The Thorns Prediction Game: Reading the PTFC Leaves – Matchday 7

What an exciting match! What a disaster for our clairvoyants! A perfect score would have been 26; the best anyone did was four! Enough exclamation points already!

David K Anderson takes the honors with four points for getting two goals correct including one with the correct assist. WallofEmilys takes the best wild prediction bonus for the highly rec’ed tale of a confused bird disrupting play and incensing the easily-incensed Sidney LeRoux.

The midweek match sees the Thorns visiting Houston. The Dash have been hapless until this prior weekend, when they finally met up with a worse team; scoring three goals at Sky Blue and hanging on to win 3-2. This will be a hot one, with temperatures forecast in the high eighties for game time. The Dash will have their entire Press-less lineup available; perhaps Emily Menges will return for the Thorns?

How this works:

Add a comment to this post. In the comment title put your predicted result, for example 3-1 Thorns.

In the body of your comment, start with the goals and assists, like so:

AMC (Klingenberg)

Sinclair (Free kick)

Horan (Unassisted)

Ohai (PK)

Next, name the first yellow card recipient: First yellow to Sonnett

Then reds, if any. (NOTE: no points awarded for correctly calling a red-card-free match, so take a guess.) Van Wyk gets a red for tripping Sinclair on the edge of the box.

And lastly, make your fun prediction:

Mana Shim makes a weak pass that leads to a Portland goal. After apologizing to her teammates, she gives a wink to Heath. Or does she?

Scoring:

· Correct score: 5 points

· Correct result (draw/win/loss): 3 points

· Each clean sheet: 2 points

· Each goal-scorer: 1 point

· Each FK/PK/assist/lack of assist: 1 point

· Goal/assist bonus: 1 point

· Player with the first yellow card of the match: 1 point

· Each player with a red card: 1 point (Cannot earn points for predicting 0 red cards)

· Most recommended/most outrageously accurate prediction: 2 points

Some ground rules and explanations/clarifications (the fine print):

Comments must be posted before kickoff, but you can edit or amend an earlier prediction right up to the starting whistle.

Keep your scoreline predictions realistic. No crazy scores just to pad out your odds of getting goals and assists.

The goal/assist bonus is an additional point if you predict the correct scorer and assistant on the same goal, for example, you say Onumonu scores from an Horan assist and that is exactly what happens.

Be clear whether you think a goal will be unassisted, assisted, or from a PK/FK. Unassisted = no assist, run of play; Assisted = player who got the assist; PK/FK = not in run of play. For the purposes of this thread, Penalty Kick and Free Kick are the same thing. No entry means unassisted.

Have fun, tell your friends, let me know if you have any questions or if I screw up your score.