**Portland, Oregon** – Portland Thorns FC drew 1-1 with the Washington Spirit on Wednesday night after Thorns forward Sophia Smith’s effort was cancelled out by Spirit forward Ashley Hatch’s second-half tally.
Early on, Washington looked the more likely to score though chances were few and far between in the first half as a whole. Midway through the first half, the teams had combined for five total shots (WAS 4) of which only one was on target.
Immediately following the half-hour mark, the Spirit midfield and attacking lines synced up after a recovery just inside the Portland half saw Washington break, with forward Ashley Hatch played in toward goal. Lining up a shot with her right foot, Hatch’s powerful effort was high and narrowly wide of goal as the visitors continued their pursuit of a goal.
Portland held their own in the opening 45 minutes and responded to that opportunity with one of their own in the 37 ^th minute. Forward Christine Sinclair clipped the crossbar with a distance effort that feel back into the feet of Washington, though it was Washington goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury who gave it directly to Sinclair in a rare error.
Washington had its closest chance at goal of the first half come in the 43 ^rd minute, ironically, through Portland a goal line clearance was required from the hosts after a deflected cross by a Thorns defender spun backward in the air and landed toward goal.
At the halftime interval, Portland and Washington remained locked in a scoreless affair with the visitors registering the lone shot on goal in the first 45 minutes.
Both teams came out with a little more firepower to start the second half, with the visitors displaying as such first. Washington forward Ashley Sanchez tested Portland goalkeeper Bella Bixby in the 48 ^th minute from a way’s away, but the host’s goalkeeper was more than equal to the shot. However, one minute later, Portland forward Sophia Smith broke ahead after a low through pass set her on her boosters. Getting on the ball, Smith clipped a pass toward the back post for the substitute Morgan Weaver, though she was unable to get anything on it.
Just before the hour mark, though, Smith produced an incredible solo effort that saw her blitz down the right flank and beat a defender toward the byline before firing her attempt low and away for the game’s first goal. Then, two minutes later, Smith ripped another shot on goal that Kingsbury got a big hand on to redirect and keep the chance away.
In the 63 ^rd minute, Washington found themselves level through a headed goal by forward Ashley Hatch just inside the six-yard box. Going up for the header, Hatch was able to connect and loop the effort just over Bixby and in, though the pair collided and remained down for a few minutes. After receiving attention, the goal stood and Washington had gotten on the scoresheet.
Then, in the 72 ^nd minute, the Spirit again put the ball in the back of the net through forward Trinity Rodman. However, as Rodman wheeled away celebrating, the center official blew his whistle for offside, and Portland attempted a quick restart to catch Washington off its guard.
The hosts continued to knock on the door and threatened again in the 78 ^th minute on back-to-back chances. First, a ball played across goal caused the Spirit defense to rush to clear, but in failing to get the ball away entirely a half-chance fell for defender Megan Klingenberg, though her effort on goal was a tame one.
Two minutes later, it was then Washington’s turn to continue asking questions and if it were not for Bixby’s heroics, they very well could have taken the lead. First, forward Trinity Rodman was played in on goal and fired a hard effort low that Bixby saved and cleared. On the follow-up effort, Washington’s Ashley Sanchez then tried to loop a shot over Bixby that the goalkeeper was able to push away for a corner kick to keep things level.
Reversing the slow start with an energetic second 45 minutes, Portland was able to hold onto a point at Providence Park against a powerful Washington Spirit side that had the clear edge in statistics but could not convert enough of its chances. The draw is Portland’s second straight, while Washington registers another point on the board after falling to Angel City FC last weekend.

Match Highlights

Match Highlights