Stumptown Footy - Coverage Hub: NWSL Championship Match!You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/31537/stumptown-fave.jpg2018-10-03T11:31:32-07:00http://www.stumptownfooty.com/rss/stream/176543692018-10-03T11:31:32-07:002018-10-03T11:31:32-07:00Roses and Thorns: This must be the place
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<figcaption>Nikita Taparia</figcaption>
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<p id="AT4qUF">Summers in Oregon are marked by this insatiable longing.</p>
<p id="MKQTIp">You wait six months for a glimpse of the sun, and when you finally get it, it always feels both too good and not good enough. A Portland summer is the kind of perfect thing that lives as much in your imagination as it does in reality—the sun in the morning, the smell of the river, the daylight that lingers until 9 pm, when it dies in a burst of impossible orange-pink-purple incandescence. Quiet evenings drinking beer on the porch, watching traffic go by, watching the stars come out; loud evenings listening to the crowd, hoping for magic on the field. You wait six months for this, and then it comes, and then suddenly it’s gone again.</p>
<p id="YSeiIo">Have you ever eaten a thimbleberry?</p>
<p id="5XtMR2">The thimbleberry is a delicate wild fruit that grows in woods; it is one of mother earth’s most perfect creations. The redness of a thimbleberry is the reddest red that exists, and when you pick it, the velvety drupelets peel imperfectly off the stem and some of that impossible red inevitably gets on your fingers. I can’t describe what a thimbleberry tastes like, because it doesn’t really taste like any other fruit. It can’t be cultivated at scale because it is far too fragile to pick and store and ship.</p>
<p id="HLgyhG">This is the problem: the thimbleberry is so good, and so ephemeral, that it will always seem impossible to appreciate it enough. I only ever eat a dozen or so a year, but that far-off day in June when I get to taste one again is always in the back of my head.</p>
<p id="TiNwbe">A soccer game happened a week and a half ago, and I haven’t watched it since then, and I’m probably not going to for a while. There’s nothing left to analyze. The thing is done. The Thorns lost, and it wasn’t particularly close. This team was good—brilliant, at times—but at the end of the day, North Carolina was undeniable. Plenty of ink will be spilled on that subject, for years to come.</p>
<p id="OXFVut">A championship is one thing. It’s a very good thing, something we’ve been blessed with<strong> </strong>three times in the last five years, and we can’t take any of that for granted, even as we dream about making constellations. Losing to this team, specifically, in the final, was always going to be hard, for a lot of reasons I don’t think I need to get into here. But really, that’s not what this is about.</p>
<p id="F1p8Jm">Saturday afternoon, the Thorns lost, and it kind of sucked. Saturday night, standing on the patio at Kells, yell-singing “Africa” for the fifteenth time that weekend, I don’t think the loss was on anyone’s mind. The open bar, naturally, helped with that—but this wasn’t a drown-your-sorrows party. It was a genuine celebration; of this community, of this dumb sport we all love too much, of us.</p>
<p id="itjP4K">A year ago in Orlando, a couple hundred Thorns fans watched their team win and then went to a party that nobody who was there will ever forget. That night was a victory celebration, obviously. It was about winning. But it was also about something else,<strong> </strong>maybe even above and before that: it was about being there, together, for that moment.</p>
<p id="6wg275">The thing about this game is that usually, you don’t win. Only one team gets to do that each year. What you do get is the chance to be there; to feel, together, the joy, pride, heartbreak, excitement, and love that come with this thing that we know doesn’t mean anything, but also means everything.</p>
<p id="SCngKL">We got to be there, last weekend. We get to be there again and again and again.</p>
https://www.stumptownfooty.com/2018/10/3/17933490/roses-and-thorns-this-must-be-the-placeKatelyn Best2018-10-02T08:00:02-07:002018-10-02T08:00:02-07:00Thorns FC: Shut Out
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<figcaption>John Lawes</figcaption>
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<p id="F6QHEU">If Thorns FC is to return to the top step of the podium next season they will need to learn several lessons from <a href="http://www.nwslsoccer.com/game/north-carolina-courage-vs-portland-thorns-2018-09-22">the shutout loss</a> to the <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/NWSL/teams/carolina-courage">North Carolina Courage</a> in the Final.</p>
<h3 id="U5N8VL">Lesson One: “Forwards score!”</h3>
<p id="LjhjyT">The 2018 Thorns relied heavily on their midfield - and of that midfield, three players - to produce goals. If the midfielders have to spend much of their game defending, or fighting through relentless defensive pressure to get forward - as they did in the Final - they need aggressive forwards creating space, occupying the defense, taking shots and giving the midfielders open shots themselves. </p>
<p id="jz4fZ0">Here’s the shots the two sides’ forwards - and I’m including Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic as a Thorns forward - took in the Final.</p>
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<cite>Image by NWSL in public domain</cite>
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<p id="xXA6Md">Ouch.</p>
<p id="4bxldH">While admitting that the imbalance owes a lot to the North Carolina “creating a crap-ton of crap shots” thing, the Thorns getting only <em>one</em> shot from each forward is decidedly suboptimal. </p>
<p id="C4N7GL">To beat a fast, high-pressing-midfield-and-speedy-fullback team like North Carolina, the Thorns forwards <em>have</em> to get open for service and have to take good shots and convert. Otherwise the Courage will simply lay off the forwards and stifle <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/NWSL/players/293434/lindsey-horan">Lindsey Horan</a>, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/NWSL/players/293438/christine-sinclair">Christine Sinclair</a>, and <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/NWSL/players/293432/tobin-heath">Tobin Heath</a>, which is exactly what they did.</p>
<p id="F8t7tK">And then there’s this.</p>
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<cite>Image by Lifetime. Licensed under Fair Use</cite>
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<p id="k89mjW">Crnogorcevic puts that away - and, yes, I know it was a hell of a tough shot to make, but that’s what forwards are out there to do - and it’s 1-nil within eleven minutes of kickoff and Carolina has to chase the game.</p>
<p id="yAITIs">This lack of production from the strikers has been a Thorns problem all season and in the final it helped North Carolina bite them in the backside. Undoubtedly, getting <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/NWSL/players/293437/hayley-raso">Hayley Raso</a> back and having a healthy Caitlin Foord for 2019 will help, but the team still needs to think hard about whether those players can begin to provide more attack and, if so, if tactical changes will be required to help make those players more effective in the future.</p>
