**Portland, Oregon** – Portland Thorns FC defeated Racing Louisville FC, 3-0, thanks to goals from forward Sophia Smith and midfielders Sam Coffey and Olivia Moultrie, all of which came in the second half.
A flurry of chances in the first half went primarily the way of the Thorns, with the hosts beating shot after shot at Louisville goalkeeper Katie Lund who did well throughout the opening 45 minutes to keep Portland at bay.
In the eighth minute, the action begun as forward Sophia Smith had a shot saved by Lund as she turned onto her right foot from just outside the box and fired on goal. Three minutes later, Lund was back in action as defender Janine Beckie pulled up from just outside the box and forced the goalkeeper into a save. Then, on the rebound, the forward Smith attempted to slide a shot past Lund from close in that the netminder was equal to to keep the score level.
Then, in the 14 ^th minute, Portland was awarded a free kick on the left flank with a ball in from that position resulting in attacker Yazmeen Ryan having a look on goal from close in. Firing from just a few yards out as Lund could only push the ball slightly back, Ryan’s effort was cleared off the line by defender Gemma Bonner and eventually out for a corner. On that ensuing corner, though, midfielder Rocky Rodriguez had a header from extremely close in was also blocked as the Louisville defender refused to budge.
Louisville did manage to trouble the Thorns at a couple points in the first half though, with the best of those opportunities coming via a free kick in the 34 ^th minute. Louisville had been awarded the free kick as Portland midfielder Olivia Moultrie was whistled and booked for a handball outside the box. Standing over the ball were Louisville’s Emina Ekic and Savannah DeMelo, both of whom have proven dangerous on set piece situations. Lining up an effort, DeMelo stepped over the ball and left it for Ekic, who struck powerfully but reacted in agony as her shot glanced off the crossbar and out of play.
Closing the half were more chances for Portland, with the forward Smith being denied by Lund in the 39 ^th minute and the attacker Ryan being unable to lift an effort over Lund that instead landed over the crossbar. As a result, the two teams went into the halftime interval scoreless.
Into the second half, Portland began to stretch the match immediately with back-to-back goals in the 47 ^th and 48 ^th minutes to permanently set the sides apart. First, it was forward Sophia Smith who rounded the goalkeeper Lund and tapped home to open the scoring. Then, just a couple of minutes later, midfielder Sam Coffey danced into the penalty area and struck a venomous effort toward the left side of goal that flew past the goalkeeper and in.
The icing on the proverbial cake for Portland then came in the 56 ^th minute when midfielder Olivia Moultrie was able to tally and send her side three goals to the good. Settling a ball that was deflected into the area, Moultrie brought it down inside the penalty area and lifted her head with poise as she sought a way around the goalkeeper. Leaning her body just to the right, Moultrie then fired past the netminder and helped seal a big three points for her side.
In the end, the result means that Portland now sits alone in first place beyond San Diego and OL Reign (34 points) with 35 points and all taems on 20 games played.

Match Highlights

Match Highlights