**Portland, Oregon** – Portland Thorns FC and OL Reign battled to a scoreless draw at Providence Park in the first regular season Cascadia rivalry bout on Friday night.
Portland got the show started with a few opportunities inside the opening half-hour that opened the Reign defense. In the 10 ^th minute, the hosts first threatened through forward Sophia Smith who received a ball from midfielder Megan Klingenberg on the left flank, though she was unable to direct an effort on goal.
In the 22 ^nd minute, midfielder Samantha Coffey had a chance of her own as she won the ball back just outside the box in the attacking third, but her effort landed right into the palms of visiting goalkeeper Phallon Tulls-Joyce to end the move. In the 27 ^th minute, Portland created one of their better looks on goal through a set-piece opportunity via the feet of Klingenberg. Getting on the end of the midfielder’s delivery, teammate Natalia Kuikka saw her shot cleared off the line to keep things level. From there, a flurry of opportunities saw a few shots blocked by the Reign defense on attempts from the likes of Smith, forward Christine Sinclair, the midfielder Coffey and more.
Just after the half-hour mark, though, the Reign nearly created the opening goal as they attempted to take advantage of their own set-piece chance. Earning a corner, defender Sofia Huerta swung in a ball for midfielder Jess Fishlock who got on the end of a volley at the back post that smacked the inside of the near post and was deflected off the line.
In the 36 ^th minute, Portland again was on the attack of Klingenberg scooped up a loose ball after a blocked shot and lifted a cross to the back post for midfielder Natalia Kuikka, but her sliding attempt at the ball was not enough as the delivery went all the way through the endline and out for a goal kick.
Five minutes later, Smith was played straight through on goal by Sinclair for an opportunity for a 1v1 with Tullis-Joyce but stepping into the penalty area the forward hesitated slightly and attempted to slot the ball underneath the goalkeeper who smothered the attempt in the end.
At the halftime break, Portland and the Reign remained scoreless despite several chances created on both sides, though primarily for the hosts.
A crazy sequence to open the second half saw Smith pick out the run of forward Morgan Weaver, who was clean in behind the OL Reign defense in the 52 ^nd minute. Racing into the penalty area, Weaver produced a shot toward the far post that was deflected over the head of Tullis-Joyce toward goal. However, the deflection saw the ball bounce off the post and back into play where the Reign cleared the danger as, somehow, the match remained scoreless.
A few minutes later, though, the Reign were able to create a look on goal of their own as Fishlock collected a short clearance by the Portland defense and charged ahead to the edge of the box where she picked out forward Bethany Balcer in the middle. Attempting to get her feet under her and still hit the ball at the first time of asking, Balcer was ultimately unable to produce a shot on target.
End-to-end action resulted in both the Reign and the Thorns carving half-chances out through the majority of the second half, but in the 87 ^th minute, the hosts were unable to capitalize on their best opportunity of the final 45 minutes. Streaking forward, substitute Janine Beckie received a pass in the top left side of the box, but she kept her right foot closed as she fired on goal only to fail to sneak the attempt inside the near post.
In the end, both sides failed the break the deadlock, though the argument could be made that OL Reign would be the happier of the two sides as they kept a persistent Thorns attack at bay through the 90 minutes of action. Regardless, the scoreless draw keeps Portland’s regular season unbeaten through two games while OL Reign pick up their second straight draw.

Match Highlights

Match Highlights