 to 0.66. So, if MVP voters actually value the total amount of goals contributed, Smith is dominating Banda — and everyone else — on that leaderboard:
Total goals + assists
Smith | Thorns: 14
Croix Bethune | Spirit: 9
Banda | Pride: 8
Vanessa DiBernardo | Current: 8
Temwa Chawinga | Current: 8
Given that this contest is on the road, the Thorns will not face a more difficult game until the playoffs — although future home games against both Kansas City (June 23) and Orlando (October 11) will also be colossal match-ups. However this game goes, both Portland and Orlando will be walking away with newfound clarity about how they stack up in the championship picture.