<h3 id="Gj4qOa">Lesson Two: “Defense, Don’t Eff Up!”</h3>
<p id="YFfecH">There’s really no other way to describe this other than a complete cluster.</p>
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<cite>Image by Lifetime. Licensed under Fair Use.</cite>
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<p id="19Pf04"><em>Who the hell has </em><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/NWSL/players/277497/lynn-williams"><em>Lynn Williams</em></a><em>?</em> What is Emily Menges doing so far outside and so far behind the play? </p>
<p id="cNoAOm">Ellie Carpenter has Williams and <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/NWSL/players/277495/crystal-dunn">Crystal Dunn</a> <em>both</em> bearing down on her - how is she going to mark them both? </p>
<p id="Zvc9Kv">Why is the left back, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/NWSL/players/293435/meghan-klingenberg">Meghan Klingenberg</a>, way the hell upfield instead of defending against Jessica McDonald who is attacking the left back spot?</p>
<p id="NYyJ41">I wouldn’t harp on this except that <em>the Thorns defense was doing this sort of thing all match</em>. </p>
<p id="clyPnh">Here’s McDonald’s second and the Courage’s third goal. Keep your eye on McDonald.</p>
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<cite>Image by Lifetime. Licensed under Fair Use.</cite>
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<p id="5Ox1p9">It looks like every blue shirt has a red one goal-side of her as the ball goes out short to Merritt Mathias. That’s good. But who has McDonald? Crnogorcevic seems to be head-checking her as McDonald jogs forward, but she’s the only one.</p>
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<cite>Image by Lifetime. Licensed under Fair Use.</cite>
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<p id="TYdNXH">As Mathias tees it up, McDonald is <em>still</em> moving through the pack. Sinclair is the nearest Thorn to her, so maybe the captain will pick her up.</p>
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<cite>Image by Lifetime. Licensed under Fair Use.</cite>
</figure>
<p id="jJ0vc4">Nope. McDonald is all by her lonesome when the ball arrives, and all AD Franch can do is wave bye-bye as McDonald puts a bulge in the old onion bag and it’s lights-out, Thorns.</p>
<p id="a0CXUv">I’ll get to it in the comments, but while North Carolina played a hell of a match, the Thorns defense helped them by collapsing into a disorganized mess much of the time. The 2017 team won because they had a defensive rock to build from. The 2018 squad got themselves in trouble having this sort of meltdown. The 2019 edition will have to change that.</p>
<h3 id="q3Hrx9">Lesson Three: Individual Matchups and Team Play</h3>
<p id="IIr42H">Here’s an otherwise unremarkable moment in the 61st minute that begins with Carpenter trying to attack up the Thorns’ right touchline.</p>
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<cite>Image by Lifetime. Licensed under Fair Use.</cite>
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<p id="seyh78">The play started with a free kick, so the Thorns’ attackers are lined up along the top of the penalty area. When Denise O’Sullivan takes on Carpenter and forces her back the Thorns’ fullback has no help square or forward. Nobody drops back to help, and the only open players - Celeste Boureille and Emily Sonnett - are behind Carpenter.</p>
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<cite>Image by Lifetime. Licensed under Fair Use.</cite>
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<p id="S6XFNT">Carpenter drops deep to Sonnet, who, like Carpenter, has no outlet - most everybody in red is still inside the penalty area - and is immediately attacked by both Debinha and Williams and stripped of the ball.</p>
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<cite>Image by Lifetime. Licensed under Fair Use.</cite>
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<cite>Image by Lifetime. Licensed under Fair Use.</cite>
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<p id="02OlMg">Debinha plays the ball through, Williams kicks in the burners, and is off down the touchline. You’ll notice that she’s already toasted Sonnett, and Menges has turned the wrong way. It’s only three-on-four, but the four are spread out all over hell and two of them, Sonnett and Boureille, are 1) already behind the play, and 2) isolated from their teammates and each other.</p>
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<cite>Image by Lifetime. Licensed under Fair Use.</cite>
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<p id="1VA8xF">To give credit where it’s due, Sonnett hustles back and gets close to closing down Williams. But close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades; Williams’ cross flies by Sonnett towards an onrushing McDonald while both Menges and Klingenberg are busy ballwatching. Boureille is hustling back, but too late.</p>
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<cite>Image by Lifetime. Licensed under Fair Use.</cite>
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<p id="4xoqE6">Williams’ cross is deadly; one of the biggest differences in the Final was North Carolina’s ability to put crosses onto heads or to feet, and Portland’s inability to do the same. Fortunately for Portland, McDonald’s header is off-target and sails safely wide. </p>
<p id="yJT2gQ">The Courage put together an impressive example of both individual effort and team play. The Thorns not only lost individual duels, but they couldn’t work together as a team when they needed to most. Both rosters are full of quality, but on the day of the Final the roster that won the duels <em>and</em> worked together better dominated the one that didn’t.</p>
<h3 id="oqD5W1">Extra Credit: Forechecking</h3>
<p id="LnwQ8e">Remember how early in the season how we talked about “forechecking”, the defensive work done by attacking midfielders and forwards to disrupt the opponent’s attack in the opponent’s end of the pitch?</p>
<p id="w0qEj5">Okay, so contrast this...</p>
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<cite>Image by Lifetime. Licensed under Fair Use.</cite>
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<p id="feymCQ">...with this.</p>
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<cite>Image by Lifetime. Licensed under Fair Use.</cite>
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<p id="3OCyTb">Sinclair seems to be marking up on someone, but what are Foord, Heath, and Boureille doing? Certainly not what Dunn, Williams, McDonald, and Debinha were doing in the screenshot above.</p>
<p id="quTSDu">One thing that Hayley Raso brings to the pitch is something that the 2017 squad got from Nadia Nadim; furious forechecking. Foord and AMC don’t have the same level of skill - typically they lose 80% of their individual duels. To best North Carolina, the Thorns need more of the sort of forechecking the Courage used against them.</p>
<h3 id="Ll4lf9">Final Grade: North Carolina 3, Portland 0</h3>
<p id="XsI8re">North Carolina defended fiercely, including all the way to the Thorns’ goalmouth. They threw a crap-ton of speed and aggression at Portland’s defense, which buckled under the strain. They won individual encounters and played better as a team, while Portland lost more of those duels, particularly in back, and upfront were stymied trying to create goals from individual efforts.</p>
