Photo credit: Portland thorns
As Portland Thorns head coach Rob Gale looked from his bench to resolve the deficit his team faced in the National Women’s Soccer League semifinal against the Washington Spirit at Audi Field on Saturday afternoon, one thing was notable about its absence: a quality striker capable of knocking in the equalizer.
“You saw how few bodies we had at the end,” Gale said after the season-ending 2-0 loss. “No attackers to throw at. We stumbled across the finish line. Kind of the story of the season.”
Gale added that forward Reilyn Turner came into the game “a little confused” and retired from the game. Turner was not listed as questionable on the Thorns’ availability report.
It was a day that belonged to the Spirit from the beginning. The home side owned the midfield, especially in the first half, and made NWSL Midfielder of the Year finalist Olivia Moultrie a virtual non-factor.
“They are a very compact unit,” said captain and midfielder Sam Coffey after acknowledging the better team had won on the day. “They were very aggressive in midfield and certainly swarmed us to the ball, especially in some of those ten spaces in the inside pocket. Once we were able to hold onto the ball, it was difficult to hold on to. That’s a testament to their pressure.”
Washington’s defense effectively stopped the Thorns from running their game for most of the game.
“We were probably a little bit nervous moving the ball forward compared to our last few games where we were being bold and playing in the pocket,” Gale added. “We have remained on the cautious side [today]. I said that at halftime. We can be braver, we can be braver. And we were in the second half.”
After a tough battle, the Thorns finally knocked on the door as the clock showed 80 minutes, but a fatal error on their own attacking third throw-in led to a debilitating goal from Croix Bethune that effectively put the game out of reach.
“It’s a tough ask,” said goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold, who had kept a clean sheet in the last two regular-season games plus the quarterfinal win over the Wave.
The Thorns spent the entire season without star forward Sophia Wilson (née Smith), who was on maternity leave. Morgan Weaver missed most of the season with one knee injury. Caiya Hanks looked like an answer to Portland’s offensive woes ahead own injury ended her rookie campaign early in June.
“As a team, what we had to overcome and the adversity we had to endure to achieve this [point]“I couldn’t be more proud,” said an emotional Arnold. “Personally, this has probably been the toughest year of my career so far, so to get to where we have been with this team is really special. But disappointing to end like this.”
Gale gave a sarcastic “Thanks League” for the afternoon ET kick that translated to 9 a.m. at home in Portland. And he hinted the Thorns had run out of gas over semi-final weekend.
“We gave them as good a game as we could give them today. One game too many for us this season. But we are extremely proud of the whole group,” Gale said.
However, Coffey and Arnold disagreed with that assessment.
“I don’t think we ran out of gas,” Coffey said. “We were definitely outplayed. I think this team wanted to win a semifinal game today and be in the finals next weekend. And after that, if there were games we could win, we would find the energy, strength and willingness to keep going if that’s what it meant. If there’s one thing about this group, it’s that we’re really resilient.”
“It’s no disrespect to Rob, but I think it’s a bit of an excuse. I think we just got outplayed, and it’s definitely going to be a big lesson for the future as we continue to play in big games. Going forward, we need to be more composed and able to take advantage of the different elements of the game that presented themselves today.”
Although the end result was disappointing, it reflected the resilience they had shown all season.
“Don’t mind the effort,” Gale said. “All season long. The togetherness of the group. They left their bodies in a row.”
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