**Portland, Oregon** – Sunday’s action got off to an explosive start with Portland Thorns FC demolishing the Orlando Pride, 6-0, in front of a crowd of over 16,000 fans at Providence Park. The Thorns relied on five different goalscorers to get the job done, while this marks the second time this season the Pride have lost by a margin of four or more goals and the third time they have conceded four or more in nine games played.
The goals kicked off in the 21 ^st minute for the hosts with attacker Hina Sugita producing a fine volleyed finish to put her side in front. A swirling ball in from defender Janine Beckie found the left foot of Sugita, who rifled the shot at the first time asking to beat goalkeeper Erin McLeod from just inside the box.
Then, just four minutes later, Portland doubled its advantage through defender Becky Sauerbrunn, who put home a rebounded effort from close range for the teams second. Standing over a set piece from distance was Thorns FC’s Samantha Coffey, and she powered a low drive at McLeod that was saved in the bottom left corner of goal. However, the save allowed Sauerbrunn to pounce on the chance from close range and put her team two up after 25 minutes.
Portland would maintain that two goal advantage heading into halftime, and though statistically they dominated the opening 45 minutes they were unable to push Orlando much further.
Into the second half, the hosts Portland scored their third goal just after the hour mark as forward Sophia Smith, who was the only player to score two goals in the game, tallied her first of the night via a Becky Sauerbrunn assist. The defender Sauerbrunn played the ball to Smith’s feet as she stood just outside the penalty area. Turning inside and onto her right foot, Smith tiptoed around the defense on the edge of the box before shooting toward the far post and beating McLeod, who conceded yet another goal from outside the box with that effort.
The club’s fourth goal then came in the 79 ^th minute through forward Natalia Kuikka, who finished off an unbelievably smooth passing move by her teammates by curling a shot past McLeod from near the six-yard box. Teammate Olivia Moultrie received a pass inside the area and didn’t think twice before pinballing the ball back down toward goal for Kuikka. Opening up her body, Kuikka then bent her shot past McLeod for another goal.
Not done yet, Portland would add two more goals in the final four minutes plus stoppage as Smith tallied a second goal before Taylor Porter added the sixth in added time, with both goals assisted by Yazmeen Ryan. First, it was Ryan’s ball in that allowed Smith to take space toward goal and rip a shot to the top left corner that McLeod had little chance to keep out. Then, a clever set-piece routine saw Porter collect a pass from Ryan just inside the box where she turned toward goal and beat McLeod with her left foot.
The win extends Portland’s unbeaten run to five games, with the Thorns winning their last two matches by a combined 10-0 scoreline. The onslaught also marked the fourth time this season alone that Portland has scored three or more games in the regular season. On the other side, the Pride have now suffered three successive losses with the side shut out in all three of those contests. A 5-0 defeat in Houston was followed up by a narrow 1-0 loss to Chicago, but the 6-0 defeat to Portland is a new season low in terms of scorelines for the visitors.

Match Highlights

Match Highlights