<p id="dGUUEE">Changing those imbalances will mean the Thorns will have to make some tactical and technical (and, possibly, roster) changes.</p>
<p id="JcWBGO">It’s deciding <em>which</em> changes, and the actual <em>making</em> of those changes, that is the difficult task for the next seven months.</p>
<h3 id="bQTIlo">Player Ratings and Comments</h3>
<p id="FSra6G"><strong>Foord</strong> (+3/-5 : +5/-2 : +8/-7) The more effective of the two forwards (if we consider Crnogorcevic as a forward) but not effective enough to materially impact the match. Worked hard, made some intelligent runs and crisp passes - in the second half, particularly - but needed to put more and better shots on goal, and couldn’t.</p>
<p id="rUKTuj">I saw enough good from Foord this season to want to see more of her <em>next</em> season, but her conversion rate suggests that either 1) some sort of tactical problem between her and her teammates, or 2) I was correct in <a href="https://www.stumptownfooty.com/2018/2/6/16911878/thorns-fc-drafts-and-deals">my assessment</a> back in February that:</p>
<blockquote><p id="LTZAJV">“Foord doesn’t seem to be a big scoring threat; in 46 matches over three seasons with Sky Blue she took a total of 16 shots and put 5 on target without scoring. Her form in the W-League is better (20 goals over a little over 100 matches) so she’s not entirely without striking skills, but her primary tools are a winger’s; very high workrate, pacey on and off the ball, a skillful dribbler, and an accurate passer.”</p></blockquote>
<p id="6LNKun">I want to be wrong, and I’d love for Foord to become the consistently dangerous scoring threat that the Thorns Front Office clearly wants her to be. But she hasn’t shown that to date, and I hope that’s only because of her injury and late start.</p>
<p id="H455PU"><strong>Crnogorcevic</strong> (<em>68’ -</em> +4/-4 : +1/-2 : +5/-6) What frustrates me about AMC is the flashes of brilliance - typified by her clever little meg in the 24th minute that put Boureille’s pass through to Foord - lighting up long, gray minutes of sterility. </p>
<p id="8mypi7">She certainly hasn’t produced anything like her Swiss national team form, which suggests that the gaudy international goal production is an artifact of her preying on no-hopers like Montenegro and Luxembourg.</p>
<p id="fAycUk">The problem with <em>that</em> is even when she’s only moderately effective, <em>die Schweitzerin</em> is still <em>more</em> effective than the other forwards outside of Foord and Raso.</p>
<p id="Ct0fLw">This off-season, the Thorns Front Office and coaching staff really need to take a hard look at the strikers and make some hard decisions.</p>
<p id="xzOBoC"><strong>Andressinha</strong> (22’ - +6/-1) The Final drove home the truth that 1) Andressinha is nowhere near the two-sided threat that Debinha is, and 2) because of that, her place in the Thorns midfield is problematic.</p>
<p id="Yxbr2q">On a team with a rock-like defensive midfielder, Andressinha might provide little extra defense along with a decent supply of service going forward. Portland doesn’t have that rock; as good as she is, Boureille simply doesn’t have the same skillset <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/NWSL/players/293433/amandine-henry">Amandine Henry</a> had, and Andressinha doesn’t have the defending chops to combine with Boureille to make the both of them better. She’s more or less a passenger when the opponent has the ball.</p>
<p id="e9pXe8">She’s not tough enough to fight through a physical midfield, not fast enough to run through a technical one. She’s a good passer, but too often doesn’t have a good target to her front (see: <em>“Forwards, score!”</em>).</p>
<p id="UWllRa">Right now she reminds me strongly of the Equatoguinean forward Genoveva Añonma - Ayo - that Paul Riley signed in 2015; a fine individual player, but one that just can’t seem to find a comfortable place in the squad. Figuring out how best to use her will be a major decision the Thorns FO needs to make before next season.</p>
<p id="BI4Znz"><strong>Sinclair</strong> (+4/-0 +10/-3 : +14/-3) If I was forced to choose a Woman of the Match - which is difficult in a match such as the Final - I’d choose our captain. Tireless as always, relentlessly trying to push her team forward while struggling with defensive chores that had to wear on thirtysomething legs.</p>
<p id="Irbr12">Sinc was then what she always is; the beating heart of the Thorns. Sadly, on the Final matchday North Carolina had everything else. Heart alone wasn’t enough.</p>
<p id="xdYBBf"><strong>Heath</strong> (+4/-3 : +5/-5 : +9/-8) The Final exposed the best and worst of Heath. Her creativity and relentless drive, her vision, and her ability to inspire her teammates, alongside of her frustrating reliance on ball-trickery that too often backfires, leading her into blind alleys where she’s tackled for loss or, as twice in the first half, when she tried a little back-heel volley that went either straight to North Carolina or careened out into touch.</p>
<p id="v69MLI">As her distribution diagram shows, Heath tried repeatedly to provide service into North Carolina’s penalty area.</p>
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<img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/oO5BLJc72ZPF-vOmn_2NwBOP2MA=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/13181297/Heath.jpg">
<cite>Image by NWSL in public domain</cite>
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<p id="iP8OX7">As the diagram also shows, that service was not successful, largely because the Courage backline was diligent about marking Horan on setpieces (what a rotten time for an opponent to remember <em>that!</em>), Heath’s teammates not getting good looks, or just pure bad luck. </p>
<p id="BxOR45"><strong>Horan</strong> (+6/-5 : +2/-2 : +8/-7) Over the 26 matches of the 2018 season Horan has only had one other match where her net PMR fell as low as +1, Sky Blue here on Matchday 22. The speed and precise passing of North Carolina’s attack forced the MVP to play far more defense than the Thorns wanted; of her 8 pluses 5 are for defensive plays. On the other end, North Carolina’s defense did an excellent job marking Horan out of the match.</p>
<p id="WZKTs3">It is telling about her importance to the Thorns’ attack that when Horan is shut down so are the Thorns. But it is a warning that if Portland is to reverse the 0-4 streak of losses to the Courage that the Thorns have to find ways to either prevent opponents from shutting Horan down, or find ways to create goals from other players when she is.</p>
<p id="Q65vvo"><strong>Boureille</strong> (+5/-2 : +2/-0 : +7/-2) A hell of a tough afternoon for Cee Bee, with <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/NWSL/players/277499/samantha-mewis">Samantha Mewis</a> and O’Sullivan and Debinha all running at her; it must have looked like a junior high school recess out there. </p>
<p id="9dcU5R">Should have worked better with Sonnett marking Debinha on the first goal, but otherwise a decent outing for Boureille.</p>
