Forward Nadia Nadim scored a hat trick and Portland Thorns FC earned its first win of 2016 with a 3-0 win over Oregon State University Wednesday night at Providence Park in front of 3,252 fans. Nadia Nadim opened the scoring in the 33rd minute, doubled the lead in the 58th and secured her hat-trick in the 68th. The goals marked Nadim's first for the club in just her second start.
The Thorns opened the scoring in the 33rd minute when a deep corner kick was recovered out wide by Kat Williamson. The defender whipped a cross into the box that fell to the feet of Nadim to snap a shot low into the net.
Nadim nabbed her second of the match in the 58th minute, thanks largely to the footwork of Celeste Boureille, which took her past three defenders before cutting the ball across goal. A deflection put the ball at the feet of Nadim and she wasted no time in slamming the ball into the net off the post.
Nadim finished her hat-trick in the 68th minute off a simple through ball from Christine Sinclair. With just the keeper to beat, Nadim went pure power to blast a shot past the stranded keeper and make the score 3-0.
With five U.S. internationals missing the match while on national team duty, six Thorns players earned their first starts, while Adrianna Franch, Sam Lofton and fresh signee Mallory Weber all making appearances off the bench. Shim, Katherine Reynolds, McKenzie Berryhill, Sarah Zadrazil, Celeste Boureille, and Shade Pratt all started their first games. Allie Long, Emily Sonnett, Meghan Klingenberg, Lindsey Horan, and Tobin Heath are all off with the U.S. Women's National Team ahead of friendlies on April 6 and 10.
A game of few chances, OSU failed to register a single shot on target. Portland outshot the Beavers 29-2. Thorns FC also earned six corner kicks to the Beavers zero.
Portland will close out it's preseason tournament against the Houston Dash Saturday evening, with the Seattle Reign taking on Oregon State beforehand. Kickoffs are at 2:30 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. respectively.
Updates to follow...