<p id="mDK4t0"><strong>Carpenter</strong> (<em>89’-</em> +2/-4 : +5/-1 : +7/-5) It’s just as well that we start our assessment of the backline with Carpenter, because she had the best afternoon of the group. Provided some good service, and was generally solid defensively, not a simple task given that <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/NWSL/players/277498/jaelene-hinkle">Jaelene Hinkle</a> was tearing up the pitch all match.</p>
<p id="UbRbsr">Because of the Courage’s pressure, Carpenter wasn’t able to have as much of an impact going forward as usual, but at least she was moderately effective on both sides of the ball, and that was more than her squad mates could say.</p>
<p id="bd2sBN"><strong>Sonnett</strong> (+0/-7 : +5/-8 : +5/-15) Emily Sonnett was a trainwreck against North Carolina. There’s simply no way to overlook that in the biggest match of the season, Sonnet had her <em>worst</em> match of the season. Failed to pick up Debinha on the first goal, skinned by McDonald repeatedly, and was part of the collective backline failure to read the Hinkle pass that led to McDonald’s first goal. </p>
<p id="7lpcu4">Yike. That’s just ugly.</p>
<p id="LwRTzQ">I like a lot of what Sonnett brings. But I also think it’s time for her to live up to her potential. Three years into her professional career she should be the rock-steady center back she was for much of 2017. This year she has all too often reverted to her rookie form, alternating fine performances with inexplicable brain-cramps and inexplicable mistakes. For the Thorns to move forward next season it is imperative that Sonnett maintain her highs and lift her lows, or the Front Office may need to put some thought into finding a new brick for the Great Wall of Emily.</p>
<p id="eWLee2"><strong>Menges</strong> (+2/-7 : +1/-4 : +3/-11) The defining Menges moment from the Final came in the 13th minute.</p>
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<img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/iOLKg_MYTELVzq8sQGF3gzJuhCg=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/13181511/Debinha_goal_01.jpg">
<cite>Image by Lifetime. Licensed under Fair Use.</cite>
</figure>
<p id="vqOYpg">Menges misplays this long Courage pass into Williams’ path, Williams takes the ball out wide and bangs her shot off the crossbar into the path of Debinha for the matchwinner.</p>
<p id="jYiRnW">Ugh.</p>
<p id="fffNHG">If Sonnett had been the only Thorns center back to have tanked the Final match Portland might, at least, have come off the field having merely lost and not been whipped. But Menges, too, had her worst match of a season in a season where she’s struggled with injuries and form. </p>
<p id="gKXZJi">Against the Courage, one big problem was that a lot of Menges’ usual sturdiness comes from her pace, and North Carolina is the only NWSL team that is jam-packed with forwards - hell, is packed with <em>players</em> - as speedy or faster than Menges.</p>
<p id="pUHSO8">I’m not worried; the Final was decidedly un-Menges-like. But it’s also a reminder that the Thorns have no real centerback depth right now, and that should be a consideration for the transfer market this winter.</p>
<p id="OyIjRb"><strong>Klingenberg</strong> (+0/-3 : +3/-5 : +3/-8) I didn’t receive the InStat match report for the Final - my subscription ran out at the end of the regular season - but <a href="https://twitter.com/chris_awk/status/1045049228219871238">Chris Henderson did</a>, and reports that InStat rated three Thorns as having the worst outings of all players in the match. In lowest-to-next-lowest order they are AMC, Sonnett, and Klingenberg.</p>
<p id="xBbLaH">Perhaps I was harder on Menges because I have higher expectations of her, but certainly her -5 net PMR puts Kling in <em>my</em> #3 slot for the <em>Balon d’Nope</em>. Klingenberg’s 36th minute giveaway set up Mewis for what could easily have been North Carolina’s second, and she had an earlier misplay to Debinha that resulted in a Mathias shot on goal.</p>
<p id="JOipxh">Klingenberg still has a lot of positives. She’s a smart player, and is usually a deft passer. She’s an integral part of a defensive unit that - when it’s not imploding as it did in the Final - is one of the best in the league.</p>
<p id="bRbclf">But she has completely lost whatever pace she had, and is increasingly exposed by faster wingers which, at this point, is nearly every winger in the NWSL. I’m not sure whether she just needs to be supplemented by a younger, faster player who fills in for her in late minutes and against blazing fast teams like the Courage, or whether it’s time for the club to start looking around for a replacement.</p>
<p id="ZFKyx7"><strong>Franch</strong> (+2/-0 : +1/-0 : +3/-0) Critical block on an O’Sullivan shot in the 33rd minute, and save off Williams in the 63rd. Franch can’t really be faulted on any of the concessions; she had to go up on the Williams shoss in the 13th minute that left her helpless on Debinha’s finish, was utterly exposed by her backline on the first McDonald goal, and that she managed to even get a fingertip to McDonald’s second was a minor miracle.</p>
<p id="SpXygK">I have to question her selection as Goalkeeper of the Year - Lynn Williams, Kate Rowland, and Alyssa Naeher all seem to have better qualifications - but there’s no question that Franch’s performance over the last third of the season was a huge part of Thorns FC just getting to the Final. No goalkeeper will ever be satisfied with getting three hung on her, but given her full season, Franch had no cause to be shamed at the end of that September afternoon.</p>
<p id="ybpkQ0"><strong>Coach Parsons -</strong> Of course, stumbling at the last step is going to <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2018/09/readers_respond_coach_parsons.html">bring out the haters</a>, but for anyone knowledgeable of the teams, and the league, it’s hard to see how Parsons could have done much else to improve on his team’s performance. The Thorns hadn’t had a good answer to the Courage’s speed and high pressure all season, but neither had anyone else (outside Laura Harvey’s Utah). Parsons couldn’t have anticipated his defense’s collapse and didn’t really have any substitution options to clean up the lack of attack or the defensive mess. </p>
<p id="CMWyrC">He did bring on Andressinha for an obviously ineffective AMC, but other than that what game-changer did he have on the bench? Purce might have brought some attacking speed, but the 2018 Thorns simply weren’t set up to claw back three goals against North Carolina.</p>
<p id="KLA4ld">The only option might have been to duplicate the brutal physicality of the 2017 Final and, frankly, I’m glad Parsons chose not to go there.</p>
<h3 id="Gi9SUN">Envoi</h3>
<p id="kqSx5R">It’s hard to get over the tough loss. But I want to end this, my final match analysis piece of the 2018 season, by remembering the high points of the Thorns’ journey this season. </p>
<p id="xNQNvi">It was a long road, and a hard one, fraught with troubles and reverses along the way. At times - when dropping points to teams like Sky Blue - it seemed <em>very</em> likely that this year’s squad would fail to even make the playoffs at all; remember that Portland fell as low as sixth on the table back in midsummer.</p>
<p id="ceeJ0A">But Thorns FC, version 2018, was the team that refused to die. The team that found a way to grind out results in the last weeks of the regular season. The team that clawed back into second on the final <em>day</em> of the season. The team that went down a goal and clawed back the semifinal from a Seattle that had defeated them soundly twice during the regular season. The team that fought their way to a shot at the title.</p>
<p id="JbgOjy">The Courage may have had the speed, and the skills, and, eventually, the championship.</p>
<p id="ytSAqF">But the Thorns had the kind of heart, and desire, the kind of love and comradeship as a team, that shone out like a lamp on a cold dark night. </p>
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<img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/dZm2ELo0J8RxtkILGJpeCYoA2Es=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/13186233/Franch_and_Heath.jpg">
<cite>Image by NWSL in public domain</cite>
</figure>
<p id="hz8Mvh">And for that, above all, I will remember this season with a fondness made wistful only by the thought of what might have been.</p>
<p id="kbIWtC"></p>
https://www.stumptownfooty.com/2018/10/2/17917370/thorns-fc-shut-outJohn Lawes2018-09-27T08:00:02-07:002018-09-27T08:00:02-07:00Hammered Rivets: Still smiling
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<figcaption>Kris Lattimore</figcaption>
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<p><em>After the Thorns match we take a brief look at happenings off the pitch.</em></p> <p id="JDiE0Z">The Portland Thorns ended their amazing 2018 campaign at Providence Park on Saturday in front of a packed house. There is no need to rehash the game itself – the Thorns were entirely outclassed by the <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/NWSL/teams/carolina-courage">North Carolina Courage</a>. The win capped an historic season for Paul Riley’s “underdogs”. May we <em>please</em> never hear that lie from his lips again!</p>
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<cite>Kris Lattimore</cite>
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<p id="OF5kX2">The bonfire theme for September’s matches continued through to the final. This is the first time that an NWSL championship was kicked off with a tifo larger than a bedsheet. And large it was – two panels each 60 feet tall by 48 feet wide – emblazoned with a twist on the familiar cliché. The Thorns have played with burning ambition these past two months and the Riveters have filled the North End with smoke to celebrate. Alas, not this day.</p>
<p id="nBviXk">After the match, the chanting from the North End was non-stop throughout the lengthy awards ceremony. The chants were entirely in support of the Thorns, thankfully nothing hateful was interjected. The Riveters made a special effort in this match to take the high road, minimizing booing to a degree not usually seen. Even the referee didn’t get as much stick as normal. To be fair, his crew was pretty good.</p>
<p id="LsAE90">The banner gnomes were a bit too busy to produce new works this week. However, they did crack out every player banner from the year and hung them in a continuous line the entire length of the North End wall. <em>Stumptown Footy’s</em> <a href="https://www.stumptownfooty.com/2018/9/22/17890840/north-end-banners-at-the-nwsl-championship-thorns-courage-2018-baonpdx#0">William Conwell took a look before the match.</a></p>
<p id="2hf0C0"><strong>Behind the scenes</strong></p>
<p id="Lxr09w">For the second week in a row, the tifo crew had six days to design and produce a monumental display. There was a unique challenge this week. Due to logistics, the team had only twelve hours to paint the entire “Smoke” panel. The painting space is 33 feet wide while the fabric is 48 feet, so normally this would be done one half a time, with overnight drying between. Since time did not permit, the crew McGyver’ed a solution to suspend the painted portions so that the work could continue uninterrupted. Luckily, it worked.</p>
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<img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/WzVUkFToOmrpQ8vG2If6gfkMUqU=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/13155615/Tifo_McGyver.jpg">
<figcaption>Painting 48’ of fabric in a 33’ space</figcaption>
</figure>
<p id="2eimQq">The Riveters really stepped up for the final push. More than twenty showed up during the business day to start the painting and another twenty in the evening to finish the job. In total, more than one hundred volunteers have worked on tifo over the past three weeks.</p>
<p id="TExbBJ">There was a lot more to the Championship week than just tifo production. Another team of volunteers renovated the game room at the Hillsboro Boys and Girls club. A pre-match supporter groups party was thrown. The traditional matchday pickup game was organized, and well attended. And the post-match party was laid on.</p>
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<img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/bXCg_0dMQcef3nHc7eoNPY7cWSA=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/13155623/Party.jpg">
<figcaption>The party, just getting started</figcaption>
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<p id="D7bxqG">Somewhere around two-hundred Riveters showed up at Kell’s for commiseration, some free drinks (thank you, Merritt!) and dancing. The mood was positive and eventually celebratory. Several folks commented that this was the happiest and liveliest “loss party” they’d ever seen.</p>
<p id="UBQYK2">If I may digress, there is a unique affinity to the Thorns among the fans. Perhaps it’s because of our special players and their clear enjoyment of the game and the fans. Perhaps it’s because women’s sport truly is an underdog in the bigger scheme of society. Perhaps it’s because the FIFA/US Soccer patriarchy is slowly eroding under the blows of our thousands of little hammers. Or maybe it’s because somebody like Mana Shim would fly to Portland, and then come unescorted to the supporter’s party, and feel safe, and get hugs all around.</p>
<p id="QBnqxe">And for the Riveters, there is also camaraderie. We work together for the team but also for ourselves. We stand in the rain and celebrate a victory; we dance under a tent after a loss. When you share experiences like these, a bond develops. It is focused on the club, but transcends as its own entity with a heartbeat, with a voice, and with love.</p>
<p id="b3nWHA"><strong>The Numbers</strong></p>
<p id="kNMMWl">To the surprise of nobody, this was the first NWSL Championship Final played to a full house. To the possible surprise of many, nearly all 21,144 stayed until the final whistle despite the lopsided score. The match was broadcast on Lifetime, maybe their last airing of an NWSL game. They finished with a flourish, as 225,000 viewers tuned in. I believe this was the most-watched match on Lifetime yet. Perhaps the league will eventually release numbers for the season’s TV and online viewership, so we can get a sense for the domestic and global interest in NWSL.</p>
<p id="b8qjAz"><strong>Up Next</strong></p>
<p id="44DVqm">Ah, the saddest question – now what? September 28th is the final day for clubs to exercise 2019 player options. Players with declined options go on waivers and can be picked up by other clubs starting Monday, October 1st. The waiver window is only 24 hours, so by October 3rd any unclaimed players will become free agents.</p>
<p id="HenZxc">There will be an off-season Riveters party sometime soon. Last year it was at Halloween, but last year’s season ran well into October. The <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/fifa-world-cup">World Cup</a> CONCACAF qualification tournament begins October 4<sup>th</sup>, with watch parties at all the usual haunts. The W-League in Australia kicks off October 25<sup>th</sup> with the Sydney Derby. There is sure to be drama in the NWSL, with players departing and perhaps returning, coaches getting hired and fired, team reorganizations, possible expansion and/or contraction, etc. After the holidays will be the 2019 NWSL Draft and then camp and then, before you know it, Thorns footie once again.</p>
<p id="Nvh1FE">Onward Rose City!</p>
https://www.stumptownfooty.com/portland-women/2018/9/27/17902884/hammered-rivets-still-smiling-baonpdx-nwslRichard Hamje2018-09-22T16:02:36-07:002018-09-22T16:02:36-07:00Portland Thorns fall 3-0 to North Carolina in championship
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<p id="8XUXEh">All losses hurt, and it has to be said that making it to a final two years in a row is an achievement any team has to be proud of. But to lose on this day, against this team, in this place—with all the cameras on and thoughts of history in the making on everyone’s minds—this one hurt bad.</p>
<p id="UUwPbW">Portland started the same lineup as they did last week against Seattle, but with Ana Crnogorcevic slotting in for Midge Purce on the right wing. North Carolina had a key absence in McCall Zerboni, who suffered a freakish elbow injury in a USWNT friendly against Chile earlier this month.</p>
<p id="LwiEoR">Although the game’s chippiness factor was to rise throughout the half, unlike last year’s final, this one at least began more as a soccer game than a bar brawl.</p>
<p id="XFrnVc">The opening minutes of the match saw Portland look fairly fluid in possession; they also succeeded in pinning the Courage in on the left flank, although North Carolina gave as good as they got, throwing numbers at <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/NWSL/players/293438/christine-sinclair">Christine Sinclair</a> and <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/NWSL/players/293434/lindsey-horan">Lindsey Horan</a> any time they were on the ball. The Thorns got a chance in the 11th minute, which Ana Crnogorcevic set up, sprinting endline up the left wing to pick up a clearance. She found Heath central, who sent the ball right to Horan, who served it back over the top to Crnogorcevic,<strong> </strong>and she finally whiffed her chance completely.</p>
<p id="PaPujx">Portland had another chance a minute later. <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/NWSL/players/293432/tobin-heath">Tobin Heath</a> dribbled two defenders on the left sideline, cut inside, and passed the ball off to Foord, who tapped it back to Heath, whose shot was blocked.</p>
<p id="zRg5oW">North Carolina found the first goal of the match in the 13th minute. On a breakaway, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/NWSL/players/277497/lynn-williams">Lynn Williams</a> dribbled into the box and hit the crossbar. The ball fell to Debinha, who was unmarked and easily tapped the ball past AD Franch from close range.</p>
<p id="wt4LHg">The Thorns often looked just out of step with each other when they got into the final third. In the 30th minute, Sinclair picked the ball off O’Sullivan, drove into the box, and beat two defenders to send a service to Foord, but her service just ahead of her.</p>
<p id="EwKKVH">North Carolina nearly made it two in the 40th minute, when Hinkle sprinted endline and beat Carpenter to send in a cross, but once again, her header was off target. Three minutes later, Lynn Williams and McDonald both sprinted between Portland’s center backs on a recycled free kick. Franch sprinted off her line, but McDonald beat her and put away a header.</p>
<p id="1Rld8l">In the 44th minute, Franch went down after a collision with McDonald. She stood up and got back between the posts, but it was clear that she was in pain, and the athletic trainer was summoned to the field and wrapped her ankle. </p>
<p id="DmrjlW">By this point, a game whose physicality had gradually ramped up was decidedly chippy. Denise O’Sullivan had already picked up a yellow for a foul against Crnogorcevic in the 42nd minute. At one point, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/NWSL/players/277495/crystal-dunn">Crystal Dunn</a> fouled Kling, then dove to the ground in a Becca Moros-like protest against the call. Finally, with the Thorns badly needing to regroup, the halftime whistle blew and the teams headed to the locker rooms.</p>
<p id="UfNV2j">Portland started the second half with the momentum in their favor, but still struggled to find the final ball when they got into the final third. Heath nearly had an early look cutting across North Carolina’s defensive line, but dribbled into pressure instead of finding a shot or pass; a few minutes later, Kling sent a cross in towards Horan, but she couldn’t connect. Two Thorns corner kicks went nowhere.</p>
<p id="slyhw8">As the half wore on, North Carolina started to get a few chances, including two off-target headers by McDonald around the 60th minute. Franch came up big in the 64th minute when she tipped a shot by Williams over the endline.</p>
<p id="ySsYLT">On the resulting corner, the Courage went short, and Merritt Mathias picked up the second ball. She sent a rocket toward goal, which McDonald impressively one-timed to the back of the net. After scoring, McDonald took off her jersey in celebration, revealing a shirt reading “Jesus paid it all,” receiving a yellow card for her trouble.</p>
<p id="yLYWS0">With nothing left to lose, Mark Parsons subbed Ana Crnogorcevic off for Andressinha in the 68th minute, sacrificing Crnogorcevic’s more defensive skillset on the wing for some added firepower. Portland kept knocking throughout the remainder of the half, but again and again, they were just out of step in the final third. Horan, Heath, and Sinclair all had chances, but too often chose to make one too many passes instead of shooting. When they did shoot, luck was on North Carolina’s side. Ultimately, it just wasn’t Portland’s day.</p>
<p id="OoQeJL">It was a beautiful run, everyone.</p>
https://www.stumptownfooty.com/2018/9/22/17890948/portland-thorns-fall-3-0-to-north-carolina-in-championshipKatelyn Best2018-09-22T13:07:33-07:002018-09-22T13:07:33-07:00North End Banners at the NWSL Championship
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<figcaption>Kris Lattimore</figcaption>
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<p id="OjcGQN">There are more than thirty fan-made banners hanging in the North End of Providence Park ahead of the 2018 NWSL Championship between the Portland Thorns and the North Carolina Courage. In the gallery above are a few photos of them snapped by our photographer Kris Lattimore just before the rain started coming down.</p>
<p id="4CzAXD"><em>Update: Now with a two-stick and a sign as well!</em></p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Impressive. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BAONPDX?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BAONPDX</a> <a href="https://t.co/AJfoo4FXIl">pic.twitter.com/AJfoo4FXIl</a></p>— skywaker9 (@skywaker9) <a href="https://twitter.com/skywaker9/status/1043590757204942848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 22, 2018</a>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BAONPDX?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BAONPDX</a> culture is on display every game across the North End of <a href="https://twitter.com/ProvidencePark_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ProvidencePark_</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NWSLchampionship?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NWSLchampionship</a> <a href="https://t.co/Pt1ZcQ8He9">pic.twitter.com/Pt1ZcQ8He9</a></p>— Richard Farley (@richardfarley) <a href="https://twitter.com/richardfarley/status/1043579277004791808?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 22, 2018</a>
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https://www.stumptownfooty.com/2018/9/22/17890840/north-end-banners-at-the-nwsl-championship-thorns-courage-2018-baonpdxWilliam Conwell2018-09-22T10:30:02-07:002018-09-22T10:30:02-07:00Portland Thorns vs North Carolina Courage NWSL Final: Previews, how to watch, match thread [1:30]
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<figcaption>Bennett Dewan</figcaption>
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<p>The end of season event finally comes to Portland with a proper host.</p> <p id="02IC3P">The Thorns, over the course of the season, have transformed themselves into a team capable of hanging with the best. Will it be enough against a <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/NWSL/teams/carolina-courage">North Carolina Courage</a> side that have broken the record for points per game in professional women’s soccer history? It all comes down to 90 minutes or more.</p>
<p id="gH20SO">The Courage looked poor against the <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/NWSL/teams/chicago-red-stars">Chicago Red Stars</a> but still ground out a victory. They’re playing on short rest, but the athleticism and endurance of this Courage team is legendary, and it may not even matter. The Thorns, meanwhile, are <a href="https://www.stumptownfooty.com/2018/9/21/17888328/playing-out-of-pressure-the-thorns-go-into-the-nwsl-final-a-well-oiled-relaxed-machine">loose</a> and ready to show their ability: they have a whole host of players who have done their jobs this season but not shown the world what they’re truly capable of. Players like Caitlin Foord, who Mark Parsons described as “just finishing her preseason now” after coming back from a long injury and the Thorns defense, so used to sitting on top of the world but having so little lineup consistency through the season. It’s impossible to escape the sense that this Thorns team is capable of a completely new level of play than any they’ve shown on the field so far.</p>
<h2 id="cdGSLm"><a href="https://www.stumptownfooty.com/portland-women/2018/9/20/17883652/nwsl-final-storylines-portland-thorns-vs-north-carolina-courage">Previews</a></h2>
<blockquote><p id="vStCYO">“Everything hinges on the Thorns’ ability to break the first line of North Carolina pressure. <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/NWSL/players/285623/jasmyne-spencer">Jasmyne Spencer</a> did an effective job against Lindsay Horan for the first half of the semifinal, and <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/NWSL/players/277495/crystal-dunn">Crystal Dunn</a> is a better player than her. Dunn created the first goal against the Chicago Red Stars against the run of play when she picked Vanessa DiBernardo’s pocket high up the field. If the Thorns can escape the first traps set, they’ll be in a good position to great attacking opportunities from there. The Red Stars, despite outplaying the Courage for much of the game, blew the chances they had. The Thorns offense thrives off efficient opportunities, and will very much need to do so on Saturday, lest they find themselves behind to another Sam Mewis wonderstrike from nothing.</p></blockquote>
<h2 id="ALfxDr">How to Watch</h2>
<p id="JKzS4o"><strong>How to watch:</strong> Lifetime, <a href="http://nwslsoccer.com/"><strong>NWSLSoccer.com</strong></a> for international viewers</p>
<p id="xnSHtI"><strong>Where:</strong> Providence Park, Portland, OR</p>
<p id="zkOYCx"><strong>When:</strong> Saturday, September 22, 1:30pm PT</p>
<p id="Kw96n6"><strong>Portland Thorns:</strong> 12-6-6, second in the NWSL, 2-1 win vs <strong>Seattle Reign</strong></p>
<p id="WxrfsL"><strong>North Carolina Courage:</strong> 17-6-1, first in the NWSL, 2-0 win vs <strong>Chicago Red Stars</strong></p>
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https://www.stumptownfooty.com/2018/9/22/17890326/portland-thorns-vs-north-carolina-courage-nwsl-final-previews-how-to-watch-match-thread-1-30Tyler Nguyen2018-09-21T18:31:54-07:002018-09-21T18:31:54-07:00Playing out of pressure: The Thorns go into the NWSL Final a well-oiled, relaxed machine
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<figcaption>Kris Lattimore</figcaption>
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<p>Ahead of one of the biggest games in club history, the club is loose, the players are enjoying themselves, and everyone’s getting along swimmingly.</p> <p id="KXzwrM">NWSL Championship media day was, for one team, a fairly routine event. The <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/NWSL/teams/carolina-courage">North Carolina Courage</a> attended their media appearance professionally, sitting in their seats and answering questions, much like any normal team would. The other team played a game of pickup basketball. A few nights before the most crucial game of their season, in what other teams would probably experience as a tense moment, the Thorns were joking around, having fun and generally enjoying their time together. </p>
<p id="cb7o1p">It’s not that they were being unprofessional: media day is a pretty boring event, with most of the players spending 45 minutes sitting around while the big-name players are made to recite the same media-friendly truisms about how anything can happen in a final and both teams are great and it’ll be a good occasion. Halfway through the event, the Thorns not getting talked to just discovered that they were being interviewed on a basketball court and wanted to show their skills off, and things just kind of snowballed from there. Thorns players kept describing their team as loose and relaxed, and then they went and demonstrated it.</p>
<p id="ZXreuw">Playing the final at home probably contributes to the comfort level, but there’s no denying that this Thorns team is more comfortable with each other than they’ve ever been. The box scores this year have been dominated by a few big names, but despite that, they truly appreciate each other’s contributions and feel as though they’re more resilient as a unit. “I think we’re more of a team this year,” said <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/NWSL/players/293438/christine-sinclair">Christine Sinclair</a> when asked about the difference between this year and 2017. “This team is a lot more connected, a lot more together. I think last year if we would have gone down two goals we weren’t coming back from that. Whereas this year we have that trust in each other that we’ll do it together as a team.”</p>
<p id="GlKjMV">The team lost great soccer players in the offseason: <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/NWSL/players/293436/allie-long">Allie Long</a>, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/NWSL/players/293439/nadia-nadim">Nadia Nadim</a> and <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/NWSL/players/293433/amandine-henry">Amandine Henry</a> are all quality, extremely experienced players. The players who replaced them in the lineup were quality as well, but less experienced and unproven at the top level of competition. Players like Midge Purce, a young player with a lot of promise whose only experience in the NWSL was a bad situation in Boston, and Ellie Carpenter, the youngest player in NWSL history joining the team exactly when she turned 18.</p>
<p id="KdX7D0">“We had a lot of new players, young players this year, still learning what it means to be a Thorn and the mentality it takes to play at this club day in and day out,” said Thorns coach Mark Parsons about the turnover in the offseason. The growth that those two players in particular were able to show over the course of the season, through real adversity—Purce getting dropped from the team, and Carpenter having to fight for her place—speaks to their strength of character. The fact that the most experienced new player at the top level of competition, Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic, Switzerland’s all-time leading goalscorer, has accepted a more defensive role and has become a crucial presence in the locker room speaks to the culture of the team.</p>
<p id="PZgpWr">The Thorns have been playing under incredible pressure in the regular season run-in, starting from the outside of the playoff spots looking in and dragging themselves into position to host a home semi-final. “In a way,” Sinclair said, “we’ve been having playoff games for the past month and a half.”</p>
<p id="JK6i5g">They’ve come back from behind in three of their last five games, starting with their 2-2 draw at home against the <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/NWSL/teams/chicago-red-stars">Chicago Red Stars,</a> where they came back from a two-goal deficit against a Red Stars team that would go on to outplay the Courage in their semifinal loss. “I’m a firm believer that the weakest moments make some of the strongest teams,” said Midge Purce, “Something that makes our team special is the fact that we had to go through a lot of ups and downs[...] It’s made us stronger. I just think our team has this unbelievable belief in ourselves.”</p>
<p id="ekhEln">The comfort on show likely has a lot to do with the knowledge that they’re able to cope with pressure and are confident in their ability to take hold of games regardless of circumstances, but it’s also a big part of the cause of that: this team learned in their toughest moments in the season to rely on one another.</p>
<p id="2RddlE">As corny as it sounds, the thing that pushes this Thorns team to the next level, and the thing that pushes their great players to the next level, is their togetherness. Whatever happens in the NWSL final tomorrow, it’s a remarkable group, combining the drive to win with a carefree and breezy attitude to the weight of expectations on their shoulders.</p>
https://www.stumptownfooty.com/2018/9/21/17888328/playing-out-of-pressure-the-thorns-go-into-the-nwsl-final-a-well-oiled-relaxed-machineTyler Nguyen2018-09-21T12:45:59-07:002018-09-21T12:45:59-07:00Lindsey Horan awarded NWSL MVP
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<p>The award marks the first time the MVP award has not gone to the Golden Boot winner</p> <p id="13hz0v"><em>[Updated 3:05 pm with quotations]</em></p>
<p id="4S2OyO">It’s official: for the first time in the NWSL’s history, the MVP award isn’t simply going to the Golden Boot winner, but to the actual best player in the league right now, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/NWSL/players/293434/lindsey-horan">Lindsey Horan</a>.</p>
<p id="EEIMDI">“Obviously it’s a huge honor for me,” said Horan at the press conference today. “I think this year has been incredible for our team. It’s been a rollercoaster ride... I think, credit to my team and what they’ve done this year to get us to this point.”</p>
<p id="Fl5rI8">It’s hard to overstate how good Horan has been this season, and how important she has been to a Thorns team about to play for their second consecutive championship. She’s been one of Portland’s biggest goalscoring threats—her propensity for scoring on set pieces has become something of a meme at this point. Her 14 goals on the season are good for joint-second in the league, after Sam Kerr and tied with Lynn Williams. Even if all she did was score goals, she’d have had a decent case for this award.</p>
<p id="ehHlG9">But she doesn’t just score goals.</p>
<p id="yH6WAh">As a player, Horan is defined by an apparent ability to be everywhere at once. She will often force a turnover deep in midfield, pass the ball off to a teammate, and then reemerge 10 or 15 seconds later in the exact spot she needs to be in order to make the final pass or score one herself. She has just about everything: technical skill, strength, aerial ability, excellent passing accuracy. More than any of that, though, she always seems to be reading the game several steps ahead of everyone else, seeming to be everywhere because she can always tell where the game is going.</p>
<p id="FwjcSD">“I’ve said it a few times now,” said Mark Parsons. “I think she’s the only one capable of having the impact across so many different areas, on and off the ball. Offensive, defensive side this season... She’s an incredible player, but more important an incredible person that has a mentality that just wants to improve all the time.”</p>
<p id="D6vj96">Horan was equally effusive in her praise for Parsons.</p>
<p id="kxQi2R">“What Mark’s done for me this year, in the [last] season, in the first season, has been incredible,” said Horan. “The player-coach relationship on and off the field is so important to me and the confidence that he’s instilled in me has been remarkable, and I thank him so much for that... It hasn’t all been rainbows and butterflies for me throughout the last two seasons... He’s stood by me every single day and pushed me harder and harder every single day. We’ve been through a long journey together and we hope it continues tomorrow.”</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">From one MVP to another, <a href="https://twitter.com/DiegoDv8?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DiegoDv8</a> congratulates <a href="https://twitter.com/Lindseyhoran11?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Lindseyhoran11</a>, the 2018 <a href="https://twitter.com/NWSL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NWSL</a> MVP. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OneClub?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OneClub</a> <a href="https://t.co/j0ZbImmElY">pic.twitter.com/j0ZbImmElY</a></p>— Portland Timbers (@TimbersFC) <a href="https://twitter.com/TimbersFC/status/1043227308255928320?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 21, 2018</a>
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https://www.stumptownfooty.com/2018/9/21/17887934/lindsey-horan-awarded-nwsl-mvpKatelyn Best